Originally Posted by
GrumpyDiver
Matthew - this shot really does not do anything for me. Starting with, as you put it, a "so-so" picture and playing around with effects is unlikely to result in an improvement.
1. The shot is badly underexposed. My guess is at least a couple of stops. This means you are missing a lot of the information that could result in a good image. The lack of contrast doesn't help at all either.
2. No "head room" in the shot - the mountain looks "cramped" the way you've framed it. A bit more sky along the top would have helped.
3. The frame - it really adds nothing to the image and just adds an unwanted distraction. I personally love frames around images, but this one doesn't do it for me. I don't love the design for this image (it would work fairly well if you were going for a grunge style shot) but it would need to be a fair bit thicker; it's too narrow to work on this shot.