Location Taken: Savage, Maryland
Time Taken: April 2010
I love the gradient in the background of this picture. It’s most obvious in thumbnail form, but even full size the shift from dark green to blue is evident.
It’s the bright sun-lit tops of the trees that really makes it possible. Otherwise, you’d go from greens to the white-blue of the lower part of the sky, which is far too much of a jump.
Here, even though it is a major hue change, from yellow-green to white-blue, the value is just about the same. So it actually works quite well, while still keeping what part is tree and what is sky quite clear.
The dark tree trunks in front and the fine latticework of leaves just adds contrast and variety. Which, oddly enough, helps the gradient work that much more. If it was just the background, your eyes would catch on the line between trees and sky. But with the visual clutter in front, that line is subtle in comparison and gets lost.
Which would be a real pity, as the gradient effect makes this picture glow.
