'Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.'

^{Japanese Proverb}

I'm really interested in photography and in post-processing, although my skills are still very limited. I keep trying to improve my abilities in this field by reading articles and watching tutorials.

You can find a lot of inspiring people online, there are so many talented, gifted authors around us.

My biggest inspirator is @ykdesign, her digital arts are simply marvelous.

I spent the last evening with learning and practicing and I'm sharing now the process and the outcome (the last photo of the post) of my steps.

---

The original photo

[]

This is the exported JPG of my original image I shot in RAW format. A RAW format file contains a lot more data than a JPG. @hetty-rowan wrote a great post on the advantages of RAW files, click here to read it.

I took this image in early April, it was cloudy and nature just started waking. As you can see, it's dark and gray, there's nothing interesting in it. I thought that it would be a perfect subject to practice because the composition is more or less ok.

---

Lightroom tuning

Lightroom is one my favorite software which works with the extra data stored in the file of your photo. I tried to make it lighter, increased the contrast and the vibrancy, but it's still boring, it's out of the question.

---

Upgrade in Photoshop

I used adjustment layers to add more colors to the image and I made it more sharp with the high pass filter. I selected the sandy road and changed the tones of it by using the tone curve. It looks much better now, but still boring.

---

All image has to tell you a story and I had a plan. I used the Exposure X4 software to add some special effect to the photo. I applied the Agfa color photo filter and a lens motion effect. It changed completely the atmosphere of the photo.

That became the final version of post-processing. Please, click on it to view in full screen and leave a comment.

---

Fear in the forest

---

^{Click on the image to view full screen!}

---

Category	nature photography
Settings	ISO100; 75mm; f/13,0; 1/200sec
Camera	Nikon D5600
Lens	AF-S Nikkor 18-140mm; f/3,5-5,6
Location	Hungary
Other	Lightroom/Photoshop edited

---

If you are interested in photography, please have a look at my previous posts on Whaleshares

Tiny wonders of nature

Painted sky
The sailboat
Against the stream
Bittersweet orchard
Lights of the night
Resting bird
Anchored boat
Aviator
Whalecoin Photo Challenge - Ferrari
The jump
Riding a horse
The bremen town musicians
Morning dew by sunrise

---

I would appreciate your feedback in comments!

If you like the photo(s) in the post, please click on upvote and resteem buttons!
Thank you in advance!

---