Some twelve years ago, my work took me to Mexico in April. The end of the month found me in the city of Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo León. I’d been there for a few days, and had so far been most impressed with two local attractions, one of which was the roast goat, a culinary specialty of the area (the shoulder is the best). The other was a visit to a geolog-ically fascinating valley that I plan to bring you another time. This particular Sunday dawned chilly, rainy, and foggy, and I’d been invited out for a drive in the country by a colleague in the Foreign Agricultural Service. We drove out of the city to the southwest and up to a winding, unpaved road that meandered around the mountain of Chipinque. 
I’ve been very fond of this image since I first made it, and a large print is displayed in a prominent place in my dentist’s office, but I haven’t tried tweaking it before. This very well conveys the mood I felt as I made the original shot. Please give it a click to have a larger and more detailed look.
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krikitarts 
Das ist unbeschreiblich schön <3 Besonders die Steine auf der rechten Seite. Ein Gesicht, der Baum der aus diesem wächst.. Sich über den ganzen Weg breitet, wie ein schützender Arm… Besondere Stimmung, besonderes Foto :)
Liebe Grüße, Frauke
Wie gut es ist, wieder von Dir zu hören, Frauke! Ich habe lange nichts mehr von Dir gesehen, und es freut mich, sowie daβ Du immer noch gedeihst, als auch das mein getweaktes Foto Dir gefallen hat. Hoffentlich geht Alles für Euch bestens!
Ich verfolge jeden Deiner Beiträge <3 Habe aber so gut wie nie kommentiert, das stimmt. Auf meinem dritten Blog gibt es immer viel neues zu lesen von uns :)
Du bist die erste (auβer mir selbst), die das Gesicht erkannt hat. Gratuliere!
Sowas fällt mir immer sofort auf <3
I’m struck by this image. It is absolutely stunning!
Wow, thanks for letting me know you like it so much–I’ve been thinking for a while that this treatment would suit it quite well, and I’m really pleased with the result!
Yes, absolutely! More, please :)
It got to me, too. It reminds me of Pictorialist photography:
http://tinyurl.com/jnzqhue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictorialism
I can surely see why you made that connection, and thanks for the links. I’m happy to see that it got to you too!
Superb composition and catching the water on the road was a bonus.
More and more, I’m noticing how some compositions just look ‘right’ and balanced. Some photographers, even professional ones, don’t necessarily achieve this despite all their experience.
It was a photographic bonus, you’re right there. It meant, though, that any time I was out of the car, I had to carry an umbrella, as the rain, although light, was pretty much constant. And the light was low, which meant slow shutter speeds for any serious depth of focus. But I do love those conditions and was ready for them, with my waterproof jacket and my ever-faithful Akubra. (The umbrella, of course, was for the camera.) As for composition (thanks for the high compliment!), I’ve found that my left eye is my more artistic one. I hope nothing really serious ever happens to it!
I can smell the rain. It has the feel of a piece done with pastels: to my taste, more approachable and attractive than a simple black-and-white photo.
You’ve raised some memories, too. My first trip to Mexico was to Monterrey, for a conference. We made a side trip to Huajuco Canyon and Horsetail Falls — another first, as I’d never seen a large waterfall.
I’m delighted that you like the gentle, pastel effect. And, ah, yes, memories! I’ve been to Horsetail Falls (Cola de Caballo), but I don’t know the Huajuco Canyon–I visited another, though, La Huasteca. I did a brief post about it back in 2004, but I’ve been considering doing another, with more photos and information. There are some real geological marvels in that area!
I can almost smell the wet earth and feel the damp breeze on my skin…. Well done, Gary.
I was happy that the damp breeze was only a light one and not a strong wind coming up the side of that mountain. They were among my favorite conditions for shooting.
As there is some obvious color I see what Linda sees as pastels, but overall I get more a feel of charcoal as the medium…were it not a photograph. My mother and one aunt used to do a lot of charcoals so I am more prone to see that in such a piece. I worked with ink for a while also.
There is a lot of atmosphere in your image, something I often look for when in a fog, both literally and figuratively, and I’d be very happy to come upon this.
I agree completely with your impression of a charcoal feel to the piece. And also with your quest for atmosphere. As we left the city, there was very little, just a steady, light rain. But as we started to climb the mountain road, the atmosphere thickened to fog and then continued to become more dense until, looking out away from the slope, the visibility shrank to a few dozens of meters. It’s just what I was hoping to find. Yes, you would have savored it too.
Absolutely beautiful, Gary – you should do more of this sort of thing. Adrian
As you may recall,you were more or less responsible for my starting the Tweaking Tuesday tag (you can easily refresh your memory by clicking on the tag, in case it’s slipped your agile mind). I am making myself learn a lot more about the Nik tools and am inspired anew. I have several new offerings lined up and the list is growing slowly but steadily. So stay tuned–too bad Tuesday only comes once a week!
I have an agile mind??? I’ll need some time to think about that … ;) … Am extremely glad you’re starting anew with Nik – looking forward to the results. A