Gumleaf

[Colin Driscoll]

This is what we Aussies call a Gumleaf, being a leaf from a Gumtree (Eucalyptus). The leaves turn from green to these reds/oranges when they age and subsequently fall from the tree. Can happen any time of the year but more frequently during dry times as we are having now.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh296/MyPikkies/Assorted/GumleafInWeb211209.jpg

Another shot from my Panasonic FZ28 1/160 f8 -.33ev iso100 macro setting. HH and tricky with the web blowing in the breeze! Darkened a few bg highlights and cropped to suit the leaf shape.

I work as a field botanist/ecologist and am often in thick scrub so just can't carry my Canon gear and have to make the best out of the Panasonic.

[Ed Vatza]

Hi Colin,

I like the composition and the execution. The leaf looks good, the back ground is fine and I like the web. Just enough to show it is supporting the leaf with it being overbearing. Often the webs get to looking very messy. The only suggestion I would make is that I think the comp would be a bit more powerful if it the leaf came in more from the UL corner and swung downward toward the LR. Right now it seems a tad flat in the frame. Just a suggestion.

[Julie Kenward]

I agree with Ed about the turn of the leaf in the frame. I also wondered about the black hole in the middle of the background - it really pulls my eye away from the leaf. With the web in the way it would be a pain to try to clone over it.

I probably would have tried a different angle in the field to get the BG a little cleaner and to get the leaf angled in the frame a bit more.

[Colin Driscoll]

Thanks, interesting comments. The photographer sees the picture (even in pp) in the context of the situation and can miss things that an unbiased observer sees. In this case I needed to stay in the plane of the leaf to guarantee getting sufficient dof, particularly with the movement from the breeze- so definitely couldn't have moved around to change the bg. I could have tilted the camera and there is probably enough in the frame for me to crop so the leaf is diagonal- but then I was being true to the scene because that's how it was hangin' :)

[Mike Moats]

Hey Colin, interesting comp, and I don't mind the position of the leaf as is but it would work well also with a little more tilt as suggested. As Ed points out nice amount of web and not messy like most webs.

[Anita Bower]

I like how this leaf is held by the spider webs, the beautiful light on the leaf and how the spider web stands out from the BG. I agree with Jules about the darker area. Nicely done! Taking a smaller camera out with you when you work is a wonderful idea.