Dressed in Red

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 1, 2010382 views32 comments

Thanks very much for your comments on my last post. You know, the more I look back at the images we came home with from our long weekend in Yosemite at the beginning of November, the more astounded I am at the colors that we found. It was unlike any autumn I have ever seen in the valley.

On our last day Harley and I spent a couple of hours in this small little area of Big Leaf Maple and Pacific Dogwood. This little spot was literally about a 1 minute walk to the lobby of the Yosemite Lodge. Now that I think about it, the dogwood in this image is the same tree that provided the reds in my first post Yellow and Red.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. Color, saturation, comp, anything!

4x5, V100, Nikkor 450mm, f/45 @8s in a slight drizzle.
Tony's masks and actions.

Thanks!

Lon

Comments

32 comments

Comment posted by Sarah Marino on December 2, 2010 at 12:08 AM

Lon - Being that red is my absolute favorite color, I would be very happy to see this hanging above my living room fireplace. The color and composition are simply beautiful. What draws me to the image is the red -- the extra yellow in the background (near the top) is a minor distraction for me. Otherwise, I really enjoy this image.

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

Comment posted by David Cobb on December 2, 2010 at 1:12 AM

It's wonderful what can be found so close to the lodge, if one is not looking for the icon images in Yosemite. I had no idea the park held so much fall color. I love your tight comp of these trees, and how the reds and yellows work so well together. Beautiful Lon.

Registered on December 14, 2007, 312 Posts, 3243 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on December 2, 2010 at 1:45 AM

Beautiful, intimate autumn image Lon. 8 seconds, wow, how did you get those leaves to stand still that long?! =) Again, great job on the processing, looks totally natural with nice saturated colors created by the rain. Excellent work.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on December 2, 2010 at 7:00 AM

Gorgeous riot of autumn colour Lon.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Anthony Vincent on December 2, 2010 at 7:41 AM

Lon, Lon, Lon why do you have to go do me like this. Fantastic reds, boy is that great. Like wet paint and Im afraid to touch my screen

The reds and colors look fine to me. Im not sure if cropping down the dark spaces up top would do anything but just an observation.

Great job and thanks for sharing
Im enjoying viewing this one

Registered on February 5, 2009, 199 Posts, 2775 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Duval on December 2, 2010 at 8:06 AM

Zen in red, Lon

Based on the posts and the comments I believe this year has been one for the ages. Spring and fall color were indescribable, I guess that's why we make images. Going back to John Muir, who tried in words to convey the wonders of nature ( especially the Sierra ) they pale in comparison to the images, like this one, intimate or iconic.

Lon,

Thanks for sharing.

Paul

Registered on June 30, 2009, 508 Posts, 1907 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Anderson on December 2, 2010 at 8:37 AM

Lon, this is a beautiful image!
A classic look with a nice color palette.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 346 Posts, 2696 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on December 2, 2010 at 9:12 AM

Amazing color and beautiful intimate composition. Thank you for not over-saturating it as one would often be tempted to do with such a subject.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on December 2, 2010 at 9:14 AM

Beautiful, Lon!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI.

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

Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on December 2, 2010 at 9:40 AM

WOW, this really did turnout to be a true color fest in YNP valley area. The intertwined colors are just super. I really like the filled frame of this image, seems to provide a large stage for a large and very colorful tree.

Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments

Comment posted by Gino Cortez on December 2, 2010 at 9:54 AM

This is stunning! The saturation isn't too much for me. The yellows contrast beautifully and I like the fact that they are limited to the right side and don't extend throughout the photo.

Registered on November 23, 2010, 57 Posts, 396 Comments

Comment posted by Reno DiTullio on December 2, 2010 at 11:28 AM

Yeow, now that's some color, Lon. Beautiful, love the reds and wonderful comp

Registered on November 14, 2003, 130 Posts, 1644 Comments

Comment posted by Joel Hazelton on December 2, 2010 at 11:32 AM

Wow, that's a ton of color! Looks perfect to me in every way

Registered on August 6, 2008, 194 Posts, 1315 Comments

Comment posted by Gabi Lach on December 2, 2010 at 12:02 PM

Beautiful, Lon! Well composed and very natural looking. Pleasure to view!

