Change of Seasons

We teach on Whidbey Island at the Pacific Northwest Art School almost every year. Late on this day, the wind picked up. So, the class was shooting long exposures of the blowing wheat. However, the light was a bit flat and the overall color palette was banal. But, I kept shooting to get just the right amount of movement in the grasses without being too schmoozed together or too frozen, knowing that I would be re-interpreting the scene in post processing. So, a variety of shutter speeds were used until I got a feel for particular range of shutter speeds that work. That's image #1, the original. In processing, I changed the season from early spring to early fall using Nik's Indian Summer filter in Color Efex Pro. Anyone viewing the 'fall' image first wouldn't see it as completely changed from the original....at least, I don't think they would. The "fall" interpretation is by far more desirable than the original. I also dropped in nik's Grad Blue filter at a low opacity to add some color to the sky. Afterwards, in Photoshop, I performed a curve adjustment layer to add contrast to the middle ground, which has much more punch than in the original. Bottom line: after dramatically changing the image in software, bringing it into a whole other season.......nobody got hurt! Don't forget to click on the image to see a much larger version.