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.
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.
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.
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.
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' :)
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.
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.