Ying & Yang

[Julie Kenward]

Captured this image this afternoon. Wind was gusting and the leaves were dropping onto the surface of the water (my favorite part of fall!) These two happened to land on top of each other in opposing directions/colors...score!

Canon 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6
f8 @ 1/125th, ISO 200
Handheld, Daylight WB, evaluative metering
Processed in CS5: Saturation and curves adjustment; minor cloning to clean up the water.

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Julie,
I like the opposing leaves and their colors with the blue water work very well. I wonder how more of a top down angle on the leaves would look but this may not have been possible anyway given your position. Overall a nice Fall image that makes me want to get out there and get some images like this myself.

Allen

[Dennis Bishop]

Absolutely great image, Jules. Intense colors without seeming oversaturated. Diagonals with both the leaves and ripples. I can see Allen's point about the angle, but -- even if that had been possible -- it probably would've precluded the reflections on the ripples in the upper right, and I'd hate to give that up.

[Ken Childs]

Jules, are you sure you didn't pose these leaves ? :w3 You couldn't have asked for a better arrangement! The colors look awesome!

I know this is just me but for some reason the diagonal ripples in the UR are giving me trouble. I love diagonals but for some reason my feeble brain is having trouble with this one. As a test, I grabbed the ripples in the UR and rotated them slightly CCW and I felt much better. (where's the confused smiley when you need it?)

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jules. You captured a terrific mix of colors in beautiful light! The above-water portion of the yellow leaf really gives my eye something to lock onto. It's interesting what Ken was saying about the rotation as I was having the same thoughts. When I concentrate on the yellow leaf, I can see that it is level, but when I back off to view the overall image, it just seems to need a little CCW rotation - no doubt an optical illusion caused by the diagonal ripples. :S3: Otherwise, this is excellent!

[Bob Miller]

Hi Julie..this is both simple and beautiful! Kudos!

[Julie Kenward]

Steve and Ken, you are probably reacting to the fact that the water was very choppy and the back part of the water was about to swell over the front - hence that weird distorted feeling. I did level the yellow leaf as best I could but realize the image feels a bit skewed overall. Thanks for the comments, though...they give me something to work towards!

[Tomislav Kljucaric]

Bravo! Great colors and composition.