Before. Kind of a neat composition, but it obviously has some serious contrast and lighting issues, particularly in the upper half of the frame. I used a graduated neutral density filter when I actually shot it. This helped me keep some semblance of definition in the sky, but unfortunately darkened the branches in a bad way. As a JPEG this might be unsalvageable.
After. I did a number of adjustments in Photoshop, including a few simulated graduated filters adjusting exposure and contrast, and a lot of playing with the Curves feature.
It is obviously far from perfect. It could use some additional brightening, and perhaps a bit of contrast enhancement. (This is a dillema, though, because if I do too much brightening the sky becomes too white and loses its moody gray quality). The bottom half isn't as vibrant as it is in the original picture. But, as you can see, I've recovered definition in the sky and in the flower branches in the top half of the frame. Yes! This is something I can work with.
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