Arch from Window, a photo from Utah, West

Photographer's Note

This photo was taken in Arches National Park looking through North Window westward toward Turret Arch. The sun had not yet risen and the clouds in the sky were turning beautiful shades of pink and purple.

What's the difference between an arch and a window?
That was the question I had, and here's what I found out.

Definition: A natural arch is a rock exposure that has a hole completely through it formed by the natural, selective removal of rock, leaving a relatively intact frame.

A natural window is just an arch that reminds the viewer of a window. So calling an arch a window doesn't have any real scientific classification criteria, it's simply used in naming arches.

Film: Fuji Velvia.
Scanned with a Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED.
Edited in Photoshop CS2.

postvikram, Rossignol, benkrut, mikee, Stan, smash2707, sovieira, david, Rodrigues, Albrecht has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

postvikram (1199) 2006-04-14 18:00

Greetings Ryan,
This is a beautiful capture.Excellent lighting on the rocks and the colors are great.The patterns in the sky are very nice too.
Thanks for sharing - Vikram

Rossignol (2289) 2006-04-14 18:11

Lovely composition, Ryan.
Excellent idea to frame the distant rock formations through an arch of rock in the foreground. The warm red colours of the rocks in the early morning is magnificent and excellent use of the small aperture to maximise the depth of field.
Very good work.
Peter

Nikofan (1090) 2006-04-14 18:26

Hello,

Very impressive composition.
Mother nature reserves us some surprises.
Nice look!
Excellent job!

Bernard

benkrut (2407) 2006-04-14 18:29

Hi

It's an amazing picture - beatiful colours, great window and arch :) Now I know what is the difference between them.
Pleasure to look at.
Take care
Henryk

mikee (2354) 2006-04-14 18:45

Wow! Very attractive. Wonderful colors and contrast in your composition, Ryan. The place looks very impressive. Can't help but wonder what the composition would have looked like if you would have used the natural arch in the foreground as a complete frame (without the sky at the top). Just wondering. Well seen. Well done.

Best regards,

bmr

Stan (2770) 2006-04-14 19:10

Bonsoir Ryan,
Very nice sharp shot! Maybe a little too saturated for me.
I like the perspective in the arch. Amazing sky. Well done.
Best regards
Serge

Rodrigues (1035) 2006-04-14 19:24

It works waking early in the morning. What bold colours. Nice composition, framing the arch using the window. It really works in making me wish to go there. Tks for sharing.

smash2707 (3320) 2006-04-14 20:38

Good framing, nice colors and sharpness. Beautiful colors. Regards, Yvonne

fayeulle (27827) 2006-04-14 21:24

Hi Ryan
This is a nery nice shot of this astonishing landcape. I am amazed by the details of the rocks of the arch. I like the way you framed it including an other small arch inside the major one.
Well done
JP

klennon79 (0) 2006-04-14 22:09

Beautiful shot. Great vivid colors. Nice textures and contrast as well. Really nice job. :)

david (3992) 2006-04-14 22:24

nice colours and great framing here ryan. this is a wonderful shot. well spotted!

sixTL (8596) 2006-04-15 1:54

Hi Ryan, wonderful shot. What a beautiful countryside. very good POV and DOF.

Regards Artur

hispic (9658) 2006-04-15 3:32

Exquisite shot, Ryan.
Rich red of the rock is very impressive, with great composition early in the morning.
The title "Arch from Window" is also smart very much.
Best wishes,
Hisashi

YaTtAcAn (90) 2006-04-15 3:46

There's only one word to say: WOOOOOOW!!!

imrek (4) 2006-04-15 5:15

Hi Ryan,
it is a really good one, nice composition, colours and point of view!! Well done!!!
regards,
imre

sovieira (289) 2006-04-15 19:17

Olá Ryan,
Love your photo, that strong red rock contrasting with the sky :) It's beautiful what nature can produce, good composition.
Kind Regards,
Sónia.

PS. So I almost full you with my photo...but it's from Portugal, and I know you I've been here :)

scorfel (4294) 2006-04-16 17:13

Very good beautiful view and place.

Alex

ghislain (218) 2006-04-17 11:09

Wow superbe photo, la composition, les couleurs et la netteté sont excellentes, j'adore l'angle de prise.
bravo
Ghislain

squash110 (64) 2006-04-17 17:24

Wow this is a classic framing the image. I love the colors that are in this photo. The lighting is amazing. Keep up the good work, and keep photo's like these coming.

toniox (878) 2006-04-18 10:46

Hi Ryan, very impressive photo, colors are very satured. So arch or window, it is very good.

Polonaise (5802) 2006-04-30 18:23

There is so many of this Utah's formations on TE, that I never bothered even to open the thumbnail with it, yet this one...It's a head whacking powerfull blow.
The colors in conjunction with that very special POV - and you have the picture that will stay in memory.
Marvelous work, Ryan.
Keep that shutter busy.
George

bebeM (412) 2006-05-05 9:32

You have a wonderful arches series! I like this for the powerful complementary and tonal contrast.
Thank you,
Bebe

Albrecht (11283) 2006-05-12 15:22

Hi Ryan
Spectacular view and great colours and compo. Beautiful place to be....
greetings Albrecht

alentejo (1954) 2006-10-10 16:51

Hi Ryan !
Wow ! Thats a view ! Great POV. I also like the clouds covering the sky. The texture of the stone is interesting and enhanced by the low light around.
Congratulation.

andreineamtu (466) 2007-09-03 15:27

very nice composition and clarity. the DOF everyone uses here on TE in comments from what I see is well an wisely used in this photo (as we can see, it's F/22, which tells us the photographer knows what's the use of it, especially on film..). I like the arch is not corner-to-corner, you have a bit of sky, and it balances well the image. I'd have named this image "the eye". very good photo.