Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Finding Themes

by Leigh


Sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office….bored out of my mind….decided it was time to clear some photos off my phone when it struck me.  There are some pretty strong themes to my photography.  Nature is an obvious one since that accounts for 90% of my photos, but leaves in particular occur frequently.  I think to myself…what is it about leaves that intrigue me so.  Is it their overall shape….elongate, lanceolate, linear, oblong, obovate, tendril, orbicular, deltoid? (warning: my botany nerd is starting to come out in full force!) Is it the patterns of the veining….palmately, pinnately?  Is it their edges….smooth edged, toothed, serrated, lobed?  Is it the joy of fall when the days get shorter and the lower production of chlorophyll allows the green to fade and the colors to shine through?  (botany nerd…I told you).


There are so many different ways to show the beauty of leaves.  There are little nuances that separate one leaf from another…it's like a treasure hunt to find the distinctions.  Sometimes it's the shadows that leaves create with each other.  It's the interplay of the leaves with each other and their surroundings.  Perhaps it's finding the individual among the group….showcasing some feature that is distinct to that one little leaflet.  These little distinctions deserve to be seen.



Take a look through your photos…do you see a theme that you may not have noticed before?

"Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, 
and partakes of the perfection of the whole."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson



7 comments:

Carol said...

Gorgeous photos! And I learned something. Great start to my day!

heyjudephotography said...

Great lesson Leigh :). I always love your leaf photos. I discovered recently that I have many, many photos of paths. I never realized until I too was searching through my pics to clean out and.
organize

Silvina Soave said...

Me encanta tu manera de capturar la belleza en la naturaleza!! Preciosa serie!!!!!!
Un fuerte abrazo.

terriporter said...

Finally getting a chance to hop on and catch up. You do things with leaves that just makes them so beautiful! That last photo of the winding tendril is stunning! My themes are flowers, especially cactus flowers in the spring. I need a new theme for the rest of the year!

Deanna said...

Lovely, lovely leaves and a botany nerd lesson as a bonus!!

Kim Stevens said...

I love leaves, and I must be slightly nerdy too, I understood some of what you were saying. I love their veins silhouetted by the sun and they are great for texture when I work with metal clay. LoVe that first image!!

kelly said...

oh my goodness leigh...yes. i love the way you capture the beautiful variety in shape and form. and just for the record, you can let your inner 'botany nerd' out to play anytime you want as far as i'm concerned! :)

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