1000 px here
Had a request for this one. I would have posted it eventually anyway, but I was thinking of doing a bit of burn and dodge (lighten and/or darken certain areas) on it to get some more definition to the trees and the ground cover. I will probably just pick another to try that trick on; I shot a good many like this walking around in the UP in the mornings, soaking in the sunrise.
I've been so locked in the realistic, photojournalism world that I rarely do anything to photos other than color correction and saturation, crop, and playing with the levels (overall light). Noise reduction on some of the inside stuff. Sharpen. Other than that, what you saw from me was the real deal.
Turns out that photojournalists are allowed to burn and dodge - and many did through the years as it is originally a darkroom technique - but only up to a limit. Oh. Maybe should have done more of that then. There are times I look at some of the early Rebel stuff now and just cringe. Definitely got better as I went along.
But when it comes to "art" pictures of landscapes and what have you, anything goes, and I need to get better at making those babies pop. There is nothing that can substitute for good, natural lighting and perfect weather, but less than great conditions can certainly be helped long with the tools of Photoshop. Takes time to get good at it, like anything else.
I'm glad that I have the extensive practice with the straight from the camera work though. Gives me that solid foundation to start from.