Wandering through the aspen groves in Colorado there’s an occasional blue spruce tucked in that catches the falling leaves. The night before there had been thunderstorms with strong winds that knocked a lot of leaves down. The way the leaves landed edge-wise in the needles was quite captivating.
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Any comments welcome. I fiddled with the color of the underside of the leaf because it was overpowering the scene. Does it look odd? I deliberately shot wide open to make the edge of the leaf and the pointy ends of the needles stand out. I also darkened most of it overall for the same reason.
Overall I love the look and feel of this image. I think by experimenting with a few different cropping compositions will help you determine that the leaf curl in the center could be placed differently. I also love the short depth of field you have, but I’d really like to see a little more of those pine needle tips in focus. Well done.
Overall the dark and OOF bokeh contrasted with the light of the leaf gives it a “hidden treasure” effect that is very nice, and I also like the diagonal flow of the branches. I don’t think the underside of the leaf is odd; I wouldn’t have know if you hadn’t mentioned it. I too feel the focus is very tight, although its the forward-most edge of the leaf that I’d like to see in focus.
Hi Bonnie, I love shallow DOF images. This one works for me quite well. I like the comp, the colors, and the positioning of the leaf. I personally wouldn’t change a thing. Well done.
Great eye to catch and capture this. Great choice as well with the selective focus and shallow dof. this works quite beautifully.
Ok, I’ll just have to admit this one. As cliche as it might have been, I’m kinda wishing this leave had the traditional yellow/orange/red autumn color to it. So I’m not sure if by “fiddling” with the color that it was originally yellow? but you changed it? But honestly, as presented it certainly doesn’t look odd; the brownish color is certainly one of the stages the leaves go through.
Lon, I went back and looked at the original, and it wasn’t a nice bright yellow/orange. It was already faded and had an odd magenta tone on the underside. I suppose I could make it yellow - lol.
I’m late here but have to say how much I love this!! The DOF is lovely and makes the tips of the needles stand out so nicely! I don’t mind the centered leaf but the needes are so wonderful that maybe a different crop could be nice too. I’m with @Lon_Overacker in that a more yellowish leaf could be very nice! (Nothing crazy, just a touch of makeup…)
Well, I tried out the yellow idea. It took more than a touch of concealer, but I managed - ha. I think it was a good idea; I rather like it yellow. Will post a rework.
I was just scrolling through the thumbnails of the images in Image Critiques over the past month and your shot stopped me. Beautiful image! The simplicity of the dark rich green spruce , the nebulous dark background, and the aspen leaf cradled in the spruce branch is stunning.
