Stained Glass Trees

Gallery: LandscapePosted October 24, 2011330 views34 comments

Leafless trees against a colorful twilight sky. Looks like stained glass to me. Taken at the Great Sand Dunes in Southern Colorado.

I shared this image with a friend with whom I exchange images for critique and he suggested that I keep the trees dark but lighten the colors in the background. I decided to keep the colors darker, so I am interested to hear if this looks too dark. Any other thoughts are appreciated, as well.

5D2, 70-200 w/ 1.4x teleconverter @ 280mm, f/13, 2.5 sec. It was difficult to get this file below 300kb, so it is a bit crunchy. I also included a larger version with a tiny bit more detail.

Comments

34 comments

Comment posted by Jared Atencio on October 24, 2011 at 11:11 PM

What a beautiful color gradient here Sarah, contrasted very sharply with the graphic silhouettes. This works just fine for me as presented, but can see a softer more muted presentation depending on your mood ;). Very well seen, esp. when at the GSD for crying out loud!

Registered on June 23, 2009, 21 Posts, 422 Comments

Comment posted by Kane Engelbert on October 24, 2011 at 11:29 PM

Sarah, stunning. Such clarity. Love to see this one blown up big.

Registered on June 14, 2009, 63 Posts, 291 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on October 24, 2011 at 11:51 PM

To me this is great as presented. The colors are fine and I like the comp. a lot. Great image.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by James Fougère on October 25, 2011 at 12:04 AM

This is quite the find

Nice long lens shot! the transition is very nice. I like the image the way it is. Nice silhouette

Registered on October 25, 2010, 41 Posts, 831 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Hartmann on October 25, 2011 at 1:52 AM

Oh yeah, this one is good. Love the colors and mood of this artsy shot. This is the kind of stuff folks hang on the wall.

Registered on January 15, 2009, 13 Posts, 772 Comments

Comment posted by Art Escobado on October 25, 2011 at 2:42 AM

that's just excellent!! great color gradient in the sky and pattern of the trees.

Registered on January 7, 2007, 0 Posts, 775 Comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on October 25, 2011 at 3:05 AM

Absolute beauty here Sarah ....love the colors ..and nice composition choice...well done

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Anil Rao on October 25, 2011 at 3:57 AM

Very nicely done, Sarah.

I agree with your friend's suggestion to lighten the colors in the background (just slightly), but your current presentation works well too.

Registered on November 15, 2003, 234 Posts, 4923 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on October 25, 2011 at 9:02 AM

Great comp. I love the black trees against this colorful sky. Great shot

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on October 25, 2011 at 9:13 AM

Looks beautiful to me Sarah. Love the color transition, and the barren limbs give it an elegant look.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on October 25, 2011 at 9:44 AM

Beautiful! The colors are wonderful!, and great job framing the trees.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Schwarz on October 25, 2011 at 10:03 AM

Nicely seen and captured. I like the variety of colors in the sky. I think it works the way you have it.

Registered on November 29, 2006, 236 Posts, 1210 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on October 25, 2011 at 11:46 AM

The silhouette works great for me. Wonderful gradient of color and a great pattern of trees to compliment it. Beautifully done.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on October 25, 2011 at 11:52 AM

I think this works great as is. The beautiful colors in the background create a nice gradient. Wouldn't change the colors there a bit. Nicely seen and captured.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Reed on October 25, 2011 at 12:14 PM

Colour is superb. Don't change a thing.

Registered on September 19, 2009, 198 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Fricke on October 25, 2011 at 12:39 PM

Gorgeous image Sarah! I like the shot as presented, the dark colors give the image more richness I think.

Registered on January 19, 2007, 133 Posts, 1448 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on October 25, 2011 at 12:46 PM

One of your very best! I would leave it as-is!

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Kevin Trinkner on October 25, 2011 at 1:22 PM

Very nice, love the dark trunks against the colorful layers. Well seen and captured.

Registered on June 30, 2008, 203 Posts, 2641 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on October 25, 2011 at 3:16 PM

I like the image, and the darker colors. Light colors would be blander. This works as is.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Phillip Noll on October 25, 2011 at 4:32 PM

Looks perfect to me!!

Registered on November 17, 2003, 207 Posts, 1083 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on October 25, 2011 at 6:59 PM

This is just wonderful Sarah. Love the layers of color and silhouetted trees.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Joe Abounader on October 25, 2011 at 7:19 PM

Stunning colours, perfect silhouetted trees to go with.

Registered on June 15, 2011, 14 Posts, 58 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on October 25, 2011 at 7:51 PM

Perfect Sarah!

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on October 25, 2011 at 9:49 PM

I'm with Marc. This is one of your best!
Very creative, unique and executed flawlessly. Oh, yeah...I like it just the way it is.

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on October 25, 2011 at 10:24 PM

Perfect sky to go with the comp. Well done :)

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Sarah Marino on October 25, 2011 at 10:51 PM

Thank you for the kind comments and feedback about the colors - much appreciated. I think this will turn out to be one of my favorite images of mine from this year and I am glad to know that others are enjoying it as well.

Registered on November 10, 2008, 23 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by dean hebert on October 25, 2011 at 10:51 PM

Sweet colour gradient! Nice comp.

Registered on August 4, 2010, 70 Posts, 1132 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Goldwasser on October 26, 2011 at 1:42 AM

This is gorgeous - dark works great! Great eye to see this - it really does remind me of stained glass.

Registered on May 10, 2009, 127 Posts, 970 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Marcellini on October 26, 2011 at 11:43 AM

I'm diggin it!

Registered on November 27, 2007, 250 Posts, 2468 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Wegemann on October 26, 2011 at 5:34 PM

This is what color landscape photography is all about! The color gradient, and the contrast between trees and sky all come together so well. I'm glad you kept the colors darker as they look richer and more saturated. A work to be proud of Sarah.

Registered on December 14, 2006, 58 Posts, 1888 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on October 26, 2011 at 9:30 PM

Stunning!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on October 27, 2011 at 12:45 AM

Beautiful graphic image Sarah. I love the way the color transitions from warm to cool. Great capture!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Hillary Younger on October 27, 2011 at 3:39 AM

Wonderful patterning and color...I love the color transitions, and the darkened trees creating silhouetted shapes is perfect for this image.

Registered on October 2, 2011, 17 Posts, 167 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on October 27, 2011 at 6:37 PM

I really like the vividness. Resembles "black flames" to certain degree.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments