I was reading a book on photography recently and it mentioned that Audubon magazine, several years ago, ran a series of essays about color in nature. Red was a standout and is a favorite of photographers for complementing a subject. The observation made in the book is that red “is a favorite eye-catching color for editorial and advertising use.” I often like setting an interesting subject in front of a blazing red sunset or sunrise to add that vivid, passionate tone to the composition. Here I loved the barren form of dead pines with cones still attached back lit by a sky on fire from the setting sun. The stratified clouds extend the horizontal reach of the branches adding a nice element to the scene. The trees would have held little interest to my eye had red not dominated the background.
