HDR attempt round 2 C&C wanted

[Z0_o6]

All pics look soft, nothing sharp. You used f22 or f29 for all your pics. Why did you use that high of an aperture? Diffraction can cost you sharpness here. Pics look like they were taken from a point and shoot, not DSLR. They are lack of contrast, dull, and hazy looking. HDR?

the aperture was high because to be bluntly honest, i still haven't really wrapped my head around all the settings yet, so i just set it and try it out. I guess that lowering the aperture back down (all else being equal) would have yielded sharper images? And yes, I ran them through an HDR program.

[speedminded]

All pics look soft, nothing sharp. You used f22 or f29 for all your pics. Why did you use that high of an aperture? Diffraction can cost you sharpness here. Pics look like they were taken from a point and shoot, not DSLR. They are lack of contrast, dull, and hazy looking. HDR?

the aperture was high because to be bluntly honest, i still haven't really wrapped my head around all the settings yet, so i just set it and try it out. I guess that lowering the aperture back down (all else being equal) would have yielded sharper images? And yes, I ran them through an HDR program.

It's highly common to use such a high aperture for a landscape shot. For this style it's just fine, it allows depth and everything to be in focus. The softness is most likely due to a kit lens but can be fixed with a little sharpening in post processing. I serious doubt a remote and/or mirror lockup was used either, preventing 100% of all camera shake allowing for a more crisp shot.

The colors can be saturated a little more, maybe use a photo filter, then a slight adjustment in the S-Curve and/or levels.