Lone leaf

I spotted this lone leaf early one morning while on a walk at our local nature trail. The sun was in the perfect position to highlight the leaf. It just reminded me that it a new day was ahead and a nice way to start the day.
In ACR applied a linear profile, auto adjustment, adjusted those, then applied noise reduction to the background. In PS Cropped to 1x1, I did some content aware/cloning to remove miscellaneous twigs, then added a free hand vignette.
What I like is the soft feel of the leaf with the lighting from the sun. I realize it is symmetrical but felt the right side (which is what I cropped) was unnecessary. I’d be interested in how you feel about the image and if the crop feels to tight for you? Any other thoughts/comments?
Nikon D3200, f/9, 1/100sec., iso 320 @ 300mm, hand held. 300mm is not ideal for this lens (28mm-300mm) but the leaf was way off the path and was my only choice.

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I just love these type of images. The crop works very well IMO. You have also adjusted the BG in a great way. And the leaf itself is just amazing, the deterioration and structure is just perfect. Just a minor comment, maybe the brightness of the green diagonal branch could be reduced a tad.

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Thanks, @Ola_Jovall. Good point about the branch, but was hesitant to process too much. I appreciate you thoughts.

Gorgeous light and great detail!! The leaf is fascinating! The crop looks excellent to me, but the leaf seems to be sticking up at an awkward angle. I wondered about a 180 rotation to make the leaf hanging down but that made the light on the stems coming from below. A 90 CW sort of worked. Maybe there is an in-between if you have enough canvas.

Good work with a less-than-ideal situation.

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Re-work:

Thanks so much, @Diane_Miller. I so appreciate your perspective and suggestions. A lot of times I get lost in my own world. I’ve posted a rework with your suggestions and do like it much better. Perhaps a bit too much canvas on the right now, but still better and time for me to move on. Thanks again

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Oh the rework you just posted was worth the time and effort! Brava!

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Thanks so much, @Kris_Smith. Definitely like it better and truly appreciate all of the comments and suggestion everyone here at NPN are so will to share.