A processed photo, mainly trying a natural look with an unrealistic lighting

[lerabu]

Hi,

I am looking for feedback on the following photo on the following points:
- Use of HDR to get all the detail necessary from a harsh lighting situation but still make it look more or less natural
- Use of motion blur on the sky and sea to have a long exposure effect (it looks a bit harsh to me, do you know how to soften it?)
- Colour disbalance to create an unrealistic situation
- Anything else that come to mind from composition to processing techniques

Thanks!

EXIF
Camera Nikon D80
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 200
HDR from 1 shot, created brackets in Lightroom 3

Editing software: Lightroom 3.3, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop CS5

[Heather Clemons]

Love the photo - great use of color and it looks as though your bracketed exposures were combined very seamlessly!

As far as the motion blur in the sky - you said it's a little harsh for your taste. I like it but would definitely be interested in seeing the difference with less blur. I don't know how you edited it (everyone's process is a little different), but if you used a layer mask for the blur you can always lower the opacity of that layer and see what happens. Or just paint onto the mask with a low-opacity brush over the sky to bring it back toward the original?

Otherwise - it's a great job!

[lerabu]

Hi!

Thank you for the comments and suggestions! I am quite new at PS so I will give a whirl to your points and see what can be made!

The HDR was made from a single exposure, I made the -2 and +2 brackets in Lightroom, that's why the blending is so neat! I suppose it wouldn't have been as good had there been three separate shots