Battered Scots Pine

An afternoon walk to the top of Great Mell Fell. On my way I up I came across a lot of grumpy looking sheep, probably just sick of the wind. The sun was going down behind the clouds on my way up so the sunset wasn't all that spectacular, just subtle. When the clouds dispersed there was a lovely pink and red afterglow.

Keeping the shadow detail was quite difficult on this one. I've noticed that Lightroom 4 is exceptional for bringing up shadows so I use that to get my histograms where I want them. Another good method to add a bit of life to the shadows is using colour gradient maps on them. One more thing I learnt is that using blur filters on a layer mask can really help to blend the adjustment.