It was snowing (very lightly!) only 20 minutes before taking this shot. I noticed the farmer and found somewhere to park up, then this was the best I could managed before the sheep were safety in their pens.
First time I've tried dodging and burning, really not sure if it is subtle enough, hopefully someone will comment!
Cropped, removed a small red hose, NN, Levels, Curves, Dodge and burn, Levels, selective saturation on sky, resize and USM. Took a while but it was relaxing!
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This picture, as has been commented previously, is a great representation for this challenge. Only criticisms are basically things out of your control.
Composition: Nice off 2/3 placement of the shepherd and sheep. Excellent depiction of country life by inclusion of the house. I would've preferred less foreground distraction from the tree but in the limited time you had this is a nice capture.
Lighting & Camera Work: The lighting in this shot is less than ideal since the subjects are all relatively dark as compared to the sky. I would've liked to see brighter subjects but again, in the limited time you had nice job. Exposure of the scene looks good. I think the focus should have been on the shepherd as opposed to the house.
Postprocessing: I don't see any obvious signs of your cloning or dodge and burn. Sky saturation looks nice and isn't overpowered. Sharpness is a little low but noise levels due to high ISO may have prevented higher sharpening.
Suggestions: Obviously it's hard to have suggestions for this since it was taken spur of the moment. If it were possible to retake the shot under whatever conditions you want, I would say having a better lighting (like early morning while he's taking them out) so the lighting isn't so flat, and repositioning to remove the distraction of the tree and brush in the foreground would really help this out.
I hope you find this helpful. Please don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions.
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