Imagine my surprise when I logged on deviantART this morning to find loads of comments and favorites clogging my messages page. I was totally perplexed, until I thought to myself, “No way, I didn’t get a daily deviation, did I?” I found that all the favorites were pointing to my picture “The Life of a Leaf” and when I went to take a look, my jaw dropped.

This image was one of about nine total frames. I experimented with different aperture sizes and angles. I chose this one because I liked the short depth of field. Some of the other images with a wider aperture seemed to be almost too busy and didn’t really lead the eye anywhere. With a shorter depth of field, it really helps to isolate the leaf and emphasize the texture and detail.

The leaf was given to me by a friend who had found it some years ago and kept it sealed in a plastic bag. It had a natural curve to it, which I thought was kind of neat, and helped add some interest to the picture. The lighting was all natural. It was kind of a sunny day with the sun off to the side a little. The sunlight was filtered by a small bush, which cast some interesting shadows across the picture.