Leaf on Leaf

[Ed Vatza]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s1/EdV_02/050-Edit.jpg

Shot as found this morning in Jacobsburg State Park (PA).

Canon 30D and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS at 200mm

1/640 sec @ f/4; ISO 400; +2/3 EV

[Kaushik Balakumar]

The composition somehow does not seem too impressive. Also that the top-right side of the image lacks sharpness. The scattered light along the edges of the veins of the green leaf seem somewhat distracting too.
Somehow this image does not do much to trigger my senses but its just a personal opinion Ed.

[Chris Starbuck]

Ed,
I see what caught your eye here -- great color contrast between the two leaves, very interesting shapes, lines, and textures.

I think it lacks two things. One, as Kaushik mentioned, is DOF, which is what caused the lack of sharpness in the upper right. With the vein pattern well-defined in most of the green leaf, that OOF area is distracting. The other thing is that having the main vein in the green leaf straight horizontal, with the yellow leaf nearly centered vertically makes the image rather static. I think it would have been stronger with the yellow leaf near the lower left rule of thirds position, with the green leaf's main vein angled upward from left to right at 30 degrees or so.

Am amateur's opinion...

Chris

[Julie Kenward]

I have to agree, Ed. If that URC were as in focus as the LRC and the crop was a little bit different, I think you'd have a much stronger image here. I do love the veins and the colors and I can totally see why it caught your attention...I think it just needs a little more editing.

[Robert O'Toole]

Hi Ed,

Well I like the colors, the idea and the details. But....

The image has a lot of little specs that need to be cleaned up or really you should have brushed it off before you made the image :-)
Second the light is not very even so the shadows are distracting, you should carry a diffuser in the field or use fill flash.
Lastly, I dont use damaged or decaying elements, just a personal opinion but I dont really like to see them usually either. It usually just looks better to have a totally intact leaf.

Robert

[Ed Vatza]

Thanks for the feedback and tips folks. I really appreciate all of them. We are just getting into the heart of leaf season here so I will have ample opportunity to put your suggestions to work.

I did try to rotate the image and try different crops but they all seem to still include the out of focus part in the UR. I should have stopped down some from the f/4 that I was shooting at. It also might have helped had I used my tripod but somehow I lost the locking knob on the ballhead somewhere along the line. Retraced my steps to no avail. So I have to call Bogen tomorrow morning and order a new one.

[Chris Starbuck]

It also might have help had I used my tripod but somehow I lost the locking knob on the ballhead somewhere along the line. Retraced my steps to no avail. SO I have to call Bogen tomorrow morning and order a new one.

Ouch! I truly feel that pain. Two years ago I lost the locking lever off my Foba Superball on the first morning shoot of a week-long workshop. Fortunately that ballhead also has a tension adjust knob, which functioned OK as a locking knob (slower, but usable) once I'd borrowed a pair of pliers to loosen the real locking mechanism. If your ballhead has a tension adjust, that may be a workaround until the new knob arrives.

Chris