(Neil M. Gunn's last full novel, published in 1954, and a wonderful exploration of metaphysical anguish in the Scottish Highlands)

Sorry, I was house-bound yesterday as the snow storms hit Gloucestershire - no chance to get out other than round the garden, so this is a photo from my recent walk up on Cleeve Hill. The hill forms part of the Cotswold escarpment, a steep slope which rises from the floor of the Severn Vale to the relatively flat plateau of the Common. Despite it being a beautifully clear day on the Common itself, when I was walking along the edge, soft tendrils of mist and low cloud were being blown up the escarpment and through the whin bushes at the top, making them disappear and reappear disconcertingly. As well as that, the silence was deafening - this part of the walk was quite literally like moving through an alien and other-worldly place.

Nothing much done to this shot - opened into Camera Raw, Clarity increased a touch and a light Tone Curve added. Into CS3, I desaturated it via two B&W Adjustment layers, a light touch one for the top of the bushes and sky, the second more aggressive for the lower half. I also added Smart Sharpen to the bottom half. Images was flattened and then good old Dodge & Burn was used on the highlights and dark features. Almost last, a Diffuse Glow was added for emphasis of the highlights...then resized for the web

As with yesterday, grateful for all critiques :o)

Thursday 7th's spectral entry to the Challenge; click here for other monochromed Pbasers in January