Skimming Along

[Julie Kenward]

Leaves on the surface of the water in autumn...what's not to love? Here's one of my favorites so far this fall.

Canon 40D, EF 400mm f5.6L
f 10 @ 1/200th, ISO 400
Manual mode, pattern metering
Natural light, handheld
Processed in ACR & CS4; small crop, levels adjustment, surface blur, selective noise reduction, selective sharpening

[Jay Sheinfield]

Jules,

I really like this. The circular reflections around the leaf are really cool. Great colors. I get a real feeling of swirling action in the image. Good DOF on the leaf. I've never tried a surface blur..............will have to read up on it. Inspiring............:o

[Ken Childs]

Hey Jules, the very smooth blue and silver ripples look fantastic! At first I was thinking it was too bad that the leaf wasn't more colorful but after looking at this a few times, the lack of bright color is a perfect match for the colors of the water.

Great choice of using surface blur although did you really have a choice? Whatever blur you did on the water's surface will end being a surface blur. :D

[Julie Kenward]

Ken, I have noticed that almost all my water images have some sort of need for noise reduction but it tends to leave the water unevenly "patchy" looking - especially when there are ripples like these. A very light round of surface blur seems to be the best of both worlds...it evens out some of the chromatic noise without leaving flat, smooth areas that ruin the image. Then I run a round of sharpening and the edges pop back into clarity.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jules,
Well seen and the colors do pop off the screen. I like that the leaf is not colorful.....IMO that would take away from the scene. I have wondered on toning down the leaf......but as I am still in Bryce and Zion and typing on 4 hours of sleep (it's supposed to be siesta time).....consider that! Very well seen and composed!

[Mike Moats]

Awesome image Jules, love it as is.

[Dave Woeller]

I really like everything about this, but especially the look of the water itself. At first I thought the leaf might be a touch hot, but the more I look the more I like it as presented. Nicely seen and presented (as always). :)

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks, everyone. I did tone a piece of the leaf down just a bit as the sheen from the water was really making it look hot (although it wasn't). I also tried to change the hue/color of the leaf and it ended up competing against the colors in the water so that made me decide to leave it as is. ;)

There are some beautiful colors resting on the surface of the water this time of year (autumn where I am at) and it's an ideal time to get out and create some water reflection images - either of the trees being reflected down on the surface OR the abstract patterns (like you see here) as the water pushes them around. So if its autumn where you live, get to a local lake or pond and take advantage of what's out there!

[Anita Bower]

Really interesting look! I like the details of the beautiful leaf and how the curves of the leaf complement the curves of the water. I seem to be alone in feeling the leaf gets a bit lost amidst the water. I'd like to crop some of the water, top or bottom or both, to showcase the leaf more and allow the water to be a backup. So glad to see one of your images here!

[Julie Kenward]

Anita, I can certainly see where a more pano crop will work here. I liked the water as much as the leaf so I went for the wider view but I'm going to also go back and take a look at a pano crop as an alternative. Thanks!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jules. Nothing new to add, but this is a really cool image - very different from the usual fall reds, yellows, and oranges. Love the patters and colors in the water and the leaf adds a nice focal pint. Very well done.