Struggling

The weather was cold, the wind bitter on this morning of a clearing storm in Amador County. Several of us had come here together, looking for early spring flowers in the vineyards, but winter had other plans. Then, this forlorn remnant of a tree manifested itself against the glowering sky. Edging into a dubious wide spot on the road, cars honking, we climbed out our vehicle and paid homage.

This is shot with a Nikon D40x camera that has been converted for infrared use. In Photoshop, a second layer was added and gentle color was added with a low-opacity brush. A Soft Light blending mode eased the colors even more. Finally, a third layer was added, and using the Gradient tool (black to transparent), edges became darker. Opacity was dialed back on this third layer.