Hey, glad to have inspired something
Got the makings of a great shot there. Couple of hints for you to try right now.
Take the above shot back in to Photo Shop & do the following
1. Go to "Levels" & see how much gap ther is to left of graph. This means you haven't any pure blacks in photo. Pull left slider to start of graph. Now do same from right....pull this slider in to get some pure whites on shot...take care not to burn out clouds. Click OK.
2. Press CTRL-J to duplicate Layer
3. On top layer apply Unsharp mask at following numbers 60%, 15 pixels, 0 threshold. Notice how the shot "pops" now.
4. Use layer mask on top layer, to mask back detail from image below where the USM has burnt out highlights on clouds & woodwork. Use a soft brush at say 50% opacity.
If you are not used to layers, then do 1) followed by 3) & just back of 60% figure slightly.
Share with us the resulting image
