My first post!
I've been picturing and wanting to capture this image for a few months now and I finally got the chance, the leaves were the perfect color to add just a little pop! This was a shot from my very first landscape project, thoughts and comments are much appreciated.
hey Hunter!
first off, welcome to the group! glad to have you here.
while i hate to get right into the criticism, i figure it is best to do so. while the trees have great color to them, i feel as though it is being absorbed/dulled a bit too much by the high contrast - would definitely take that down by a decent amount. i am unsure of whether or not you edited this is lightroom or photoshop, but if you are using the latter, i would suggest selecting the colors of the trees (individually) and painting over the selection with a similar color at a low opacity. this will make the colors pop even further and truly make the image come to life, for right now it seems a tad dull.
the other thing that i must point out is the lack of a true focal point and the composition, which i find to be a bit too uneven between the water space and sky space specifically.
finally, i suggest checking out Ted Gore's article on color theory for it will help make your images a million times better. ( http://www.tedgorecreative.com/blog/2016/2/8/imc0w2lc0ie6b1jtixfht4jgqyjvnu )
past that, i think you are starting off fantastically and i truly cannot wait to see more of your work after a bit.
hope that all of what i said helps and does not offend.
best,
Cody