To answer your questions: This was taken with an infra red filter (Hoya) and then the contrast adjusted in Photoshop. The photo was taken on a very sunny day, so the sky was already very dark to start with. It was fairly calm, so the leaves were not blurred as is common with infra red photos. All I did was cropped it, adjusted levels and contrast, and sharpened. Infra red photography is fun.
Wow, what a great image. I am assuming this is infrared? I really like the contrast and composition of the right 3/4 of this image. The trail draws my eye to the left side of the image and there's really nothing there...I feel that this image could benefit from having the left 1/4 cropped off. Overall I really like this shot....it's great.