Steven Bourelle Digital Arts

Steven September 9th, 2009

Sometimes when I’m out shooting I find myself overwhelmed by the beauty that’s all around me. This often happens in fall when the trees are all changing at once. There’s so much beauty that it’s hard to focus on what to shoot. At times like this I try to remind myself to simplify and look for something that stands out from all of the beautiful chaos. Maybe the curve of a tree trunk, a patch of color that’s different from the rest or maybe a single leaf lying on the ground.

Today’s image was taken in Yosemite Valley on a day like that. We were walking a trail not to far from Bridalveil Falls, the colors along the trail were breathtaking and I was having a hard time shooting because if it. Then I noticed this leaf from a Big Leaf Maple. It was just lying there on top of many other leaves and seemed like nothing special. But I liked the way it stood out from the other leaves. Most of them had been on the ground for awhile and were turning brown, but this one was freshly fallen and still had good yellow color.

Using the macro setting on the camera, I moved in close to the maple leaf to make it stand out and to simplify the chaos of the forest floor. Then I used the smallest aperture this camera has, f/11, to make sure all of the leaves came out sharp. Luckily there wasn’t any wind because my shutter speed was close to half a second.

Of all the pictures I shot that day, this is one of my favorites. Not only does it show the simple beauty of nature, but it helps to remind me to simplify when surrounded by chaos.

Technical Details:
Minolta DiMAGE A2
Shot at 25mm
ISO 64
F/11 at 0.6 Sec.
Tripod Mounted

• Photography , Scenic
• Comments(2)