Chalk'n'Charcoal Copper Beech

Planned Blip subjects fell by the wayside as it's cold, dull and as welcoming outside as a skunk at the Chanel No 5 factory...and I'm just not feeling that energised or well enough...

Snapped this tree, which I always admire - a copper beech - colourful when in leaf and beautiful and graceful and majestic, as it rises above - erhm, behind the local Iceland store - here in its bare winter guise.

However, increasing contrast and brightness just lost essential fine tracery of the twigs and it just looked lame.

A sudden arts class, via the not-tried before creative folder in Photoshop CS5, 'chalk and charcoal' mixing the sliders to create something that was a bit more than a splodgy mess.

My surprise came when I put it into shadows and highlights and my own custom default setting produced this, creating shadow, contrast and form where there had been none before. Which I rather liked.

Looks rather fab in 'large', too!