Registered on May 1, 2007, 101 Posts, 3187 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on December 2, 2010 at 12:12 PM

Real nice Lon! The rainy weather we had that morning sure did pop the colors, which were stellar to start with. One heck of a year for color in Yosemite. Excellent image.

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

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on December 2, 2010 at 12:57 PM

What red! Sure does look like you had some amazing color that day!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Cowan on December 2, 2010 at 1:27 PM

Lon,
I like the intermingling of yellow and red you've captured. Nice, simple comp.

Registered on September 22, 2010, 8 Posts, 165 Comments

Comment posted by Timothy F. Hale on December 2, 2010 at 1:42 PM

Exceptional image, Lon.

Registered on December 10, 2003, 282 Posts, 405 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Dayton on December 2, 2010 at 3:03 PM

Lon, I always look forward to seeing your tree(s) images, and this is certainly
no exception. I agree it was a splendid autumn in the Park. For me, this image
is all about color. I have no nits. Keep posting.

Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments

Comment posted by Kevin Trinkner on December 2, 2010 at 3:06 PM

Looks great to me Lon, love reds and yellows, and I like the layers the colors provide here.

Nice capture.

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

Comment posted by Tyson Fisher on December 2, 2010 at 3:37 PM

Love those reds. The Dogwood is nicely offset by the yellows of the Maple creating just enough tension. Good job, Lon!

Registered on September 17, 2008, 44 Posts, 623 Comments

Comment posted by Luis Argerich on December 2, 2010 at 3:58 PM

Hi Lon,
This is really fantastic, the reds are deep and detailed, the yellows in the background are like a canvas. I really like this one.

Registered on December 22, 2009, 91 Posts, 1349 Comments

Comment posted by Todd Liotine on December 2, 2010 at 4:15 PM

Lon, the comp is nice but the color and processing is what really does it for me. The way you kept the detail in every leaf without blowing out the color, etc. Great job

Registered on July 1, 2008, 131 Posts, 671 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on December 2, 2010 at 7:41 PM

Well, you certainly found a nice bit of wildness among the trappings of Yosemite Lodge! I wonder how many people walked right by this with nary a glance to see such splendor?

This is gorgeous, and works for me on every level.

--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on December 2, 2010 at 8:34 PM

Lon,

Just another great tree from you. Always love looking at your work. I don't think I would change a thing.

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

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on December 2, 2010 at 9:47 PM

I'm so far behind that I almost missed this one, Lon. The reds really make for a fantastic fall foliage image and the yellows create a good background. When I scroll-crop the dark areas off the top, the result works quite nicely too in a slightly more abstract way. Always nice to find things this good so close.

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

Comment posted by John Williams on December 2, 2010 at 11:23 PM

Love the superb color Lon. My problem is that I've seen Drive By (with its amazing depth)

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

Comment posted by Bruce King on December 3, 2010 at 9:45 AM

Nice shot Lon. I like that you included the darks areas in the UR bg. Great details.

Registered on January 14, 2010, 276 Posts, 2212 Comments

Comment posted by Laurent Baig on December 3, 2010 at 3:51 PM

Lovely, Lon, just lovely!

Registered on January 12, 2005, 206 Posts, 6784 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on December 3, 2010 at 9:21 PM

Stunning image, Lon. The color, with the red against the yellow, is really quite amazing, and your composition with the wonderful design of the branches, couldn't be better. Gorgeous.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on December 3, 2010 at 10:57 PM

Man, that's beautiful! I thought the dogwoods were as intense as I have ever seen this year. Still a lot of differing stages of color all around. The trees that were at peak were spectacular as is this one. I love the almost blood red of some of the leaves. One thing that strikes me with your expansive Yosemite Trees portfolio, is how you manage to come up with new and fresh comps, and subjects each year.

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on December 7, 2010 at 1:34 AM

Wow Lon, those are some serious reds. I really like the reds in front of the yellow/green tree in the back. This color contrast creates some nice depth in the image.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments