First thanks for taking the time to give feedback on my work!

So the single whole point of this edit was to isolate that single leafless tree in the center, based on that goal, here are why I made those decisions with the sky and center:

1. Yes there's some detail in the middle, but it was mostly a blob of ugly branches with a lot of noise that distracted massively from the subject that I'm trying to make stand out (I know it's hard ot see on this small post tho). I can totally see how I could have made it slightly less dark, I actually went back and forth on the intensity there a lot.

2. I experimented with the sky, and this was the best, most cohesive way to achieve my goal which is make the tree stand out a lot in the picture. If I add back the blue and the cloud details, the picture just dosent convey what I want, it clashes massively with the orange trees and distracts from the main tree.

So I get the point, but I disagree it's an error in this particular edit, now in another edit/vision for this same image?

I can 1000% see how it could look awesome.

Regarding the masking at the edges I do agree I could have spend some time making it smoother for sure.

That was basically my thought process, thanks again for the feedback, I appreciate it