This is a variation of a concept that I shot for last year's October Free Study. I went with a different entry last time and was disappointed with myself for not sticking with the game plan.
The goal was to shoot brilliantly backlit leaves, with enough separation between foreground and background that the overhead canopy is all color and bokeh. Unfortunately, I don't think this one is quite as good as last year's, but we had a lot of rain around peak color so my shooting time was limited. This tree was literally right outside my office, so it was either laziness or luck.
Shot in RAW to keep it as clean as possible. Boosted the saturation (obviously), levels, slight curves, a little cloning to smooth out imperfections, USM on the leaves and Noise Ninja on the background, burned in the leaf on the right to help separate it from the background.
Statistics
Place: 75 out of 519 Avg (all users): 6.2182 Avg (commenters): 7.4375 Avg (participants): 6.1902 Avg (non-participants): 6.3000 Views since voting: 1367 Views during voting: 428 Votes: 275 Comments: 21 Favorites: 7 (view)
I have to confess after a second look I didn't score this as high as I should have. I am really bad about not taking a second look when it's a subject I have seen a bunch recently and you have to admit there have been many leave picture through this falls challenges. The background color and DOF adds so much to this shot. The colors are so brilliant. Still a great finish in a challenge with so many great shots. I would have never pegged it as being yours as I noticed someone did.
Very nice photo, I like the clarity in it and the blurred background. The missing tip of the leaf at the bottom is the only thing that I can drag it down for. But otherwise this is very good.
Great colors. The DOF is extremely beautiful, almost rainbow like in deep rich colors. Maybe a few less forground leaves or have them not so prominent in the frame. They are well shot and have good detail, but they are getting in way of the GREAT background.
The colors are almost too good to be true, but this is very lovely; the little bits of blue are great. Good looking bokeh, nice sharp foreground. The chunky border bothers me :-( 8
This is the superlative image of fall foliage. The brightness and crisp detail amidst the blurred background - WOW. Perfect DOF. I like that there are hints of blue and green in the background to help showcase the reds and golds of the leaves. The lighting is spot on as well. This is pure visual eye candy for me. BRAVO
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