Hi David, Dramatic sculpture and hence subject, and nice and sharp but I think I would lighten the clouds (or maybe the whole image) and make the words level..
Thanks Don. My inclination is to black out the words. You're right, I need to either raise them up or knock them out because hard to read words are a distraction.
Hi David, I think I would, as Don mentions, lighten up the monument a bit for a little more detail in the soldiers and possibly a crop from the bottom to eliminate the words.
I love the hint of detail on the monument, but might be tempted to look at a comparison version with a bit more. But I wouldn't lighten things globally. I don't know DxO Optics Pro, but is there more highlight recovery available? (Just a little.) Would be interesting to compare this file converted in current ACR/LR. Don't know what you have....
I could go either way with the words, but would want to level them if they are left. If this isn't a crop, though, that would crowd things too much. Maybe just black them out -- I like the space on the top and sides.
I actually lowered Blacks to emphasize the silhouette nature of the shot and increase the contrast between the soldiers, sky and flag. I think I'll black out the lettering, but I'll try the other ideas as I rework it sometime in the next day or two. (Things are hectic at work with holidays coming up and year end stuff to get done.