Highlight Of The Day

One of those scenes begging to be photographed. Sunlight streaming through a gap in the trees spotlights branches on a fallen tree and picks out colourful patches of leaves here and there in the background.

This was a challenge to process because of the high contrast. Avoiding burnt out highlights on the branches left pockets of deep shadow in the trees and underneath along the far bank. Although I recovered detail in the shadow to some degree, maintaining a balance of light and shade to keep the effect of bright sunlit branches took a bit of back and forth.

I like the oranges in deep shadow coming out into the sunlight, showing signs of the leaves turning.