This week saw us cross-country skiing at Happy Jack in southern Wyoming. This place is great, and I’m embarrassed to say it was my first trip there. The skiing was great, the weather was not, so I had to lean into the mood when photographing. I made this photo as the winds brought in additional clouds, and it became my favorite image of the week.
Cloudy Winter Sky
Fujifilm X-T2, Fujinon XF 18-55 f/2.8-4 R LM OIS at 18mm, f/6.4 at 1/2000, ISO 800
Digital Darkroom. This image was all about the mood. Black and white was a no-brainer to start processing. For global adjustments, I lowered whites (-86) and increased clarity (+32). This helped compensate for the in-camera overexposure, but the sky was washed out and boring. To compensate, I re-upped whites (+26) and highlights (+26), while lowering shadows (-30) and blacks (-26). Cranking up the dehaze (+73) put some drama back in the clouds. I ended by increasing the shadows (+60) of the conifers to remove the murkiness that was present.
WIRR stands for Weekly Image Rich Ruh. This regular feature on Das Has von Ruh will show and describe my favorite photo created during this weekly period. My weeks start on Mondays, as does the WIRR. I’m hoping to include commentary on the story, the setting, the specs, or the sentiments, depending on the circumstances.
Das Haus von Ruh 
I love this…the skies and the leafless branches.
Thanks!