Theme: Winter Beech Leaves

[Anita Bower]

I used a shallow dof, f4, to blur the bg. Taken in the woods behind our house. I love the warm colored Beech leaves in the winter woods.

I used Topaz Simplify, one of the Paint settings. I then selectively brightened, lightened, darkened, and saturated. I added a yellow photo filter to the leaves. I did some other things which I can't remember.

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the contrast of the orange and blue, and the light areas in the background give a nice flow that -- especially at the top of the image -- follows the shape of the leaves. I think I'd tone down the lightest parts of the background, though, so they'd not be as distracting. You must be happy to have so many good subjects close at hand.

[Nancy Bell]

I really like how the blues bring out the brightness and saturation of the oranges in the leaves! I also like the mottled look in the bkgd with the subtle shapes and variations in color, but agree with Dennis about toning down the brightest parts above the leaf. And as another possibility, I would consider cropping just a bit off the top, giving that top orange leaf less of a part.

[Anita Bower]

Thank you Dennis and Nancy for the suggestions. I darkened the blue highlights.
This is not my best photo, but one I liked enough to share.

[Diane Miller]

Very nice, and the colors are great! I like the slight crop. Would wonder if toning down the mottling (or just contrast), especially in the upper area, would work well -- hard to know without seeing a comparison.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I love the colour and textures of the leaves Anita. I think toning down the BG was a good option and puts more emphasis on the leaves.

[Anita Bower]

Thank you, Diane and Jackie.