Challenge:Calendar (Advanced Editing II) Camera:Nikon D70 Location: In my house, North Finchley, London Date: Nov 7, 2004 Aperture: f4 ISO: 200 Shutter: 1/500 sec Galleries:Nature, Still Life Date Uploaded: Nov 7, 2004
Visited the local park to collect leaves in as many shapes as I could find and in all the wonderful autumn colours. Also collected some red and yellow berries too. And only these three leaves made it into my entry!
Decided to enter this for October rather than November because we seem to be a month or so behind in terms of weather and seasonal change this year.
The background was white card but it came out with a grey tinge (as I was too lazy to set the white balance to the card) so I decided to delete the background to white to better match the actual cardboard. Played with levels and burned in the edges of leaves a touch. Cropped and sized.
Was tempted to reshoot to get rid of the white gap between the leaves but too lazy...
Statistics
Place: 69 out of 190 Avg (all users): 5.7005 Avg (commenters): 6.9286 Avg (participants): 5.4811 Avg (non-participants): 5.9560 Views since voting: 1844 Views during voting: 310 Votes: 197 Comments: 21 Favorites: 4 (view)
LOVE this shot.
I was one of your 3 tens.
I am really surprised that this didn't score higher in the challenge. The colours are great. The composition is good and the focus is spot on.
Love it.
This was one of my favorites for many of the same reasons that Glen mentioned. Particularly the simplicity. I like the great colors and the set up and feel the colors really pop on the white background. Great work.
Hello from the Critique Club! Maybe you'll get mine to critique, lol.
Oh, and I hope you don't mind that I've "borrowed" your critique pattern that you posted in the forum :)
Initial Thoughts
Nice, simple photo that is pretty effective.
Composition / Content
I really like the composition here. Nicely centered, circular, and simple. (I'll be using that word a lot.) I think only Halloween (for many people) says more about October than colored leaves, so your content is also very nice.
Background
I don't know about anyone else, but I think the white background works very nicely for this piece. It sets the subject apart and helps focus your attention on it. To me, the open area in the middle of the leaves helps ground them as well.
Camera Work - Technical
Focus seems a *little* soft to me, but it could just be an effect of the bright background. Your exposure is wonderful for what must have been a difficult metering.
Digital Processing
I'm not too big on the burned edges of the leaves myself, especially on the red leaf against the yellow. Your levels work is very good, giving the leaves quite colorful presence.
Fits the Challenge
Well, I honestly think it's a little bit of a stretch. You fit the *month* perfectly, but as a calender it takes a little bit of imagination for me. Still, I *can* picture a calender that has various formations of leaves or other flora to a monthly theme. You may have lost some points in that area from other voters though.
My Opinion of the Photo
I love the simplicity of this. It's effective, has a good monthly tie-in, and was shot beautifully. A refreshing change from many of the usual Fall landscapes in the challenge, so good work. Love the creativity, and keep it up :)
I like the shape that the leaves make and the blend of colors is also good. The white background is nicely white but the leaves almost feel a little too isolated and just floating there. It certainly conveys the chosen month well.
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