[Zig]

This is my favourite shot from Florence(that particular gallery is here if you fancy a look at the rest).
Using the Zeiss Distagon 21mm f2.8, the very odd EXIF is 1/99sec atf9.9, shooting contrejour in shifting light.
The man himself was dodgy seller of dodgy goods, who kept flitting away when he saw my camera....but the joy of wideangle allowed me to nab him at the same time as he thought I was shooting something else!
It was a long wait to get this shot, as the place was heaving with tourists, so I pre-focused with a wide enough aperture as to make use of hyperfocal distance.
I truly do feel that manual wideangle lenses are much easier to use in the field than autofocus: also, depth of field and close-focus distance are much wider on the Zeiss than I used to find with the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 L MkII(just popped that observation in for Chris, if you're about mate!)
In terms of post-processing, I worked from a lo-contrast conversion, darkening the gamma, then adding some diffuse glow in another layer. I erased all but the horizon in the diffused layer. Finally, I duplicated the image as another layer, adding a tad of smart sharpen, again erasing the layer apart from the foreground.

[Toad]

Amazing! I'm on the run - I will comment more later.

[Toad]

On second viewing, this is still a brilliant shot. Even when you remove the drama of the setting, the image stills stands on its own. The quality of the glow from the diffuser layer speaks to the title perfectly. The towering POV, the supplicant on the lower steps, the glow that prevents the world below from disturbing my view until I am ready to look upon it. Makes me feel very god-like...

I see this image as a significant refinement on the luminous lighting style that you have been working with lately. There is a shot of a gondola in your Venice Gallery that also features this unworldly glow - I am really interested in seeing where you go with this.

[Don Schaeffer]

I love the texture of this.

[Irma]

Very nice picture Zig. I like a lot the story you tell and your post processing as well.

Impressive gallery too! I love your pictures.... specially doumo new lines and pretending...

Thanks for sharing your pictures...