[b.van_der_dylan]

Yesterday was one of those days when it was cloudy and overcast the whole day
I tried plenty tricks to try straighten all the columns but this was best I could get plus all the lens distortion corrections resulted in strange horizon on lhs

[JMitchell]

To be honest, I don't think this is one of your best, I think you could have made it more dramatic. I had a go...might not be your thing

[b.van_der_dylan]

cheers Jack - your version certainly is more dramatic , I spent too much time on bloody lens distortion and not enough on mono itself.

what method did you use? I'm impressed with the pp in general and around the pier and hand rail. no evidence of halos. I normally use levels for sky,mid tones,highlights etc and then use eraser tool but it is tricky for detail and leads to halos if you are not very careful

channel mixer is enough one I am trying but I couldn't get the dramatic range you achieved

nice one

[P-E]

Very dramatic sky.

[JMitchell]

Glad you like it
I did like you said a separate layer for the sky and the sea, (and possibly an extra one for the top of the clouds, as the bottom was blowing out when I increased the contrast at the top), and then I used layer masks rather than the eraser tool like you said, but it's similar, just gives you the option to bring it in and out as you wish rather than having to undo.

For increasing the contrast, I duplicated the original layer after a teeny levels adjustment, and switched to 'soft light' blend mode, which provided the contrast, then took the layer opacity down accordingly, hope that makes sense.

EDIT: And finally I think I did put a relatively transparent black gradient on the sky for a finishing touch

[simpbow]

[b.van_der_dylan]

got it thanks Jack and Simpbow