02-05-10 A Riot of Color

I found these brightly colored leaves in the heart of downtown Seattle. I had wandered out of the conference I was attending during my lunch hour to look for a few photo opportunities. I found this tree in a courtyard of an office building. After I had taken a few photos, I noticed two armed security guards walking my way and they weren't smiling. They told me to stop taking photos. I said that I was only taking pictures of leaves. But that didn't matter. They told me I was on private property and that I would be charged with trespassing if I didn't leave the property. So I left.

But I got this photo!

11-19-09 Decadence 05

Here's one last photo in this series. Sorry if "Decadence" wasn't your thing. . . .

11-16-09 Decadence 02

Against a background of brown aspen and thin day lily leaves lies one leaf from a tree two yards away. Call him (her?) a nonconformist. . .

10-22-09 Seeing Red: Near the Red Hook Brewery

Behind me and to my left is the Red Hook Brewery, which is just outside of Seattle. I doubt you care about that detail. And you may be getting bored with the many Washington State leaf pictures I have featured in this blog. But here's another one.

I intentionally used my Canon 50mm 1.2 lens for this shot because I wanted a very narrow depth of field, which I thought might help accentuate the movement of the leaves in gentle breeze. I generally try for complete focus of the main subject in my photos, but this time I didn't care. I took about 10 pictures - all at the widest aperture of 1.2. When you are working with a wide aperture and trying to shoot something that is relatively close that is moving, you have to get lucky to get anything in focus. This was the best of the bunch.

Here's another photo shot within 100 yards of these trees. (Click)

Check out my Google Map screen capture to see both photo sites from the air. (Click)

Canon 5D 1/500s f/1.2 ISO320 50mm

10-08-09 Seeing Green: Decadence

This variegated hosta plant was the subject of a photo posted on this blog back in the spring. The photo was called "Incipience," which means "about to happen." This hosta has grown up out of the earth, leafed out, lived its summer life and at some point became a feast for insects. Is this a metaphor for human life? That's too depressing to think about. . .

09-04-09 Frozen In Time

A single maple leaf frozen in thin ice. It had been floating in the pond the day before but it got caught in the first freeze of the season.

03-12-09 Palm Leaf

I took this photo in Mexico a few years ago. I don't have much to say about it other than I like the the geometry of the palm leaf. The paradox of nature is that there are so many things that seem random and chaotic. And then there are things that are precise and ordered - as in this leaf. Scientists and philosophers have certainly written about this. I just took a picture.

Canon 5D f/4.5 1/80 Canon 24-105 4.0L 67mm ISO 320

03-11-09 Before the Fall

One oak leaf back lit by the morning sun - it doesn't get much simpler than this. Since I was shooting into the sun, the challenge was to find shade for the lens to avoid lens flare. From the sunny side, this leaf looked dull. But with the sun shining through it, the leaf came to life - which is a bit of an irony for a leaf about to fall.

Canon 1D II f/5.6 1/250 lens unknown 240mm ISO 100