Boiling sky

[TiCoyote]

It was one of those stormy days when the sky is just boiling with clouds.

Problem I keep running into is that if the exposure is right for the sky, the ground is dark. If it's right for the ground, they clouds look blown. I know I could fix this with a grad-NDF or with HDR. Instead, I'm brushing in exposures with Lightroom. I'm getting mixed results. I'm happiest with this one. However, I problem I find is mostly one of composition. I take these wide sweeping shots, and then when I look at them on the screen, there's nowhere for the eye to settle. They lack a subject.

Anyway, C&C are always appreciated.

 

[TiCoyote]

Here are two more from the same shoot, using the same process. The Mrs. likes #2 a lot, but I think it looks like sloppy brushwork. We both like #3, but I still like the above the best.

#2

#3

 

[white]

However, I problem I find is mostly one of composition. I take these wide sweeping shots, and then when I look at them on the screen, there's nowhere for the eye to settle. They lack a subject.

Anyway, C&C are always appreciated.

Sounds like you already have a clear idea of where to improve. And I agree. There's too much junk in the frame -- small, blurry trees, power lines, etc. You need to find a way to hide these things if they don't work for the composition, and I'm not suggesting they be cloned out in photoshop or whatever. That really is the easy way out.

Sometimes there might be so much random shit cluttering a scene that there just isn't a shot, though. For these I suggest you study them and determine what could be emphasized. For example, the sticks in the water in #2 is a photograph. In #1, the repeating shape of the bridge is a photograph.