Submitter's name	Ian Nichols
Title	Autumn Fire
Camera	OM-2SP
Lens	Tamron 90/2.5 Macro
Film	Royal Gold 200, rated at 125ASA
Exposure	OTF automatic at F/5.6
Lighting	A 500W tungsten/halogen security light with a blue correction gel.
Technical details	The leaves were placed on a piece of glass, which was supported on 4 tall empty jars above a piece of black cloth. The light shines from below at about 45 degrees, so that it doesn't shine on the cloth (or directly into the camera!). The room lights were turned off for the exposure.
Digital Enhancements	There were quite a few bright dust specks and slight cleaning marks which the harsh lighting made visible - those got airbrushed out.
Comments	Not quite the shot I had in mind, this was an exploratory attempt to see what the pitfalls might be. I think the reflections are a bit distracting, and if I had the time to devote to hunting for more similarly spectacular leaves and setting up the shot again, I think I'd use a second sheet of glass over the top to squash them flatter, or arrange them in two layers with 3 sheets of glass. I'd soften the lighting to make the dust specks and cleaning marks less troublesome.
Here you can leave some comments about this picture. Please fill out all the fields before submitting the form. Once you're done filling out the form, click the "Leave comments" button, after which you can see your comments down below.
Your name:
Your e-mail:
Comments:

Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

Nice colours. Also, the reflections actually add something mystical to the picture.

Comment left by: Skip Williams (skipwilliams@pobox.com)

Even though it wasn't your intention to let the reflections through, they add a lot. It would nice, but different without them. Both images could stand on their own. I thought they were added digitally at first.

Comment left by: george (george@whitneygallery.com)

I'm not sure I'd call it an abstract, but I would call it fantastic. Well done and the reflections are a big part of the interest for me.

Comment left by: Lex (lexjenkins@hotmail.com)

Gotta agree with the other folks - the reflections add to the image. And, at least to my eyes, the composition itself seems to form a larger leaf shape - an implied reflection of the subject. I might have preferred the deeper DOF a smaller aperture would have provided, but that's a minor nit.

Comment left by: The Photographer (no e-mail specified)

The overall shape was meant to resemble a small flame,but since I deliberately picked leaves which also resembled small flames I suppose the resemblance to a bigger leaf was inevitable (if unintentional). Must be good - it has facets even I hadn't thought of ;)

Comment left by: Mickey Trageser (mickeytr@maxinter.net)

Very well done, and quite aptly named. The reflections give it the depth that makes worth looking into.

Comment left by: Barry H (bhinderks@sprint.ca)

Wow!!!

Comment left by: Alasdair Mackintosh (vanda@dtn.ntl.com)

Fascinating image, and I still can't decide if I like it or not. But the fact that I keep coming back to it to decide one way or another shows that it must be a memorable picture. I share your reservations about the reflections. Even when you know how they were caused, they aren't a normal part of our visual experience (we just don't see leaves looking quite like this on a day-to-day basis) so the effect can be slightly confusing, and you can't decide whether they are in or out of focus. Regardless of the final verdict, it's a fascinating attempt, and one of the high spots of this TOPE.

Comment left by: U SOEE (sss@myanmar.com.mm)

like a paint picture.smooth absteact idea.congratulation for your arrangement

[Previous]

[Return to index]

[Next]