Water Lily Sunset

Racing against time to finish before the onset of a rainy week ahead allowed only a short period before sunset for photography. I was wrong when I thought the cloudless sky would not show any colour and I'm glad I hung around until the sun crest the trees opposite me.

Two shot exposure blend in Photoshop using a hand adjusted luminosity mask. I'm pretty pleased how this one came out and there was a lot less faffing with blocked up shadows. The exposures were 2 2/3rd stops apart, one for the sky and a second for the foreground. I'm wondering whether a third even lighter shot for the really dark areas would have helped.

There is some lens flare that I could probably have cleaned up. Must remember to shade the lens!