Weekly Photo Contest | 10 October - 17 October | Leaf

[_timo_redux_]

Welcome to this week's contest, asking you for a picture of or about a LEAF:

1 a lateral outgrowth from a plant stem that is typically a flattened expanded variably shaped greenish organ, constitutes a unit of the foliage,

but also

2 something suggestive of a leaf: such as
a: a part of a book or folded sheet containing a page on each side
b(1): a part (as of window shutters, folding doors, or gates) that slides or is hinged
(2): the movable parts of a table top
added a leaf to the table to accommodate more people
c(1): a thin sheet or plate of any substance :
(2): metal (such as gold or silver) in sheets usually thinner than foil
(3): one of the plates of a leaf spring

The theme is a jumping off point, but try to respect the singular of leaf.

As always, standard rules apply:

• The photographs must be your own work
• You may only submit one photo per contest.
• No commenting or liking photos until after the judging has taken place.
• This contest runs for about a week, starting now.
• At the end of the competition, the judge (last week's winner) will choose a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible. Apparently as emojis are challenging, their use should also include interpretation.
• The 1st place winner will start a new thread here with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the judge for that contest. (Winner has 48 hours to create new theme, after that it defers to 2nd place).
• Be sure to update the Contest Master List as soon as you post a new theme.
• Contest ends 11:59pm EDT (UTC -4) on 17 October.

 

[thirsty_monk]

Great theme, but a bit of a mistake with the ending of the contest

 

[mollyc]

 

[_timo_redux_]

Great theme, but a bit of a mistake with the ending of the contest

Thanks, fixed. (But not for you. Contest over for you. )

 

[madmin]

I'm trying to turn over a new bay leaf

 

[Hughmac]

Nikon D7200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8, 1/100 @ f/5.6, ISO 560

Cheers

Hugh

 

[Janichsan]

 

[someoldguy]

Just playing around . A strobilanthes leaf . Originally taken with a black background that wasn't black enough for me , so off to PSE and used the 'paint bucket' tool to fill in the background with black. Hadn't played with this feature for a real long time , it didn't do too bad of a job picking out the outline of the leaf , though it still looks kinda fake .

 

[Apple_Glen_UK]

 

[ovbacon]

 

[OldMacs4Me]

 

[mtbdudex]

Reposted after this

Oops “singular leaf”, image swapped

 

[_timo_redux_]

about 24 hours left!

 

[Hughmac]

So hurry up, get your entries in and turn over a new leaf

 

[thirsty_monk]

Thanks, fixed. (But not for you. Contest over for you. )

You made my leaf very sad...

 

[thirsty_monk]

... pretending not to be me ... here is my entry

 

[mtbdudex]

Reposted after this

Oops “singular leaf”, image swapped

 

[_timo_redux_]

Lots of great entries, thanks everyone!


@mollyc I like the clean presentation; leaf on a (stone?) surface with sympathetic textures. Really three things in your picture: leaf, surface and shadow … of these, both the shadow and the surface feel a little washed out, and the texture-to-blur on the leaf feels a little imbalanced. I for one would love to see/feel more of the leaf’s texture. I also like a darker shadow (the red glow under the leaf doesn’t intrigue me) but that’s a style question.



@madmin Compare and contrast! Another three-fer: leaf, leaf-like, background. I like the set up; I like the dish’s “veins” contrasting with the corrugated background; I like the natural vs. man-made leaves, which make you think a bit about how very similar yet very different they are. This is certainly squarely in the spirit of this challenge.



@Hughmac Zooming in, the turned up edge is the whole leaf writ small: structure and decay. I like it. As with @mollyc I wish more than a small zone of this picture were in focus, as the leaf’s face, with those contrasting zones of color, would seem very interesting to examine more closely.



@Janichsan Leaves with leaves. In school we used to talk about the power of repetition and difference — just repetition is boring, just difference is chaos, but a control of one with the other can construct something remarkable. I like a touch of the tunnel vision this picture offers.



