I took this quick snap in 2005, thinking through the viewfinder this might be a keeper. Apparently from efforts to make this photo work, it is not a keeper.  What do you think?

Please feel free to work the large image and see if crop and other postwork can make this a usable image.  I am worn out with it and may have to say goodbye, quick snap.   This is for imporovement, not for diti spectacular colors, etc.  Thanks! Have a go with it or simply tell me what you think..useful shot or not?

This is shot across the street from Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, Ohio, USA. in the heart of Amish country.  The hardware store is as much a tourist spot as a store. But, you can get all the old stuff new stores don't have or even a posh $3000 wood burning stove/oven for the kitchen.

Here is my go it looks a little warmer

I'm not sure if this is what you had in mind but here's my take on it. I didn't have much time so I obviously wasn't very thorough in colorizing the sky behind the trees but I think this is enough to give you the general idea:

Local Contrast Enhancement Convert to mono  curves adjustment smart sharpen crop patch bush dodge and burn

May I ask where this picture was taken. What part of the country.  It looks a lot like farms we have in the shenadora valley here in Va. :)
 Hope you don't consider this as me hijacking your thread. :)

iloco, having spent some time in the Shenandoah, on the hills high above the valley, I know that is a beautiful part of the country.  I saw similar farms in VA.  This one was taken in northern Ohio, slightly and south of Canton.

The efforts so far have been better than my tries..I got burned out on it and needed a fresh look.  Thanks for the good work, everyone.     Tom.

It definetly cries out "old photo" to me. So I vote for the B&W look (guess I'm kind of partial to that look). The grey sky was the deciding factor in that, since it gave it a softer image to begin with. So I upped the contrast and lowered the brightness and then removed the color. Then I put a diffuse filter on it to soften it up even more. I had a hard time with cropping. I kept cropping and uncropping at different spots. There is something a little off with my crop, but this was the best I could come up with in such a short time.

Thanks Tom for reply.  Glad you been there and know what I meant. :)

I ahve no idea how to work with pictures such as the others are doing but watching the thread is very good information .
   I will have to start exploring how to work with photos now that go new camera. :)

Best wishes with both..you will enjoy it.      Tom.