i'll be there

Three stars all the way across. I find that if I do otherwise, no one pays attention to what I say in the critique too much. So no worries about that. Moving on.

The image initially made me stop and scroll back up so that I could fullview it. I love shots like this. Immediate focus was on the island and the trees, which I'm sure you intended. I couldn't tell this was a photomanip at first, so nicely done.

The only part that seemed a bit unnatural was some of the light coming from behind the tree and immediately surrounding it. Doesn't quite fit in, and that made me realize this was a photomanipulation.

My main critique is focused on the birds. I would rather have seen them more spread out. Maybe have a few immediately above the tree, as you do now. But the rest should, in my opinion, be spread out more over the picture, to keep the eye moving and examining the rest of the photo. Have one skim the water, another flying in the top corners farthest from the trees. I think the birds could also do to look a bit more natural, perhaps by burning their edges a bit.

My favorite part of this definitely has to be the colors, though. They were brought out well, and naturally. I just wish the birds were spread out more so that my eyes could be more naturally brought to notice the colors of the water and the sky, rather than focusing solely on the tree area.

Lovely manip. I hope you touch up the few spots on this to make it that much better.