Maroon Bells in August

Shot this at sunrise at Maroon Bells. Looking for some feedback. How would you change/improve this image?. My thoughts are to polarize the sky a bit, and take the bench on the left out of the picture. Shot with a Canon 5D, 24-105IS lens, F4,1/30th sec. 800iso.

How would you change/improve this image?

I would return and reshoot it in better light conditions.
While I was there, I would be sure and include more of the footbridge in the foreground.

What John said. In addition, I'd stop down more than f/4 for more depth of field. This would also get you more sharpness overall, as f/4 is wide open for this lens. I'd probably shoot at a lower ISO than 800 - I'm assuming the use of a tripod here... Not sure what, if any, impact a polarizer would have had in this particular lighting condition?

Eric and John, thanks for the feedback. Good suggestions, except I can't get back any time soon, ( I live in Atlanta.) I've been using a circular polarizer that I could position the darker part of the lens over the sky to cut the glare abit. Adjusting the f stop and using a lower iso is definitely doable. I also considered two or more images w/exposures to compensate for the bright sky and the darker foreground. Just learning this technique with mixed results. As far as the bridge, I actually cropped (during the shot) to leave some of the bottom of the boards out of the image. They were newly cut and didnt seem to fit the red tones of the rest of the bridge. I did try a different crop. I'm thinking this strengthens the image.

I'd pretty much reinforce what's been said. If you took this photo just for posterity I totally understand what you've done here, but otherwise the scene should generally be re-shot using different settings, and lighting conditions. For starters a tripod (or set on a rock etc...) can be the difference between a snapshot and an actual photograph. ISO 800 creates too much grain for a landscape shot. Such a high ISO is best reserved for situations that necessitate it, such as shooting moving wildlife with a long lens. f/4 is too shallow to create a proper landscape photo when there are both foreground, and background elements. If you focused on the bridge, EVEN an aperture of f/16 might yield slightly fuzzy mountains when you magnify the image to 100%. As said, I would back up to include the entire bridge, shoot it in prime dawn light, and have a wizard conjure up some puffy cumulus clouds for you. A polarizer would remove the glare of the creek to expose the pebbles, and slightly saturate the blue sky. All that said, you're looking at a shutter of around 30 seconds. Good luck.

I think the composition in the second post is much stronger, but boy - that sign(?) sure looks like it moved during the exposure!

I know what you mean about having to take the light that was given to you. You'll just have to plan on coming back one day, right?

John and Erik, Brilliant minds think alike...after I read the critique I decided to crop the image. I like this crop much better, the cropped image allows my eye to travel across the bridge and then over to the trees. Oh by the way, that sign was moving... you should of seen that wind! I did hand-hold this shot. Hence the 800 iso. Based on your feedback I now have an excuse to head back to Maroon Bells. Thanks

I agree the lighting conditions were not good, but you did the best with what you had. Try converting to B&W to see what it looks like.