I don't know . . . I reeeely don't know. This was taken at Lighthouse Park on the same day as my last photo. This natural staircase looked much cooler in person as there was a small stream of water cascading down the rocks. Can't see it at all on film. Pity.
The fog is not a PhotoShop addition. That's Kim's breath on the lens! I used a bit of lens paper to wipe the middle clean. Probably should have made the "hole" bigger, but there you go.
Photoshop work: I cranked the contrast via levels and curves. Did some toning and removed the harsh vignetting by painting over it with the dodge tool.
Still iffy on this one, so let your best honest critique fly. :)
You know you've hit the big time when you've got an assistant to breathe on your lens for you! :) The fog effect is a good idea, and I like that you did it when shooting, and not as an afterthought. It's a really nice composition - the eye follows the stream upward and into the forest nicely, ending up at the promising burst of light at the top (which has a really pleasing glow to it from the fog!) Again, I think the filters detracted rather than added here - especially the polarizer, which worked nicely at making the water of the stream disappear! (red filter has this effect, too.) By the way, I have to agree with others that you are too hard on yourself - Amateur? sure! most of us here are! "Painfully amateurish?" Hardly! You've got a very good eye and do really nice work!
Stefan, if you read my response to "Lighthouse Park" you'll find out what I was trying to achieve with the filters. As you can see in this photo, there is no sky nor water so in effect, I just didn't think to take them off!
I know I sound like a complete goof, but I'm one of those "learn from your many, many, many mistakes" kinds of people. For some reason, the gears in the brain roll only once I get the prints back and compare the photographs to the notes I took while shooting them. :-/
0 
