Here's a composite shot I took back in December. Fairly new to the site (and slightly more serious photography) and have only recently stared using photoshop/lightroom
Took 3 shots to get correct exposures of the sky, midground and foreground - had to make a lot of edits (and I'm considering pulling the blues back a bit).
I took this when I was out not really expecting to take any shots (planned to get back to the van/ my kit before sunset - alas that didn't happen), so no tripod or ND filters which is unfortunate since I would have like to do a long exposure to smooth out the water. I unexpectedly came across this while walking, I loved the roots in the foreground and amazing colours in the sky so had to take a photo and make the most of what I could walk away with.
Second Photo is cropped to remove the tree on the left, let me know which you prefer!
I agree with you that using the ND filter would be great in this case and in line with the movements in the sky. Maybe a little better masking on the edges around horizon and I think that part of the tree trunk on left side does not contribute to the composition. Otherwise very beautiful image!
Yeah I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave the left side in, I'll try removing it and add a cropped version - now that you've mentioned it I see what you mean about the horizon
If the tree is thicker and with some interesting texture and light, then you should get closer, and then it would make sense in terms of composition. When you absorb the complex masking skills in PS you will see that it will not be a any problems with the edges and halo effect.