I think i would have to agree with you. Sometimes you have to do that in order to save the highlights. But i still think the image as a whole could be brighter.
beautiful sky and i like the choppy water... looks like a tough shot without having a ND filter (split/graduated) because the brighter the shot gets the less detail you have in that great sky... overall i like it. :thumbup:
That sky is nice, though it still looks quite a bit underexposed in your first version here. Also in the second, mind, though I don't know when the point will come when you lose the first bit of detail in the clouds (which, of course, you cannot want).
I don't know how noise can only partially be removed from a picture, I'm afraid.... would be interesting to know.