This is an interesting image for me as it ended up exactly 180 degrees from where it started. In the original image, the tree trunk in the front was the darkest, the trunk in the back was lighter and the background yet lighter.
I realized that for it to work, the front tree would have to be the most well lit, so I worked to push the light to the front and allow the rest of the scene to recede. I also for the first time used the Nik Pro Sharpener demo to bring out detail in the trunk on the front.