Have you compared notes with en830? Your 2 boxkite pics look as if they were taken within seconds of each other. I note your keeness to keep the sky colour 'as it really was' and I am very sympathetic to correct reportage. Maybe you end up with 2 versions, the reportage for your memory and an edited version that makes 'a good image' which seems to need a threshold quota of colour and contrast as well as good subject to be popular

Assuming you were shooting RAW I would imagine you have far better control in Capture on which there seem to be a number of experts and a discussion thread
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=1341
whereas I only had a brief dabble in the older version yet enough to see it goes for precise and comprehensible tools