A post after my own heart. Wonderful shots, Linda. Your framing and focus is spot on in every shot. #3 and #10 are favorites but I could change my mind any time because they are all so nice. Well done.
Thanks, Ken. The focus is not quite what it may seem. Yes, I did focus on the prominent leaf in each photograph. But the blurriness and darkness of the backgrounds are all in the processing. I had a lot of fun doing these. Thank you, Photoshop and Lightroom.
Thank you, Mic. Yes, they are. So glad I live close enough to these (I walk past them every day at least once) that I can catch them at what I think of as their peak.
It’s understandable how the surfaces, contours, and textures of these dry leaves would have attracted you. Number 8 could almost pass for a mountain landscape.
Thanks, Marjorie. Sculpture is a good word for what I see. I think you get what I’m after. As I wrote in “Matter Matters” (in the menu at the top of this page): “When I photograph, I pursue the sheer corporeal existence of things. I aim to affirm and illustrate the substance of matter, so attributes like line, color, and texture interest me more than the overall scene or object photographed. I purposely forsake imparting a sense of scale or a metaphorical message. It is the pure beauty of matter that moves me.”
We were at a garden in Vancouver Friday morning looking at lichens on a Japanese cherry tree. Under the tree were Hostas that looked like these. I told my friend Richard, who’s an accomplished photographer, about your Hosta photos – and here they are! Perfect, thank you. 😉 You have really outdone yourself here. Each one’s a small masterpiece. I like them all but #7 has a heavier substance, a physicality that is intriguing – plus it floats in the air, which makes it more interesting. #’s 1 & 3 vie for favorites along with #7 though. And #2 brings a sense of unreality that stopped my eyes in their tracks. But #4 – also beautiful. And then there’s #10. Hmmm. Hostahappiness!
Yay! You like them! I was hoping. These took a lot of (joyful) work. After I did just about everything I could in Lightroom, I took the photos into Photoshop. There I selected each main leaf, inverted the selection, then darkened and blurred the background. I also cloned out some distractions and used the newish Photoshop tool called Content Aware Fill to get rid of other distractions. Then I took them back in to Lightroom and did more touch up. I wasn’t sure the artificiality of the final product would appeal to you. Since I found #7 the least interesting, I’m happy that you found it the most interesting. Glad I included it. This morning we had some sun, and I took the camera over to the hostas again. Haven’t downloaded yet, but I’m pretty sure there are some goodies there. Thanks, Lynn.
I select the subject, invert, and work on the background pretty often, but in LR. You know I have no problem with that. The artificiality of these is beautifully balanced – they’re taking center stage but the context is still there (though it doesn’t always have to be there, IMHO). #7 isn’t as interesting a shape as the others but the details on the surface are fascinating – it really looks like a landscape. I’m glad you did the extra work and enjoyed it…hope you found more in the sun Tuesday, whether hostas or other subjects.
Lightroom wouldn’t have found the subject in most of these; there was a lot of stuff, including other, nearby, hosta leaves that would probably have been selected. I did make a version of #1 with the background totally black but wound up preferring the wee bit of background. You’ve given me an idea, though. If I made the background totally black, I could make the dimensions of the photograph uniform. I think. A friend said she’d love to see all the photos in this series at once on a wall, and uniformity would be better for that kind of presentation. Now to find a venue. Or not. Even though we had sun Monday, when I was out with the camera, just about everything I saw was brown. (Except the hostas, which were much whiter.) Am trying to make brown interesting with dodging and burning and adding vibrance and contrast and anything else I can think of.
It’s a brown time of year, isn’t it? 🙂 And gray. Have you used color grading? E.g. select highlights, choose a hue – a warm one would be logical – saturate it a little, and dial the luminance up a little. For the midtones, sometimes I don’t use any color but I might increase or decrease the luminance. For shadows it can be logical to choose a purplish blue, saturate a little, and dial the luminance down. Then blend them all (in blending) and see whether dialing the luminance up, down, or leaving it at 50% is best. It can really add life to images that are a little drab.
I should try PS the next time LR is having a hard time finding a subject.
I linked to your site and this post in an email to my friend Richard, the lichenologist. I think he’ll love the iron bacteria and dumpster photos. 🙂
I have not used color grading. Thanks for the tips; I’ll try it. I should have said that I selected the leaves in Photoshop with the Quick Selection tool. Tell Richard that the latest issue of Sierra magazine has a page on lichens.
Romancing Reality 
Brilliant set! You captured the true beauty of those leaves, Linda! Nr2 is my fav, with that vertical and horizontal part. Have a nice Sunday!
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December 10, 2023 at 2:59 AM
Thank you, Harrie. I’m glad you like these. They are a departure for me. I usually don’t process my photographs as much as I did these.
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December 10, 2023 at 12:55 PM
A post after my own heart. Wonderful shots, Linda. Your framing and focus is spot on in every shot. #3 and #10 are favorites but I could change my mind any time because they are all so nice. Well done.
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December 10, 2023 at 11:34 AM
Thanks, Ken. The focus is not quite what it may seem. Yes, I did focus on the prominent leaf in each photograph. But the blurriness and darkness of the backgrounds are all in the processing. I had a lot of fun doing these. Thank you, Photoshop and Lightroom.
