My Hosta Obsession, Continued
February 9, 2025
It seems that the more hosta leaves I photograph, the more I want to photograph them. I’ve had photographic obsessions before, notably with Leptothrix discophora films. My photographs of them were straightforward, no extreme cropping or messing about in Lightroom and Photoshop. I began photographing hosta leaves the same way. But lately I’ve been wanting also to emphasize what I love most about them: their forms and oh-so-subtle colorations. The photographs in this post begin with one that received rather conventional treatment and end with those that were more processed.
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Romancing Reality 
Beautiful! Hosta leaves, who would have thought?
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February 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Thank you. Funny thing is, I really don’t like hosta leaves when they are green, and I don’t care for their wimpy little flowers, either.
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February 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Amazing new stuff Linda!
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February 9, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Thanks. This week I found hosta leaves that were more disintegrated than these. Its being later in the season and the leaves having been assaulted by snow and rain could mean the photos won’t be worth sharing; I don’t know; I haven’t fussed with them yet.
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February 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
You have some very nice shots here, Linda and #3 and #4 are my favorites. I’ve loved these plants ever since I saw the Hosta Gardens at the Minnesota Arboretum years ago. The flowers are not very photogenic, but the leaves are beautiful their entire life cycle. Well done!
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February 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Well, Ken, you can find the beauty in hosta leaves when they’re green. I really can’t. Oh, but there was that one plant . . .
I’m glad you like #3 and #4. I think I’ll go back and look at some of my earlier hosta photographs to see if a close crop helps them.
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February 9, 2025 at 7:12 PM
These are fantastic. I love the close ups. I love the colors and the details. I know I have said it before but you have such a good eye for composition. Stunning!
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February 9, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Linda Grashoff
Thank you, Clare. I’m pleased (again) that you like my compositions. I have worked on refining that skill. When I look at some of my old photographs, I ask myself “but where is the composition?”
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February 9, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Easy to see why these dry leaves, with their twists and ridges, keep drawing you in. The last picture makes sense as the culmination of the series because the fully black background lets the leaves stand out to the greatest extent. Tight cropping in 2–4 served a similar purpose of isolation, though at the expense of the leaves’ curving contours.
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February 10, 2025 at 5:13 AM
I keep going back and forth between preferring the totally black background or the one with a background only darkened, like in #s 5, 6, anf 7. Thanks for your thoughts, Steve.
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February 10, 2025 at 11:52 AM
I keep going back and forth between preferring the totally black background or the one with a background only darkened, like in #s 5, 6, anf 7. Thanks for your thoughts, Steve.
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February 10, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Easy to see why these dry leaves, with their twists and ridges, keep drawing you in. The last picture makes sense as the culmination of the series because the fully black background lets the leaves stand out to the greatest extent. Tight cropping in 2–4 served a similar purpose of isolation, though at the expense of the leaves’ curving contours.
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February 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I keep going back and forth between preferring the totally black background or the one with a background only darkened, like in #s 5, 6, and 7. Thanks for your thoughts, Steve.
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February 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Thanks for sending. Yes indeed, I can see why you are drawn to them….
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February 13, 2025 at 11:41 AM
I’m pleased that you can see why I like these guys, Nina. Thanks for commenting.
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February 13, 2025 at 11:48 AM
You have really done them proud. I like the movement from less to more processing – or maybe we should think more in terms of from less to more interpretation. It’s just words but…
I do love the first one. Well, and all that follow. In the first, the hosta leaves tangle beautifully with the oak leaves. They work so well together!
There is a palpable intimacy to all of these. There’s no question that the photographer knows the subject inside and out, its curves, its folds, its hidden places. I feel like I could reach out and touch the second and third. Then the fourth turns into a river, a landscape. It’s surprising! The last four are a quartet, an elegy on aging. Thanks for all you do, Linda, it’s inspiring.
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February 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
You aren’t really anonymous, bluebrightly Lynn. I’d know your writing anywhere. Thank you for everything in your yet-another oh-so-thoughtful comment. I love “less to more interpretation” rather than “less to more processing.” I’ll add that as more permission to what you and Alex have already given me.
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February 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM