wow, I am really late on this one, my apologies to you Marlene, after I asked about your postwork in the gallery. Of course both images have their merits, as everyone has pointed out so I'm not going to go on. I think the original did benefit from some work. I think the building is 10x better, the colours of the wood and the reflection in the deck on the veranda is excellent, though you have lost some detail in the eaves. The only thing in the whole image is the tree leaves, maybe a bit too bright, but people have covered this already. I think the grass is excellent and so is the foliage around the tree trunk. I think the trunk would have been fine left lighter, it doesn't unbalance the image at all, it's a beautiful composition. So overall, it's great, more please :)