I used exposure blend techniques to preserve detail and colour in the highlights and shadows - something I would normally avoid in an action shot, but I felt this one needed it. Any comment or critique most welcome. Thanks to Jaime for helping.

Superb Dan. Did you blend the exposures from a single RAW file or bracketted exposures?

Nice work Dan - for once though, I don't know whether red was best for the climber? It's a very 'warm' scene to start with and maybe to my eye it almost clashes?
Anyway - great shot.

Not much wrong with this, but if I was to nit-pick... The climber should be in the top crack and the sun a bit lower. I'd also crop out some of the foreground which adds litte to the composition.

I like it. Nice work Dan

Thanks for the kind and helpful comments. If I remember rightly, its a blend of two bracketed shots about 4 stops apart. Blended using masks in photoshop, and for each exposure, a curves adjustment layer helps the two blend together.

Nice shot and the blend works very well. My only *very* minor quibble would be to agree with Hindu's comment about red not being the best climber's colour for this particular shot.

What is exactly wrong with Red??? It's use displays complete colour harmony in this excellent composition, as it is between the Orange of the sunset and the Violet of the heather! Not so keen on the personal logo in the corner though Dan.

who is the climber? - looks like my brother Paul Mitchell.Brilliant picture.

@Sean Kelly: Nothing 'wrong' with red at all, it's just that for me, it blends in colour-wise too well with the rest of the image. I'd like just a tad more contrast, assuming the climber is meant to be the main subject of the photo. Like I said, it's a very tiny point.
FWIW, I didn't even notice the logo in the corner, so you can probably discard my so-called observations! ;)

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Thanks All. I am the climber with the daft colour scheme. I'll have to take a bigger wardrobe out to the crag with me. I also hate logos, but I've decided to try and include them unobtrusively on images that might get ripped off.

Great shot Dan

Good view and timing i like the red and the bushes can only a little take a away the lead in (only a little). ill be using blending a little more myself after seeing this im not a fan like yourself of to much post if i can be done with skill instead, have a 5!

So, who took the photo?

Shutter pressed by my ever patient and understanding partner, Jaime, acknowledged in the first comment. Composed, timed and set up on the tripod as a bracketed exposure by myself.

What do you mean by 'timed'?
And, when you say 'Thanks to Jaime for helping', don't you mean 'Actually, this isn't my photo'?

@murdster - allow me to clarify and then make your own mind up.
I packed 4kg of photography kit, and wore a red top and daft orange trousers just in case the light was right at sunset. On seeing the light turn good, I previsualised this image, and spent ten minutes finding a composition that included some heather -which I love, the sunset and the crag.
Then I set the camera up on a tripod, to make sure the image was composed exactly as I wanted it. Then I set up the camera, chose the lens, manually focused at the hyperfocal distance, ISO 100 for quality, f/7.1 for depth of field and to reduce chromatic abberations, bracketed exposure of 1/10-1/160sec for full dynamic range, set to mirror lockup and 2sec delay to reduce camera vibration.
Then I climbed the route, making sure I paused at the moments that might make a good shot so there was no motion blur. I'd then shout NOW, and Jaime would press the remote shutter release. This was what I meant by 'timed'.
After that, all that was left was to process the RAW files in Lightroom, set white balance and tweak the exposure. Then off to photoshop to blend the exposure of the sky and the crag, see this tutorial to see what's involved http://photodoto.com/exposure-blending-tutorial/.
A couple of hours of PS later, and you have the result. In plenty of old school, action or candid photos, pressing the button is the key creative act. In this case, it was a smaller part of the picture.

Awesome shot Dan.

Great shot, and a really useful explanation, many thanks

"Escape from Broadmoor, Sunset, Solo"

Oh Dan!
The red top looks rather like a dusky pink on my screen, and as everyone knows, Orange and Pink are an absolute fashion no-no, dah-ling!
Fantastic photo though, the exposure blending works a treat. Love it - have a 5!

So, just to clarify, it's not actually your photo.

A great photo, dont listen to what Murdster says, many of his comments are fatuous.

I recognise those clothes from another great pic, around the corner on The Rasp. Thanks for sharing.

I think the foreground is crucial to this picture