treadwl Loc: South Florida

I was playing around trying to master a technique. The one with the maple leaf Ihope conveys the impression of a falling leaf. I know I should have gotten rid of the white part but this was just a learning process. Did it work? What do you think?

The second was just a variation shooting through the trees. But i like the circular look. The white was a cloud that kept blowing through. If I do it again I thinkI would use an all blue sky. Any thoughts?

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Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Larry, I particularly like the second shot. It makes me think of a reflection in ripples in water.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

Very nicely done, keep it up. I like them both but I am also more partial to the second photo, I think the circular look resonates more with me.

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

I wonder if there would be appeal to put a sharply focused leaf in the center of the rings of the second pic?

R.G. Loc: Scotland

The leaf is the sharpest thing in the frame, which gives the impression that it's the only stationary thing in the frame. The background looks interesting in a surreal sort of way, and the shot as a whole looks like a leaf floating downstream.

lensbaby007 Loc: Ohio

Larry, I really like both of your shots, and I think they're very good for just playing around. What technique were you using?

treadwl Loc: South Florida

In the first shot--I held the leaf on a long fine wire taped to the lens barrel and focused on the leaf using an aperture of f22. Then, using a long exposure (1/5 second), I moved the camera downward during the exposure.

For the circular look, I focused on the trees while pointing the camera upward. I attached a ND filter to slow down the shutter speed and then while using a 1/2 second exposure I rotated the camera 90 degrees to the right during the exposure.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Interesting comment. Not the effect I was going for, but an interesting observation.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Thanks for your thoughts.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Interesting idea but Idon't know how I would do that since I'm moving the camera.

Nightski

I think R.G has come upon the thing that gets in the way of the idea of a falling leaf. Why not lay on your back and shoot falling leaves in Autumn? It might help you get a sense of how to recreate that look. I was out with my camera during a blizzard when I noticed leaves blowing across the snow. I had walked up a hill and they were at eye level so I started trying to capture them. I did get one relatively sharp, but when I got the pic up on my computer, it didn't look like a leaf moving across the snow. It looked like a floating leaf. I realizes this was because there was no motion blur. I would have had to pan the leaf, which would have been impossible. I did put some artificial motion blur on the background and it helped. I think your issue is ... How can you pan a leaf moving toward you? The answer to that question will tell you how to create the illusion. Let me know if you'd like to see my leaf attempt. It's pretty much as you'd expect though.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

I just happened to be out for a walk with my camera last week when this idea struck me. So I played around with it. I agree it would look better in autumn, sadly it was not autumn. I'll try again next fall.