That is a hard one. I would try to get rid of the power lines. I did try that but ran into problems with my healing brush leaving some lines. I did try to limit the shadows in CS5 and was able to lighten the trees. I then tried some minor adjustments in levels. The combination got the trees to show a bit.

If you can add filters on your camera a Cokin graduated neutral density filter would be a big help on sunsets. It filters the top half of the image thus cutting down on the blow out of the sun. If the sun is real bright I have even used two of the filters.

I use Photoshop CS5 for the majority of my editing except HDR. I use the NIK HDR Eflex Pro plug in and have much better luck with it. It is much easier to use. Also use NIK Dfine 2.0 to help clean up the pictures.

That is an amazing picture.

I don't know without looking at the pictures. First of all though, if you have a Canon 60D (I have a 50D the previous model), I only shoot in raw. I also shoot 3 images like in HDR. Some I do use the HDR function, but many of them I select the best of the three exposure ratings. I do my initial editing in Photoshop CS5 with the NIK Plug in HDR Eflex Pro. In this way I can get around the problem of overexposure and can usually get an acceptable image. The only problem is that you need a lot of memory cards. You can download a trial version at NIK Software and find out if you like it. I am also a fan of their Dfine 2.0. If you want to include a picture I will be happy to look at it.

The difference is night and day. CS5 has a lot more options that one can do. Ity added a better panoramic stitching button, HDR, Tone Mapping. It stillhas hiccups, but not as many. I think it is definitely worth it if you are doing a lot of complex editing.

In photo editing everything is a matter of taste. My wife and I disagree many times. To each his own!

They are really nice shots especially no 1. I like to shoot birds, but it is always hard to get them to pose like these.

I shoot in color in RAW and convert. I have just started with this recently and had mixed results with Photoshop CS5 and Corel Paintshop Photo X4. A couple of weeks ago, I tried OnOne Software Perfect Photo 6 and was convinced. It gives one a wide variety of different samples of adjustments and you pick and choose. It gives an Infrared option which is impressive.
The first is the color image; second is a B&W Conversion; third is an Infrared conversion. All were done in Perfect Photo 6

I use it exclusively for converting raw images and general editing but I take a lot of images. Some of the professionals now have gone to Lightroom. I tried it early on and found it very lacking. Another one that I used to start with was Corel Paintshop Photo. I still use it at times for the special effects. The last version has vastly improved and can give very good results. If you are only taking a small to medium amount of pictures I would try the trial on it. If that doesn't solve your interests then I would try Lightroom and last Photshop CS5.

I tried a little in PhotoShop CS5 and got no appreciable results. I then edited it in NIK software HDR/Tone Mapping add-on. The tone mapping gives a group of results whch you can modify.

The second one is done in On One Software Perfect Photo 6 which does the sme type of operation however one can add layers together for the final image.

That's my options--take a look and see what you think.

Larry

Edited in NIK Tone Mapping


Edited in On One Perfect Photo 6

Photoshop and cropping can help the individual heron. The group is really difficult to help. I did try to lighten the background and it helps highlight them, but the focus is not distinct enough.

The last picture is one that I shot a couple of weeks ago.