Aloha,
I use grads a lot, I don't think they would have gotten me what I wanted from this shot
I like your thinking though...
For me it was a rare day, I got three or four images that I will publish to prints, well at least three
but maybe I'm just so happy to see fall colors as (pity me) I live in Hawaii, where our weather is pretty much; spring and summer, approaching tropical storm Ana not withstanding!