Life Observed

Yes. It's another leaf picture. I can't resist leaves in sunlight, especially in Autumn when the colours are so intense.  I spotted this fine leaf at head height, one of the last on the tree, with deep shadow beyond. Light and shadow are another recurring theme of mine. I operated the camera one handed while holding the leaf still in the light breeze. It was just a matter of turning the leaf to get it face on and therefore all in focus. (We artists have our little tricks you know).

Here is a three shot panorama of the churchyard at Hannington. The old (Saxon) church is surrounded by a sea of leaves at this time of year. A splash of sunshine would have been nice, but we make do with whatever light we can get. Click on the picture to see a larger version. I took this using ISO 800 without a second thought. Low light holds no terrors these days the E-M5 camera delivers nice reasonable noise free pictures at ISO 800 of course. My old but classic E-1 would not fare so well. This is progress.

It is mid October, and there are still plenty of green leaves on the trees. I really approve of this. Perhaps we won't have a winter at all.  Perhaps December will be warm and sunny. Perhaps they will forget the Autumn foolishness where we put the clocks back to make the final working hours miserable and dark. Perhaps pigs will fly. Perhaps people will be nice to each other for a change. Perhaps our government will stop wasting our hard earned tax on silly projects and expensive hardware.  Perhaps it will all work out like Revelation Chapter 21 verses 1 - 4..... Who can say?

Turned by the seasons: This tree in the village near the playing field is usually the first to turn colour, fleeing the lovely summer greens for a short but futile splash of reds and gold. The ground beneath will fill with colour of fallen leaves for a while before they themselves fade to nothing. The rest is silence.

Here are some fantastic natural patterns: This is the underside of a leaf in the Tropical Rainforest, and I find those repeated differences displayed very satisfying. How does Nature do this stuff? How can something as small as DNA create order on such a large scale? Why does it rain on Bank Holidays?

I spotted this Ginkgo tree during our wanderings aroung the Bishop's Palace on a recent visit to Wells recently. The Ginkgo is an odd ball, unlike any other tree and regarded as a living fossil. As you see, the leaf shape is quite unusual and rather distinctive.  Keep an eye out for them: Strike up a conversation, ask them what the old days were like..

Another Autumn, with Winter fast approaching. Funny, it only seems ten minutes ago that it was Spring. Who knows where the time goes , to quote the song.  In fact I clearly remember the year 1970 arriving, heralding the end of the sixties. Aah. Little did we realise we were commencing the Decade that Style Forgot. So. Time is of the essence. Make yourself useful. Go out and pick up some leaves.

I feel there is very little to recommend the Winter months. O, dark dull dreary dismal depressing December... However, the low angle of the Sun, when it appears, produces these lovely long shadows and gives shape to the landscape. Here are some Long Shadows enhanced by a fresh fall of leaves and a wide angle lens. Photographers trick: If you are going to shoot straight into the sun, then place it behind a branch or tree trunk. This helps sort out the light metering, and gives the lens an easier time. Although Zuiko zooms are quite good at resisting flare, there's more glass in there than a public bar, and we shouldn't push our luck, eh?

Sometimes you can give a picture impact by placing a light subject against a dark background. In fact, using contrasting brightness is a typical artist's trick.  Here however I am using contrasting colours to draw the eye. By comparison, let's try that same image in monochrome: These splendid Autumnal leaves seemed to stand out agains the rare but welcome blue sky, and careful positioning means the picture contains just enough and no more.

If I had ten pounds for each time I have photographed sunlit leaves from underneath, I would have a certain amount of money. There is something about the shades of green and the shadows that  find deeply satisfying. Well, here is another one of these green and black shots, spotted on a lunchtime walk. The more I look at it, the less sense it makes. Never mind, the more abstract the better... Or, on second thoughts, perhaps you would prefer something more abstract still..