Cool posts you're making here. I like the idea of explaining your choices so novices can understand the "why."

One thing I'd say you could add to the "How this image could have been made better" section is lowering the exposure in the sky in a photo editing tool. I think if shooting in raw, that camera should have the dynamic range to retain details from the sky even though it appears blown out here. The sky looks like it was fairly nice from the reflection on the water, but it's gone at the top. A downward adjustment of the highlights slider in your favorite photo editor might be enough to bring the sky back, but you could also use a virtual graduated filter.