Dream Sequence

I've been trying to get a decent shot of Dream for a while now, and i think i finally succeeded but i need your help to pick the keeper.
I figured the vicious NW winds would bring some snow squalls to the peaks yesterday, so i took off from the Bear Lake parking lot an hour before sunrise and headed up to Dream. I took the summer route up, and the snow was surprisingly deep and soft above Nymph. Then when i got the lake the winds were howling, 50-70 mph; i had to hold down my tripod while i was shooting, and i could only stand out in the open for a few minutes at a time, the wind almost knocked me over a few times. (just another quiet day at the lake, according to Erik... )
Then it started snowing sideways as the squalls moved down on the lake...nasty! Here's a fours shot sequence, the clouds started out pink, then transitioned to brilliant yellow as the sun rose. I wish Hallet cleared a bit more (most of the shots i took you cant even see the peaks) but i really can't complain.
Dream #1

Dream #2
Oh, BTW, these are all 2 shots for DR, 2 horizontal stitches with my 24mm TS-E

Dream #3
If you notice the fg angle changes a bit with each shot--that's not intentional, i just had to keep running out with my tripod between wind gusts to take a couple dozen shots. My strategy was to keep to the side of the lake so i wouldnt get blown all the way to glacier gorge, then i kept turning around every few seconds to see if the light had changed any--it was all born out of necessity!

Dream #4
You can see the light starting to hit the peaks in #3, and finally it gets them here.

Here's a couple more for good measure...
This is from Bear

This is Longs from the overlook. Thanks for looking!

Stan,

Excellent collection. I think #3 is my favorite of the main sequence. I like the fact the the clouds have a bit more color-solidity to them (whatever that means), but primarily it's the foreground color that makes it for me. It's a subtle thing, but the extra gold-blue contrast in the ripple patterns in the foreground, and the fact that it's evenly spread throughout the foreground, really brings the image up a notch from the other three. The right half of the foreground in #4 is great, but it accentuates the absence in the left half. #3 is the best overall, I think. If you want to go with #4 (and I wouldn't argue against it), I'd work on bringing up the area in the lower left corner.

If you want some vey specific notes -- I'd even push that a little bit more in post-processing, but very slightly, adding a touch more mid-tone contrast in the bottom third, and then adding a couple of point of yellow in the highlights and a couple of points of blue in the shadows. I might also try it cropped in a bit from the sides to bring it into 4x5 aspect ratio (but I'm biased against squares, I guess). I hope that's not out of line.

Really nice work here. Makes me jealous. Worth getting up early for.

Thanks for the feedback, Mark--sounds like a plan!

I agree with #3 being the best...love the color and those clouds are to die for!

All are excellent and I'd be happy to call any of them my own. Since you're forcing me to pick a favorite, it's #3. Fantastic stuff, man.

I prefer the mountains and sky in #4 because the mountains are slightly more revealed and the color on them from the morning sun is real nice. If you would have kept the same foreground as the first three, it would have easily been my favorite. The foreground in the first three is so much more compelling, so it's #3 for me.

thanks, guys!
Yeah, John--i wish i had kept the same fg in 3--it's funny how when you go into survival mode (like trying to stay upright in 60 mph winds) the comp tends to take a back seat. Ah well, im just glad that the skies werent totally clear, that's been my curse at Dream lake.

I think #4 is my favorite but I would crop about 20% of your foreground. This one just feels more dramitic, and I love the glow on the ice. John M's comments ring true so cropping some of that ice brings more of the foreground rockgarden closer.

#4. Easy pick. More detail in the mountains, plus the color, still with some clouds.

Nice work under such difficult conditions Stan! I'll pick #3 as the 'keeper', with #2 a close second.

Four is the best!

I think they get progressively better as you go along, so I like #4 best. I also really like that Longs Peak shot.

I like the showing of the peaks in 4, but the clouds are better in 3 and 3 shows the windy conditions better.
For 3, I would try to make the peaks and rocklines show better through the clouds- for that area only, adjust levels, midtone contrast, general contrast, and then blend those changes in.

#4 was my initial pick due the ice picking up the orange, but I think it the contrast darkens the the rest of the ice in contrast. So I'd go with #3, better balance.

#4...but I'm feeling a crop on the bottom. The ice while textured doesn't feel like it's adding to the scene...

No one can ever accuse you of being timid in your pursuit of art, Stan. Way to get out there in all kinds of elements.
All of these work on several levels, and I guess I would agree that #4 seems to have the most appeal. But, the lake seems to be tilted to me but the trees are straight. So, I'll have to go with #3 as my pick.
Hey! When is it going to really snow in this state?

Stan, the third one definitely has the best color. Dream is a tough one to do in the winter, especially with those winds. I applaud you on getting up there from all the way down in Pueblo.

Thanks, guys!
Morris--no it aint your imagination, i think thats part perspective and part the fact that I had to rotate the shot slightly. I used a level for all the shots, but for whatever reason #3 came out straight and #4 slightly skewed, i guess it must have happened when i was holding down the tripod--Like Erik said, taint easy...

I find myself torn between 3 and 4, I like them both for all the reasons everyone else does -- maybe a slight nod to 4 because of the detail in the peaks. I agree that the foreground in 3 is slightly better. Regardless, they're all really nice and I'd be pretty psyched to have taken them.

#4 is probably the pick of the litter I'd say. I like how the peak is showing itself more there. The ice texture is really interesting; it makes me wonder if you tried any versions much closer down with the ice more prominent in the foreground? I have no idea if that would have worked or not in the situation, but it seems like it could make for a dramatic image...?

Oh and that last one is really nice! I like the low-contrast pastels and atmosphere in that one.

Ya know, Jack, i actually went up there with that very intention in mind, to get a shot with the ice real prominent...then when i got there and was struggling just to keep my eyeballs from freezing solid (note to self...bring eye protection next time) all my plans sort of went out the window. Oh well.
I took some of your suggestions and went with a revised version of #3--just about to post it on Landscape. Im probably gonna go B&W with #4. The other two are delegated to hard drive hell...

I 'm rollin with 3 and 4. I like the foreground of three and the sky of four, you got some amazing color The B&W is pretty sweet as well.