I feel I need to explain this. I’m currently reading Tom Ang’s “Tao of Photography” and he makes the suggestion that a better photo can be made by balancing the underexposed and overexposed areas rather than concentrating on the ‘proper’ exposure. Thus, “…the exposure that best suits your subject is therefore more a matter of feeling and sensitivity…”. While this picture was taken long before I read that passage, I feel that it fits very well.

I used a polarizer for this to deepen the blue sky and enrich the colors. I’ve increased levels about all that I can without starting to lose detail in the yellow. Yet, that leaves a large portion of the photo underexposed. IMO, I think there is a good balance of light and dark here which gives the atmosphere I wanted, the tall trees rising from the dark undergrowth of the forest reaching into the bright sunlight. The complementary colors were an added bonus. (Actually, they were the reason I took the picture).