Notes from the field :

This image was made recently right in our backyard one evening after work. The sky was cloudy and gray, but still fairly bright. Mid-October fall colors were errupting everywhere, but the maples in our backyard were just beginning to turn.

I was looking for something different to photograph, to try to portray fall leaves (or a leaf) in some way I hadn't done before. As I am partial to shallow depth of field images, I tend to walk around with my lens wide open, often with a depth of field limiting diopter on the front. Ironically, the lack of focus through the viewfinder tends to help me focus on concepts and ideas more than just looking with my own eyes. This goes back to one of my favorite Dorothea Lange quotes about how the camera and lens help you to see.

I came across this one particular leaf sticking out on its own from one of our trees. I began to look at it from different angles in the viewfinder and ultimately settled on this one. More about how this was composed in the compositional notes.

:End

About the subject :

A maple leaf from a tree in our backyard. A silver maple I believe, and always rather late in turning during the fall.

:End

Technical details :

This image is a digital capture with the Nikon D2H camera. A 70-200 f2.8 VR lens was used, almost wide open, at about f4. ISO 200 setting. No filters or other alterations in Photoshop.

:End

About the composition :

1] Backgrounds can make or break an image, so while moving around this single leaf, I found this particular background 'light and airy.' I thought it helped the colors of the leaf take more prominance in the image and contribute to a 'weightless' atmosphere.

2] The angle of the leaf was balanced with the angle of the greenery, to create an imaginary intersection close to a strong focal point.

3] I have been trying to pay attention to more balancing / supporting elements to the main subject. This was originally composed with a uniform background, but the image overall felt unbalanced. With a slight shift of the camera, this greenery came into the background, still out of focus, but adding support to the angle of the leaf in the frame.

4] A cloud covered sun was off to the left of this image, so the leaf was backlit. I liked the emphasis it placed on the veins of the leaf.

:End