Floating Jetty- How much is too much?

 Hi! How do you find this image? What processes did I use? Do you find the image nice and comfortable to look at or hdr-ish to a point you can't accept it? To be frank, this image was processed in two HDR software to attained this result which I found quite pleasant and almost to the original image. Many people had asked me why didn't I just process all my pictures in normal photo editing softwares for all natural results? Well I did that in the earlier days when I first started photography. Some results were ok if there were people in the images but when it comes to landscape in daylight somethings just not right. There weren't any wow factor in the images and the subjects in those images just won't pop out. In-camera processing has its limits, so do certain basic picture editing softwares. So how much is too much in terms of images processing by todays standard? I truly cannot answer that. I have tried editing one particular image in five different softwares but still could not be satisfied with the results produced by each individual softwares . Then I started to learn pros and cons of each individual software and combined them in an effort to edit a single image. Some are very good at sharpening, some are very good at contrast, some good at giving very natural saturation and etc. It was the usage of this combination of softwares that I manage to produce some stunning images by my own standard of course. I will try to process it to as natural as possible to highlight what needed be highlighted and not overdoing it to a point where the image looks out of this world where it would look more like a painting than a photograph taken by a camera. Nothing is original these days, even a slight adjusment to the contrast or colour saturation is  considered image manipulation. You can even manipulate the images while the files are still in the camera itself. Some cameras of today can even make an HDR image in the in-camera software before you even download it to the computer or print it out directly via imaging kiosks.
So the question is, how much is too much? It all depends on you, how you want your images to look like, how you want to present your images for others to see from your own viewpoints. It is your pictures, your own work of art, it belongs to you, edit as much as you want to get the results you aimed for, it is digital, nothing is wasted in the process, make that image yours and share! Any critisism is good as it is the only way to improve and to master photography. Beauty Lies in the Eyes of the Beholder! Happy shooting everyone!