Thanks, I appreciate ALL of the comments and would like to respond. I don't feel I need to be defensive, but I consider this part of the learning process. It was a high contrast scene, but I was hanging from a gondola and couldn't get a useful two part exposure to process in HDR. As Slobodan mentioned, I did have concerns as I was trying to lower the sky exposure in LR using ND, yet bring some contrast to the clouds. I kept getting those halos that you and I have talked about so I was painting out clarity right at the line between sky and horizon. I processed this image several ways and this was the best compromise. You're right, the shadows in the foreground are blocked when looked at in LR, but that didn't bother me as the interest to my eye was the backlit grape leaves in the foreground. Russ, surprisingly, in LR the upper right area is not blocked though it is close, must be something about the jpg conversion or sharpening. So other than usual LR NDF adjustments to compensate for sky and land differences, I did very little. In PS I simply duplicated the background and used a soft light blend followed by final sharpening. The light really was performing for me! Andrew, I kept the statue in only because it identified the place; thank you for taking a contrarian view. As for the harshness, that's the way I saw it as I glared into the sun!
