Eye catching subject... Boring as bat poo result... advice sought please

[ucci]

Was ambling in from car with shopping and saw an incredible pattern of light rays from slats in fence falling across a nearby Hakia bush. Took a whole range of shots at different settings. All of them turned out dull, lifeless, uninteresting, and most disappointing, despite the best efforts to tweak them back to life. This is the best of a very uninteresting lot. Just wonder if anyone has any ideas to share on this problem please.
Cheers
K

[jiro]

Interesting subject indeed, Ken. A possible suggestion to "improve" the shot would be to warm the whole image by applying a warm filter effect on it. Some straightening would be nice, too. Add some selective dodging on the rays of light to emphasize them, boost the contrast and color, apply some sharpening, and do some burning effect on the leaves to add drama. I did a quick edit and here's what I came up with:



Hope this helps.

[Wirefox]

Ken

Not quite bat poo...but the Jiro the high priest of PP has made all the difference to your image. It was well spotted Ken. I think the optimum is somewhere between the two since I like the softer tones in your version. I am sitting on the fence (groan) with this one

[arith]

Maybe a bit of contrast is needed; blow some of the light and raise the black point.

[arith]

A bit like this but I think you can do better:

[ilovelucydog]

Ken

Not quite bat poo...but the Jiro the high priest of PP has made all the difference to your image. It was well spotted Ken. I think the optimum is somewhere between the two since I like the softer tones in your version. I am sitting on the fence (groan) with this one

All Hail Jiro.

[arith]

hail, hail.

[ilovelucydog]

hail, hail.

[Clactonian]

I might be tempted to convert to black & white.

[Donald]

I might be tempted to convert to black & white.

Beat me to it!

[ucci]

Thanks to all who responded and offer good advice, especially to Jiro and Arith who so kindly did some work on the image and posted their efforts. And Mike and Donald's suggestion of going to black and white has much appeal which I am keen to pursue. Once again thank you all for your help.
K