Night shot

[ToddnTN14]

I like the black sky and water. My wife wanted me to lighten the sky up.
What do y'all think. Comments on the overall picture are welcome as well.

 

[Rylmore1]

I'd keep the sky and water dark; the warm reflections are what give this its night-time character. The larger issue for me is how much empty black area surrounds the buildings. Before brightening anything, try a wider crop that removes some of the top and bottom while keeping the full reflections. That would give the lit shoreline more weight without changing the mood.

If you want to compare your wife's suggestion fairly, make a second version with only the sky lifted slightly, rather than raising exposure across the whole frame. The lamps and several reflections already look very bright in this displayed image, so a global lift would work against them. A small local lift around the roofline might give the buildings a little more separation while leaving most of the sky black.

I'd compare those versions at the same display size. This is based on the posted image, not the original file, so I can't tell how much usable detail is available in those dark areas.

 

[ToddnTN14]

Before brightening anything, try a wider crop that removes some of the top and bottom while keeping the full reflections.

I wanted to give the skyliners above the buildings some space above them and then I wanted to keep the reflections of the skyliners in the water below the buildings, thus the black space. But I do get what you are saying.

 

[zombiesniper162 3]

Please read the pinned post in this section and add as much of the detail that you can.