Golden Ears

I love the color temperature of the beach and the forest, and the soft quality of the water. Having been on this creek many times myself, I would love to know how you achieved this warmth when usually the peaks are a lot more blue and the the beach has a majority of grey rocks. I personally would not go this direction because it's not how I feel about the landscape, but you've managed to produced a definite mood that suites the subject. Do you think there would be a greater "grandness" to the picture if you had included more sky? My eye is drawn to the peaks and place where the river and mountains meet anyway but if they were the focal point then there might be less of that nice water. Which reminds me, I like how the picture is organized and the mountains and river meet in the left third of the picture. But what do I know!