I love the composition, very simple making a restful image.
I would have tried to merge a different exposure just of the sun it self to try and get something a little smoother, maybe an under exposed shot. This doesn't spoil the shot for me though, which is beautifully done. The colours are wonderful.
Jon

Well, you asked for a comment so here goes!
This is a super composition, but I would have processed it differently.
The sun is currently blown out, so a layer where the sky is under exposed for the sky would be good. However, there is so much going on in the foreground that is lost that if it could be brightened up that would be brilliant.

Of course many better photographers than me would tell you to use an ND Grad filter on the camera, and here they'd probably be right, except, well the moments gone!

I like the shot very much and think it would be worth having a bit of a play.
Jon

I am sure this one hasn't done as well you had hoped, I know when I have shots that don't do well I am interested to know why, so, I hope you don't mind if I make 2 observations.
The first relates to the strip of frozen water in the foreground. The bank on the far side and the bank you are standing on have basically made an arrow which leads the eye out of the shot.
The second relates to the right hand side of the image which doesn't really add much to the shot in my opinion, all that has happened is that the fascinating cloud formation has become very central in the image.
If you went for a square crop with the frozen reeds in the bottom right corner I think this would increase the impact of the shot, it also puts the clouds on the third which also helps balance the image.
As usual it has been processed for maximum impact, something I really like in your images. Hope you don't mind the critique!

Jon

Personally I would crop in from the left and top to move the building more off centre, I love the scale.
Jon

If I was processing this image I would probably process (tone map) 3 separate versions one for the foreground (probably pretty much how you've done here), second would be for the sky, and paying particular attention to the halo where the sky and horizon meet as well as trying to stop the highlights in the clouds blowing out.
Finally I would try a tone compression for the sky (again this is an option if you use Photomatix for HDR). I would then create one image from the three separate ones by copying and pasting all 3 images into one final one. Then using the eraser I would reveal parts of each image that are right for the final one.
Not really being clear here, but I'm sure you get the drift. The main issues as I see them are highlighlights in the clouds being very bright and a slight halo over the trees on the rhs.
Hope that is helpful.
Jon

You have exposed the image beautifully, just on the point of being burnt out to the right, but not burnt out! I like it.

Sorry to break it to you though, unless the edge of my windows explorer is wonky, your horizon isn't straight! (About 2 degrees clockwise would sort it) If you are using photo shop there is a brilliant tool, the measure tool (it looks like a ruler and hides in the same button as the eyedropper tool, right click the button to reveal it) Run that along the horizon, then from the image option select rotate image, arbitary. It then automatically calculates the level of rotation required to straighten it up. This method negates any optical illusions created by the rest of the image.

Actually, for the record, it looks straight to me because of the curve of the pier so it doesn't spoil the picture!

Jon

Given that you have cropped your model's feet off, maybe an even tighter crop would work even better, at the moment this feels like it is neither a full figure shot nor a portrait.
Jon

Were you using a filter? Was there a light source to the right of you? This looks like light hitting the filter and picking out the imperfections in the filter. I also think the shot may be a bit underexposed, so the shadow to the right shows a lot of noise.

If there was light coming in from the right, simply use your hand to sheild the filter.

As for the 'glitter' you mention I get this problem with smaller apertures, but at f14 it should be OK. Did you bracket the exposure it would be interesting to see if the effect gets better or worse if over exposed.

Not sure that this is very helpful, but hope it is.

Jon

This image seems to have an extremely high dynamic range, try two separate HDR conversions one for the floor one for the ceiling.
How much tone mapping did you do, this looks like it could be improved with the tone mapping part of the HDR process.

Jon

I am in two minds here Mike. I love the dramatic composition, super use of the cobbles/blocks as a lead in. The sky is perfect, clean and clear, the cafe looks super too.

So what's my issue?

The other buildings just look a little strange, not sure if it is sharpening, or tone mapping or quite what, but the red brick work feels very vivid which distracts from the cafe.

It may even be the light you were shooting in, I'm just not sure.

Overall, it is a striking image and well worth a thumbs up from me.

Jon

There is avery strong halo around the headland which spoils the image for me. Has it been tone mapped? If so, try doing two separate tone maps, one for the sky and this one for the foreground, merge the two in photoshop to get the balance.
I hope this is helpful.
I do like the composition and as Paul says, you've caught some great light here (He should know, I love what he does with coastal shots)
For me you get a click for that super foreground, but it would be worth reworking to balance the sky.

Jon

I really like what you have acheived here, it has a draughtsmanlike quality which I really like. It reminds me of one of those 50s style illustrations from a ladybird book.
However, reading between the lines, I suspect that you are not entirely happy with the result. There are many different variable to consider in HDR, but I think the most pressing one here is the black clipping. All the detail is there but the tonal range is perhaps a little flat giving it the watercolour feel. (Which is a charming effect). If you were to move the black clipping whilst you are tone mapping the image, and use the gamma slider to balance the brightness of the image you may find you get stronger results.
As for consistency, every HDR I have taken is processed differently to achieve the final balanced effect. The best thing to do is to play with the different variables and just get a feel for what they do. You will find a set up that works for you and get to understand the bits to play with to get the final result.

Keep playing, I'd love to see more like this image, it is delightful.
Jon