Beauty & Ice

A couple of you have asked what lens I purchased. So here it is:

35mm 1.8G

After much debate on this one and another I made my final decision based upon what I would use most. Originally I wanted my next lens to be a zoom lens. But I realized how rarely I would use a zoom. So that will come at a later date (along with my growing wants list). For now I'm enjoying being able to take much more fast, clear, and crisp photos even in lower light situations. Not to mention the depth of field is awesome, and the price for it's ability is superb!

Anyway, I wanted to post my Touch Up Tuesday photo. I took it this morning. We had an ice storm that left behind weighted down trees, slick roads and sidewalks, and icicles. Joy. I managed to get a quick shot of the icicles hanging off our bench before running off to work .

SOOC:

EDIT:

My Touch Up:
Cropped. Adjusted Layers. Up'd the brightness (+15) & contrast (+30) Brightened the white using color replacement. Used high pass filter with soft blending mode of 35% opacity. Ran P&W's B&W Beauty. Adjusted the B&W down to 65% opacity and the bump to 60%. Used unsharp mask at 29% opacity.

I think I like it. I could do a million edits and I'm sure one would turn out better but that's all I have time for this evening so I'll stick with it :)