Wondering about this crop/edit

Hello ladies and gents!

A few days ago we finally got some sun here in the western parts of Norway! So offcourse I grabbed the opportunity(+ camera bag) and went hiking

I came across a few nice spots and this was one of them. I found the lighting and the editing of this to be most challenging (for my meager experience anyway), did all the adjustments manually for learning purposes

I am relatively new to both the dslr and the editing programs so any input is much appreciated!



Exif:

Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D3000
Lens: 18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3
Image Date: 2014-03-12
Focal Length: 52mm (35mm equivalent: 78mm)
Aperture: f/22.0
Exposure Time: 0.800 s
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Center Weight
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 (Windows)


Original: Shot in RAW but resized and saved in jpeg to post here.


Edited:

It's OK - you have taken it the right way, did a little editing/playing with colors (saturation and so on)... You don't really need any "inputs', just keep on learning, discovering different tools within the photoshop and alike...
For example:

These shots are a clear cut example of why you don't see a lot of (any?) beautiful landscape photographs taken on bright, sunny days in the middle of the day. Sunrise and dusk? Absolutely. But once the sun reaches a certain point in the sky the shadows become demons that vex the natural photographer.

It's a pretty little spot, and on an overcast day I suspect you could make a nice picture there. But on a day like you had it was only meant to be enjoyed in the moment and not preserved forever.

In my experience, if you find yourself wanting to shoot on a day like this, look to use the shadows to your advantage and do something in black and white. The harsh color contrasts can be played against each other quite nicely when desaturated, and if you play with color filtration in post you can bring out some nice textures that get lost in a color shot. It's still going to be difficult, and there's not much you can do with the photos above, but if you get stuck with shadows then consider them as important as everything else and you'll come up with something.

As Jake said, this is a difficult shot given the visual complexity and lighting. I think your final has been a bit over-processed and the crop is too centered (as is the original, these shots are almost always better shooting in from the left or right, rather than straight on). I did a different crop and softer process, to what feels right to me, but it is a personal thing, so may do nothing for you.

The problem with lighting like this is that unless you use it to specifically outline a subject, it makes determining the subject almost impossible - because your eye is hunting for something among the changes just because they're there, when all you want them to do is enjoy the view.

Yep.

@DraganDL Yeah, definitely need to learn more in PS and Lightroom, alot of tools
@BackdoorHippie Hehe, you have a point Will have to try to get the evening shots in that case, mornings are way to busy with a 6months old baby But the main problem here lately is that most days are cloudy with completely flat light, or else it`s raining (since oktober/november we have had like 20hours of sun all-toghether) So as soon as the sun pops out I get all exited about taking some photos
@wev Yeah, I wanted an angle on that path there but the place was to overgrown on the sides to get a decent shot, to much in the way Tried it like this in hope of a slight S shape to the path but it was a meager S i guess

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts, will think more about the light for my next hike

I am very pleased with the atmosphere captured here (the second one, with the "vivid colors"). It kinda reminded me of the "Deliverance" movie (John Boorman), those shadows, broken trees and all. Nice photo...