Gothic Sunset

My first photo post on this forum. I chose this photo to be the first because their is a bit of a story behind it.

It was the first day of my 1 week vacation and I had arrived in Montrose via the airport that morning. It had been raining off and on since I arrived. I eagerly drove back and forth along Kebler road looking for something to shoot other than the gray sky. As the afternoon went on it seemed to rain harder and the sky became darker. It didn't look like much was going to happen for sunset.

Ok, I thought, no need to wear myself out on the first day. Guess I'll head into town and grab something to eat and plan where to
go for sunrise the next morning.

I drove into Crested Butte and decided to try a mexican restaurant there. As I sat there waiting for my food it seemed to be getting lighter outside and it stopped raining. The sky started to clear.
In a haste I grabbed the waitress and change my order "to go."

I didn't think I had time to reach a good location on Kebler so I quickly headed up Gothic Road. The sky was starting to put on
a show. I didn't make it far up the road and spotted this location right outside town. I finished shooting then ate my cold tacos alongside the road.

This little experience has taught me that you guys aren't kidding
when you say "If you don't like the weather in Colorado, just wait a few minutes."

Nikon D200 f/11 1/60sec. ISO 100
18-200 @20mm tripod
2 or 3 stop soft edge grad ND

Any comments or suggestions on how I can improve on the photo is greatly appreciated.

This should be renamed "Epic Sunset"! Nice photo, Laurie. I would like to see the shadows lightened some, and I think that's very possible. I like the fence, but the big tree is quite a visual obstruction, especially in its current state of silhouettedness. But it's certainly a photo worthy of subjecting yourself to cold tacos. Then again, is there such a thing as a bad taco? I think not!

i would like to see you enact Todd's suggestions as well-immediately my mind thought-lighten the tree area up

I too agree with Todd's suggestions, the shadows being lightened some would most definitely help the image!. What a great story, well worth letting the Taco's go cold to capture the scene!.

A Rocky Mountain sunset is God's way of tucking Colorado in for the night! Nice comp Laurie, nice capture. I agree about lightening the trees and pulling some detail out of it. I might even be tempted to do a vertical crop to right and lose the tree altogether. Worth cold tacos for sure though!
John

Hi Laurie,

Welcome to the discussion forum! Hope to see more of your images sometime.

I really like how the highlights play along the top edge of the fence - it really helps isolate and highlight that graphic element. I also like the group of white flowers in the foreground. They provide just the right point of interest to keep my eyes moving around the frame. I also notice the edge of the clouds parallels the top of the fence - another nice graphic element. I guess I'd have to see another posting with the foreground lightened up to determine which I like best. The darkness has a sense of mystery I think adds to the overall moodiness of the image. The silhouetted tree does seem to detract a bit, though. Maybe lightening would help.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards, Ken

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Here's the reworked image. Brightened up the foreground slightly and the trees a bit more. What do you think?

Very nice!

Great image!

Nice shot Laurie! I think the reworked image is a nice improvement. I think the only other suggestion I would have had would have been to set up a bit further to the right, putting the trees a little closer to the left edge of the frame. But, that may not have been possible, introduced other distracting elements, etc...

Certainly looks like you enjoyed your time in CO!

Much better Laurie

Pam

Oh yeah Laurie, that rocks!

A real beauty Laurie. I can't comment on the lightness of the image as I'm on an uncalibrated laptop, but I really like the comp of this. Well done.

#2 is definitely better, both still have great colors

That's a really nice shot, especially for being in a rush! I like how the fence and cloud lines are similar. The second version is much better.