As we continue to drill down our photographic sujects to the realm of the close-up, we start leaving the need for a foreground, middle ground and background behind. In fact, in this picture of autumn leaves, there is only a foreground and a bit of background. Other autumn photos I’ve taken (some shown here), show only a single dimension.
But, when we do that, something other than depth must takes its place in order for the photo to be interesting. In this case, of course, it is a myriad of autumn colors and leaf shapes. In some respects, this is similar to an abstract painting…different colors defined by different shapes.
We are drawn into the picture by our own memories of autumn or wishful thinking that we would love to be in a colorful place like this sometime in our life. Believe me, this little island of beauty outside of Leavenworth, WA is a treasure trove of autumn colors. I have taken many a close-up photo in this small area. 
As previously discussed, almost every photo I take in nature, my eyes are flooded by a plethora of beautiful things. It is up to me, the photographer, to drill down to the smallest area that will make the best photo. Practice this the next time you are outside anywhere…look at everything then keep your eyes moving in tighter and tighter to find a subject that might make an interesting photo. This exercise is given to students in beginning photo courses.
By the way, I am showing you here two photos of the same subject, treated differently in LightRoom and Photoshop. The first is the more natural photo and the second has been treated to yield a different emotion. I would be curious to know which you liked best and why.
1 comment:
Leavenworth is an obvious spot for tking great fall photos. I'm partial to the first photo. It seems brighter and more vibrant.
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