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December 10, 2023 at 12:59 PM
As a fellow leaf fan, the character in each of these is great. What a wonderful variety of shapes.
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December 10, 2023 at 1:25 PM
Thanks, Anonymous. I see these leaves as having character, too.
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December 10, 2023 at 7:53 PM
Harrie said it: Brilliant set! I think so too. Hostas are wonderful even in their impermanence, aren’t they?
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December 10, 2023 at 8:20 PM
Thank you, Mic. Yes, they are. So glad I live close enough to these (I walk past them every day at least once) that I can catch them at what I think of as their peak.
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December 10, 2023 at 9:58 PM
It’s understandable how the surfaces, contours, and textures of these dry leaves would have attracted you. Number 8 could almost pass for a mountain landscape.
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December 10, 2023 at 10:03 PM
I like your idea of a mountain landscape better than the idea of a dinosaur, which a friend suggested. Thanks for writing, Steve.
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December 10, 2023 at 10:29 PM
What an astonishing eye you have, Linda–to see in a dead hosta leaf a magical, colorful sculpture!
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December 11, 2023 at 10:33 AM
Thanks, Marjorie. Sculpture is a good word for what I see. I think you get what I’m after. As I wrote in “Matter Matters” (in the menu at the top of this page): “When I photograph, I pursue the sheer corporeal existence of things. I aim to affirm and illustrate the substance of matter, so attributes like line, color, and texture interest me more than the overall scene or object photographed. I purposely forsake imparting a sense of scale or a metaphorical message. It is the pure beauty of matter that moves me.”
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December 11, 2023 at 10:45 AM
I should have added to my third sentence, “except for the magical part.” 😉
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December 11, 2023 at 11:47 AM
We were at a garden in Vancouver Friday morning looking at lichens on a Japanese cherry tree. Under the tree were Hostas that looked like these. I told my friend Richard, who’s an accomplished photographer, about your Hosta photos – and here they are! Perfect, thank you. 😉 You have really outdone yourself here. Each one’s a small masterpiece. I like them all but #7 has a heavier substance, a physicality that is intriguing – plus it floats in the air, which makes it more interesting. #’s 1 & 3 vie for favorites along with #7 though. And #2 brings a sense of unreality that stopped my eyes in their tracks. But #4 – also beautiful. And then there’s #10. Hmmm. Hostahappiness!
LikeLike
December 12, 2023 at 9:43 PM
Yay! You like them! I was hoping. These took a lot of (joyful) work. After I did just about everything I could in Lightroom, I took the photos into Photoshop. There I selected each main leaf, inverted the selection, then darkened and blurred the background. I also cloned out some distractions and used the newish Photoshop tool called Content Aware Fill to get rid of other distractions. Then I took them back in to Lightroom and did more touch up. I wasn’t sure the artificiality of the final product would appeal to you. Since I found #7 the least interesting, I’m happy that you found it the most interesting. Glad I included it. This morning we had some sun, and I took the camera over to the hostas again. Haven’t downloaded yet, but I’m pretty sure there are some goodies there. Thanks, Lynn.
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 12, 2023 at 10:14 PM
I select the subject, invert, and work on the background pretty often, but in LR. You know I have no problem with that. The artificiality of these is beautifully balanced – they’re taking center stage but the context is still there (though it doesn’t always have to be there, IMHO). #7 isn’t as interesting a shape as the others but the details on the surface are fascinating – it really looks like a landscape. I’m glad you did the extra work and enjoyed it…hope you found more in the sun Tuesday, whether hostas or other subjects.
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 14, 2023 at 1:16 PM
Lightroom wouldn’t have found the subject in most of these; there was a lot of stuff, including other, nearby, hosta leaves that would probably have been selected. I did make a version of #1 with the background totally black but wound up preferring the wee bit of background. You’ve given me an idea, though. If I made the background totally black, I could make the dimensions of the photograph uniform. I think. A friend said she’d love to see all the photos in this series at once on a wall, and uniformity would be better for that kind of presentation. Now to find a venue. Or not. Even though we had sun Monday, when I was out with the camera, just about everything I saw was brown. (Except the hostas, which were much whiter.) Am trying to make brown interesting with dodging and burning and adding vibrance and contrast and anything else I can think of.
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 14, 2023 at 4:51 PM
It’s a brown time of year, isn’t it? 🙂 And gray. Have you used color grading? E.g. select highlights, choose a hue – a warm one would be logical – saturate it a little, and dial the luminance up a little. For the midtones, sometimes I don’t use any color but I might increase or decrease the luminance. For shadows it can be logical to choose a purplish blue, saturate a little, and dial the luminance down. Then blend them all (in blending) and see whether dialing the luminance up, down, or leaving it at 50% is best. It can really add life to images that are a little drab.
I should try PS the next time LR is having a hard time finding a subject.
I linked to your site and this post in an email to my friend Richard, the lichenologist. I think he’ll love the iron bacteria and dumpster photos. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 14, 2023 at 8:03 PM
I have not used color grading. Thanks for the tips; I’ll try it. I should have said that I selected the leaves in Photoshop with the Quick Selection tool. Tell Richard that the latest issue of Sierra magazine has a page on lichens.
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 14, 2023 at 8:29 PM