Attempt at perfection

So a while back I saw Tony L.'s online gallery and one image got stuck in my head. The one with the cows near Ridgeway. Even back then when I saw the image of those happy cows with sharp peaks of San Juans looming over them I thought of that California cheese commercial "happy cows come from California"... well no they don't! Because obviously the only happy cow can live under Mt. Sneffels.

So when I drove past a happy looking pasture outside of Ridgeway I remembered that image and attempted to try it myself. However, I don't have the luck, or the big bucks, to line 20-some cows for my image, and the one cow I did get managed to get lost against a dark tree background but I can't really complain.

BTW, that storm this weekend made for some fun photography down there!

Beautiful storm over those peaks!
I find the foreground grain field a bit too bright and saturated, which is distracting from that fine background.

Beautiful light on the foreground. Great contrast with the storm clouds.

Beautiful! I can see the cow. He is black. Hehe. Nice job, considering the conditions.

I see the cow!
Love the comp. I agree with John about the foreground field's saturation though.

moo...

Now all you have to do is combine the bg of your shot, and Todd's fg, and you will have perfection!

I also agree with John. The mountains are fantastic. But the fg is a little too saturated.

Did you try this one as a B&W?

Cows or no it's still a lovely shot Alek.

Ditto what John said, although still a beautiful shot.

Throw me in with the oversaturated/bright foreground crowd. Just bring it down a little and you've got a winner.

One more on backing off the color in the foreground some, but a wonderful shot with great light to be sure. I hope you zoomed in on Snefells with that light.

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I agree on the toning down the foreground. I think it's a combination of morning light illuminating that area (and the rest is in shade) and then when I applied global changes in sat/contrast etc. it might have been too much for the bright fg. I'll work on toning it down tonight and will also try some BW conversions. Maybe I can photoshop some extra cows for the real WOW

I'd love to see the redo.
This really is a spectacular image!

Here is a redo.

Next time bring a red cape so you can get the fella bigger in the scene!!

Great shot.

Well, I remembered after the fact that I have a herding Border Collie in the car with me... doh!