An attempt to convey "massiveness"

[JonHornsby]

I wanted to accomplish two things in these photos: I wanted a visually interesting image which would convey the massiveness of this dam. Did I succeed or was this a flop?

Of the two images, the one I prefer is the one which shows more of the brownish retaining wall on the left side of the image (Image No. 1).

I know the sky is blown out on the right side of the image. I didn't use a polarizing filter. I'm not expert enough in post processing to know how to darken the "white" part of the sky so that it looks natural OR to make it match the blue of the sky on the left side of the image. Any suggestions on what to do in a case like this?

If the images are too large, I apologize -- they looked huge in the preview. I am a first-time user. I did keep the image size less than 150 k.

1.

2.

 

[tirediron]

Hmmm, I'd like to see you split the difference between the two. I like the shallower angle of the lower image, but I like the concrete wall (image left) in the upper one. What I'd suggest (if you can) is reshoot, from a postion about half-way between where you were when you took these two, and aim up at a shallower angle. I'd also eliminate the bit of greenery upper right.

The sky is an easy fix. Find a good sky image, select the main part of this image and paste it as a new layer onto the sky.