I was given access to a private fishing lake and set up on their dock. Shot in RAW, slight adjustment to contrast, color saturation, adjust curves, crop, save for web.
Statistics
Place: 399 out of 436 Avg (all users): 4.7535 Avg (commenters): 7.5000 Avg (participants): 4.7216 Avg (non-participants): 4.8222 Views since voting: 760 Views during voting: 222 Votes: 142 Comments: 8 Favorites: 0
I agree with the others, tilted horizon and it also looks a tad bit shakey...were you using a tripod or was the dock moving? The colors are very nice and it has good symmetry, but it leaves me wanting more, especially on the top and bottom.
I'll differ a bit on the "don't use a centered horizon" part. It CAN work but you have to have a reason to use it - symmetry, point of interest, etc. For a simple landscape/waterscape shot, pick what you want to emphasize (water/ground or sky) and compose and crop accordingly. There's that lovely "rule of thirds" for composition that time has shown is generally pleasing to the eye.
Also, your horizon may in fact not be tilted at all, but due to the natural curbature of the body of water. The wake in the distance catching the light emphasizes that, and the overall EFFECT (but perhaps not reality) is a tilted horizon. Again, it can work but only if there's a distinct reason for it. Here the "eye" wants it to be nice and level - less disconcerting that way.
Finally, there are voters that have been at DPC for many years who tire of sunsets with no other point that a picture of a sunset. Sounds harsh, but it is one possible reason for a lower than you expected score.
I really don't know what to tell you on this one. Yo_Spiff is correct about the tilted horizon, but I'm really not a landscape photographer, so I have very little to add.
Just from what I've read though, there is one main thing here you want to avoid. A centered horizon. The better landscape shots have the horizon less centered in the shot. There is either more ground, or more sky, and there's always some kind of focal point. Something to look at, which is offered in a way which leads to viewer to expand their vision to the rest of the photo.
Look around in the ribbon winners gallery for landscapes that win ribbons, and compare your shot with those. I'm not saying that you'll need to suddenly find amazing seascapes and such all at once, but try and look at what they are doing compared to what you are doing and maybe see if you can start applying some of the basics to your future shots.
As for my thoughts on why this scored so low, for my money it's just a plain, flat, boring photo when compared to its competition in a free study. It has some nice play in the sky, but there really isn't much there to grab someone making a fly-by on the vote. It's dark, and there is no point of interest compared to the shots that do better on this website.
The scene is pleasant and the tones are nice and smooth. I think the biggest thing that hurt you in voting was the tilted horizon that was also very centered top to bottom. The composition may not have been very eye-leading.
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