@someoldguy I was hoping for a picture like this: an isolated leaf where you start to think about how a leaf is structured. Here the changing color only adds to our perception of the leaf’s make-up. Bravo. FWIW I don’t mind the choppy PS masking, but I suppose if you feel it looks “kinda fake” I’m sure there’s a way to make the mask feel more natural.



@Apple_Glen_UK A leaf is definitely the subject, with others around playing their supporting roles. A handsome one, to be sure, though the gunk on the lower left of it seems to me to distract. But maybe it’s intentional, as nature is messy and what not.



@ovbacon Love backlit subjects; leaves of course lend themselves to such treatment. The nature vs man-made contrast also at work here, and I like the “supporting role” conifers flanking. Lovely.



@OldMacs4Me Another isolated leaf, squarely in the spirit of this. Obvious — in a good way — contrast between the main leaf, curling, and the lesser one on the stem further advanced. Good light, and I like the bokeh-blur of the background, suggesting a forest floor and the future. Can’t decide if I’m distracted by the upper left corner: I think I landed on “it’s part of the story.”



@thirsty_monk The surface texture of this painted leaf only adds to representation of it, and someone the “dirty” surface surrounding (asphalt?) makes the representation feel more natural too. Simple and well framed, and a great reaction/twist to the word “leaf.”



@mtbdudex Love it. Contrasting textures. Are we in focus? A picture like this invites a zoom-in to examine the voids vs solids. Similarly, I wonder how much the background contributes or distracts from the leaf.



3rd: @thirsty_monk (how he do that?)
2rd: @someoldguy and @OldMacs4Me
1st: @madmin

 

[Apple_Glen_UK]

Thank you. Maybe I should have entered this one instead!? 🙂

 

[thirsty_monk]

Thank you @_timo_redux_ for the judging and for the 3rd place great entries from all.

 

[madmin]

Oh dear, how did that happen ! Well they say don't do the crime if you can't do the time, so I'll just have to accept my punishment. With two second places, I can't even make a run for it... 😂

Luckily, I checked the list of previous subjects and found out my first thoughts have already been chosen, but I've come up with a subject which ought to be ok and will put it up ASAP 👋

Many thanks @_timo_redux_ and to you all x

 

[_timo_redux_]

Thank you. Maybe I should have entered this one instead!? 🙂

View attachment 2297662

It's nice too, but your first effort is to my mind better. Your first effort also has the colors of your avatar!

 

[mollyc]

@mollyc I like the clean presentation; leaf on a (stone?) surface with sympathetic textures. Really three things in your picture: leaf, surface and shadow … of these, both the shadow and the surface feel a little washed out, and the texture-to-blur on the leaf feels a little imbalanced. I for one would love to see/feel more of the leaf’s texture. I also like a darker shadow (the red glow under the leaf doesn’t intrigue me) but that’s a style question.

I wasn't really happy with this entry and considered swapping it out but never got around to it.

I set off to make a photo much like someoldguy's but with a white background. I put a leaf on a light pad but the leaf was too small and there was light bleed I didn't like. So then I moved it over to a half wall (the background you see is just the texture of the paint on the wood) and the full sun was so strong that the shadow was neon red. So I reduced the reds to make it more neutral color, which is probably why it looks washed out - but if the remaining red glow doesn't intrigue you the SOOC definitely wouldn't!

I really liked the idea of this contest but should have stuck with something more in my wheelhouse rather than trying something different. Fun nonetheless, and congrats to the podium holders!

 

[OldMacs4Me]

Thanks for a super safe second. It is always an honor to have one of my images rated on a par with one of @mollyc's.

That was a fun if deceptive photo. What appear to be a forest floor is in reality a leaf covered graveled driveway.

 

[someoldguy]

Thanks for the 2nd , and for taking out time to comment on everyone's entry . Now I've gotta find some really dark , Nono reflective black background material ...