Tag Archive: leaves
A tree branch swaying in the wind, with a UPS truck on the highway behind it. I like how the light and blur turned out. I closed down all the way (F22) so I could use a 1/20 second shutter speed, then holding the camera steady while snapping away to get this. The branch is about to leave this world; it’s just your imagination! That’s what makes it ephemeral. 
Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/20, F22, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-05-09T15:05:17-04, 20080509-190517rxt
Source image. I dodged (brightened) the leaves and added contrast with the curves …
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Go into the woods… do not be afraid. 
This is my Grandma’s yard. There are houses around, but from where I shot this, they’re all obstructed by trees. The lighting and colors were nice, since we had a rainy white sky.
Canon Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm, 1/60, F3.5, 18mm, ISO100, 2008-06-20T16:31:07-04, 20080620-203107rxt
Source image. Added contrast and a glow effect, nothing more!
Free high-res stock image.
A pair of flowers; one white, one deep red. I shot this at the garden section at Wal-Mart; the flowers were already close together, but I moved them closer. It’s a good combination. I got as close as my lens would focus to cut out the background.
Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/125, F3.5, 50mm, ISO400, 2008-05-04T18:54:55-04, 20080504-225455rxt
Source image. I under-exposed compared to my camera’s meter on purpose, as it was blowing out the whites in the auto-exposure mode. In Photoshop, I desaturated everything, but left color …
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A stately orange sunset in my yard is the backdrop for silhouetted leaves of an American sycamore tree. Some of the leaves have been chewed by bugs; as you can see on the left. This only adds to the beauty, of course. There are even some raindrops on the leaves, left over from the storms earlier that day. I didn’t notice those till way after the shoot. This is the pinnacle of the Leafy Sunset series, trailing fifteen months after the …
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An orange and yellow sunset, framed by the silhouettes of evergreen leaves. This is from my back yard; the trees and power lines represent the fast pace of life in the modern neighborhood. 
Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/667, F4.7, 17.4mm, ISO64, 2006-02-18T18:02:56-04, 2006-02-18_18h02m56
Source image. I brightened up parts, added color, and made the gray leaves black.
More of the Leafy Sunset series.
Free high-res stock image.
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A lively purple and yellow sky surrounds a branch of vivid green leaves. Dark green and bluish-purple complement each other. I used a flash to light up the branch; the alternative was to silhouette the leaves, but that didn’t look as good here.
Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/70, F2.8, 5.8mm, ISO64, 2006-01-27T17:55:10-05, 2006-01-27_17h55m10
Source image. I brought out the colors, darkened the edges, and gave it more contrast.
More of the Leafy Sunset series.
Free high-res stock image.
Leaves and branches set against a dark yellow sunset. The vines may be distracting, but they have a pattern all their own, which meshes well with the colorful yet ominous sky.
Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/63, F4.7, 17.4mm, ISO64, 2006-01-13T17:40:46-05, 2006-01-13_17h40m46
Source image. Standard darkening and contrast added through curves here. I had to tone down the colors a bit, as they went out of gamut after the contrast enhancements (that happens often in RGB color spaces).
More of the Leafy Sunset series.
Free high-res stock image.
Yellow leaves against a blue and pink sky. This is an early piece, re-edited (January 2006). I took generic photos of the sunset, but wanted to experiment with including other elements of nature, which gave way to this. I used the flash to brighten the leaves, which also made the sunset appear darker and more vivid.
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Fujifilm FinePix A360, 1/30, F2.8, 5.8mm, ISO100, 2006-01-04T17:54:53-05, 2006-01-04_17h54m53
Source image. I added contrast and moved the colors from orange to pink to make this look good.
More of …
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Leaves from the American sycamore tree in my yard. This photo is with my new polarizing filter; I made the sky look as dark as possible with it, and put the moon in the frame to make the scene a cross between night and day. So the moon didn’t become a blurry white blob, I closed down to F18, so I increased the ISO speed to 800, but the grain works well here. So you have the sunshine of late afternoon, but the …
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A bright-red leaf out-of-place in a field of sickly brown leaves. I happened upon this idea as I saw a red leaf amongst all the brown leaves in our yard, so then I went and found a better leaf and positioned it like this. It was rainy and overcast, so the lighting was lower contrast and a bit blue, which is fitting for this image.
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Canon PowerShot A620, 1/10, F7.1, 7.3mm, ISO50, 2007-01-08T14:07:05-05, 2007-01-08_19h07m05b
Source image. This didn’t need spot editing, but it did benefit …
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