I wasn’t sure what category this fit in, so I put it here.
I took this photo while touring West Virginia last fall. I had stopped to take photos of a covered bridge, which wasn’t very interesting plus the lighting was terrible. So, I looked around to see if there was anything else to photograph.
I noticed that there was an occasional leaf floating on the surface of the stream that ran under the bridge. That lead me to find a sycamore leaf that sank to the bed of the stream. Every now and then a light breeze would blow upstream which caused ripples on the water’s surface. What is seen in this photo is the surface ripples refracting light onto the stream bed.
Specific Feedback Requested
I would like your input on subject and composition.
I realize that this isn’t a very exciting subject, but I feel like I was able to create a decent photo from a stop that was otherwise a bust.
Technical Details
Canon 5D IV | EF70-200 | f8 | 1/80 | ISO 100 |200mm
Cropped
Post Process: ACR and Photoshop
Quiet scenes like this can be gems – every bit as worthy as grand landscapes. I love the reds and golds here, and the light is fantastic. My only thought would be to burn down some of the brightest highlights and see if you can lighten the leaf a bit to bring out more detail.
Well spotted David! I love images like this that reveal the hidden beauty that can be found in basic day to day mundania. I agree with @Diane_Miller and think the leaf could with a bit of separation from the background. I did a couple rough edits in LR with the grad and brush tool. One was darkening the background and the other was brightening it. I think they both have their own moods and it depends on the story you want to tell.
Thank you for your comments. I find them very helpful. I’ll play with making changes per your suggestions. I can certainly see where bringing the leaf up and subduing some of the highlights will help.
David, what a great find and capture. I think it works in the Macro category. I agree with @Diane_Miller about lightening the leaf and subduing the highlights a bit, but I like the background colors/tones very much. Such a joy to view this image. Well seen and captured.
My input on the subject and composition is that I really like what you have done with the visual contrast. (Now I am not referring to contrast in terms of luminance but how the scene and lines flow. The lines in the water are nice and structured diagonals that flow from the top right to the opposing corner. The way the leaf is positioned contrasts nicely with this established flow of the ripples and adds value to the scene.
What I think would add to this image would’ve been a straighter camera placement looking down onto the leaf. Shooting it from a different angle would have helped accentuate the visual contrast of the leaf’s direction and the water ripple’s direction. The leaf’s direction and steam appear hidden from me due to the angle of the camera placement. If the camera was more parallel to the ground, I think the steam of the leave and the tip would have been more prominent. (But I want there, so I don’t know what the true shape looked like)
I think this is a cool idea that you should explore some more this fall. I really believe you could come up with something great Hope this helped
David, this is a fine view of the “situation”. The refracted light looks great and your placement of the leaf is good also. The entire view tells a good “story” about light, moving water and fallen leaves. While others have picked up on making the leaf a bit more of the focus, I think the best way to do that is some subtle dodging of just the darker parts of the leaf. This kind of specific tone adjustment is best done through luminosity masks and PS is excellent at creating them.
Your ability to see this opportunity really paid off for you and the rest of use who will be going hunting for leaves and ripple refractions over the next months.
I wondered if the bright ripples were a bit too prominent, and ended up cropping and color burning. My results lacks the scale of your work, and makes it more about the leaf, which is not necessarily the story you want to convey.
Hope this helped