Hi Dayna,
The lighting is awesome for this shot. The shot needs more depth of field and for a tripod shot go with at least f16 for an aperture. You can even try stacking images to get everything in focus. For these mini-landscapes go for maximum depth of field. Otherwise, I like what you are going for with these oak leaves…Jim
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Thank you, I’m still guessing at apertures. The lighting is natural. I see what you mean with the bottom leaf out of focus. I probably should have cropped out the black spots on the bottom leaf too. I’m determined to learn how to edit better and then maybe tackle stacking. I appreciate the comments.
Hi Dayna. As Jim said, the lighting is wonderful. I also like the frosty gray background for the way it sets off the rich browns of the oak leaves. Most of the image is in good focus, but the one leaf at the bottom is soft enough to bother my eye, so more depth of field would be helpful. As Jim also noted, f/16 is a good starting point and even f/22 isn’t an issue on the tripod unless you have some wind. Using the depth-of-field preview is very helpful for this kind of shot and live view helps fine tune where to put the focus to get the whole image sharp.
I love the arrangement of the leaves in the frame. It’s a beautiful composition.
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Dayna, the lighting is great as is the mix of warm, glowing leaves and cool background. Getting that bottom leaf sharp would be a good improvement, while f/16 might work here, don’t be afraid to go to even smaller f-stops to get the depth-of-field that your shot needs. Stacking is another significant learning curve.
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Thank you very much. It’s good to know that my eye is okay it’s my technique that needs work. 
Thanks for the insight.
Thank you! Lot’s to work on still. I appreciate the comment.
I like the arrangement of leaves and the golden light is beautiful. You already got some good advice on choosing aperture. Just to give you some numbers: at 70 cm subject distance, focal length 100 mm, aperture f/16, depth of field is 4 cm. Probably just enough if you point the camera perpendicular to the plane of the leaves (there may of course be reasons to point the camera at a different angle). Numbers obtained from the ‘DOF calculator’ app, a useful tool.
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Dayna: Love the subject, comp and light. I’m not familiar with Nikon cameras but if you have a depth of field preview try to get in the habit of using it. I practically wear mine out on macro shots since I’m a single capture guy and don’t stack. There is such a small margin for error at macro distances that you don’t want to just guess. Also, if the subject is stationary like this consider using manual focus to better control your point of focus. If your camera has an EVF and offers focus peaking you can pinpoint the areas in sharp focus more easily. This is my favorite of your images so far. 
>=))>
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Thank you so much! I’m going research all your suggestions! I appreciate the comments.
Welcome! Where are you from?
I like this image a lot - you have a great eye to have visualized this image.
Wonderful light and detail. The small nits have been mentionned, so I’ll just say I’m really looking forward to more of your images, especially in macro and flora.
Sandy
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Thank you! I’m in Maine.