Faded Beauty

[Don Berendsen]

I found the sensuous forms and subtle monochromatic colours of these dried leaves quite beautiful even though their life had gone.

Olympus E3/12-60 @ 35mm, ISO 400, Aperture Priority, F7.1, 1/640 sec, -.7 EV exp. comp., hand held

The grass in the background has been replaced and the colour enhanced in PS.

Does the composition and PP work?



http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/1750/p6061969v1nne1c.jpg


Thanks for taking a look. All C&C welcome!

[Gordon Craig]

I am really jealous. I have tried to shoot dried up leaves on numerous occasions and failed. Your composition is very good. I don't know where you shot this but I might have tried to open up the cropping.

[Julie Kenward]

I love trying to photograph these types of older leaves - they really are a challenge! I think you did very well but have two suggestions. First, I'd either go in closer and fill the screen with the curves and textures or I'd back up and try to include the entire plant so it wasn't going outside the frame on both sides. I'd also look at bringing up your light and midtones a bit more - I love the sepia look but think you need a little bit bigger tonal range to really make this pop. Try pushing midtones to 1.2 or 1.3 and scoot the light tone slider in levels just a bit to the left. Another option would be some selective burning and dodging to open up some of the darker areas a bit.

Very nice try! Looking forward to seeing more like this.

[Don Berendsen]

Thank you very much Gordon and Julie for sharing your thoughts and suggestions. It's nice to hear from others who appreciate this aspect of nature's beauty.

Julie, I've increased the contrast slightly to give it more 'pop'. I like the look, is this more of what you had in mind? Also I did try a close-in crop when I was working on the original but didn't find a compelling set of forms, it was just too busy for me without a focus. I went back and forth on the original crop and will give it another go later, below is the uncropped image if anyone would like to give it a try.




http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/9895/p6061969v2a.jpg


Thank you again for your helpful and encouraging comments.

[Julie Kenward]

Don, I really like the composition on the original file better for a couple of reasons...you get to see the plant in perspective and the way it leans to one side really gives it a sweeping feeling much like the curves in the individual leaves.

You had a crop of 8x11 - I cropped it to 7.5 x 10 taking a little bit off the right side and top of the frame. I also lightened the image a bit and then did some selective burning on certain leaves that seemed too dark. I cloned out several of the leaves at the bottom to give the stem some room and a cleaner entry into the frame. See what you think...it still feels a bit dark to me overall but I find it difficult to lighten an image that has a sepia tint without doing it to the original file.

[Don Berendsen]

Hi Julie,

Thank you again for another very helpful reply, I really appreciate the time and thought you put into it. I went back to the original and made a brighter version. I felt the leaves you removed really helped, and I did a bit more in that area. I like the space in the crop you did but wasn't as comfortable as you with the original rotation.

Overall I feel the final result is a significant improvement thanks to your and Gordon's help, I certainly learned some things along the way.




http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/8816/p6061969v4a.jpg


Thanks again!

[Julie Kenward]

Very nice, Don! Isn't it amazing how little changes can sometimes make all the difference in turning a good image into something special? Remember when you are out in the field photographing to try to find a natural cut off point at the base of the stem and then you won't have to clone next time.

Nice work!