Summer Leaves

There's something about trees. They have this incredible range of dimension, from the microscopic detail of leaf structure, to the sometimes impressively large structure of the trunk and root system. There's a lot going on inside this one living organism, and even more just outside.

 

Photographers, including me, love to shoot the autumn leaves. I found this tree, which happens to be at its peak summer health, equally interesting

 

Summer Leaves, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 28mm f1.8 AF-S G Lens

iso 3200, f5.6, 1/125 sec.

 

I spot metered a point on the gray tree bark to get this exposure. Of course, that meant blowing out the highlights in the white sky around the leaves, but that's okay.

 

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Different Takes on Autumn Leaves

As I wrote earlier in the season, I've tried to avoid taking the same autumn leaf pictures that I (and many other) photographers take each and every year. For example, I used the kit zoom on my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 to add some motion blur to shots that would otherwise have been quite static. I made threes separate posts about that:

 

(Click Here) to see my first post on leaves in motion.

 

(Click Here) to see where I developed the concept a little further, with a set that make me feel like I'm being pulled through the treetops up into the clouds.

 

And finally, (Click Here) to see my favorite of the series, where I attempted to get the best combination of detail in the leaves, blur from camera motion, and color.

 

Well, today's images take a less drastic departure from "normal" fall color photography, but I hope still show something a little unique. As in all three posts above, I shot these with the DMC-GX7 and the much-improved 14-42mm Series II kit lens.

 

On my way to have lunch with my lovely wife, I looked to the side of the road and saw this tree. The most important element that drew me to photograph it was not the tree, however, it was the way the leaves on the ground appeared. Because the ground slopes upward behind the tree, the fallen leaves provided a partial background for the image.

 

 

Ground As Background, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Lumix Aspheric 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Series II Lens at 14mm

iso 200, f8, 1/125 sec.

 

I like the shot above, but it's quite conventional, other than the ground sloping up. Looking for a different perspective, I used the rotatable finder on the GX7 to get down low. I took several shots that way, but nothing that really looked different to me. Finally, I started playing with selective focus from the low angle. Here's an example of what I came up with:

 

Drawn to the Front, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Lumix Aspheric 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Series II Lens at 24mm

iso 200, f8, 1/125 sec.

 

This shot has only a narrow band of leaves at the very bottom of the image in focus. Personally, I like how it sort of asks a question of the viewer. At first glance, it just looks like a blurry picture of a tree, and at that point, some may stop looking. Looking closer however shows that the leaves at the bottom are perfectly sharp. This draws the attention to the leaves on the ground, which were the element that drew me to the scene in the first place. The tree itself takes on only secondary importance. One could argue about which image is more "pretty," if either fit that bill; I can say that the second shot better communicates how I felt about the scene.

 

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Autumn's End

 

Autumn's End, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Aspheric Series II Lens (at 40mm)

iso200, f14, 1/40 sec.

 

It seems that autumn has nearly run its course. There's a possibility of our first snow tonight.

 

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Another Autumn Leaves Series, With Motion

This will mark my third small series of fall leaves in motion. As I said before, I did push myself to keep pursuing the idea, tweaking it as I went, to see how far I could push it. Of course, it could go further, but I think the following three images represent something of an accomplishment for me.

 

These shots were all made with the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 and 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Series II kit lens. What I feel I've learned so far in this exercise is to play with the level of realism and abstraction, which I actually think I came close to in my previous mini-series (on November 1). I really like those previous images, but did push a little further.

 

This time, I paid more attention to color. The shots from the previous post are pretty bland, color-wise. I think these below pull together my intention in terms of both the level of abstraction and in fall color. I know these won't be attractive to everyone, but I am somewhat satisfied with where the exercise took me. Now you can judge them for yourself.

 

Color and Motion 1, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Series II Kit Lens

iso 200, f22, 0.4 sec.

 

Color and Motion 2, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Series II Kit Lens

iso 200, f22, 0.2 sec.

 

Number 2, above, is probably a little too swirled to stand on its own, in my opinion. In the context of the other two, I think it works.

 

Color and Motion 3, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Series II Kit Lens

iso 200, f22, 1/8 sec.

 

If I had to pick one (I don't have to), I'd pick number 3. I love the color. I think it's right at the edge of complete abstraction, but it still says "autumn" to me. But, I think the three in this series hang together pretty well.

 

One thing I'm learning right now is to give my images time before being done with them. I've been playing with this project quite a lot, and living with the images, thinking about them. I think I'll probably print these three, and see if I'm done. At some point, the leaves will all be down, and I'll be finished by definition.

 

One thing I think is that I could crop all three of these to square images. All of them could lose some empty space on the left side. It would change the character a lot, moving the swirl center away from the center of the frame. I'll give that a try before calling it done.

 

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Pulled Skyward - Autumn Leaves With a Twist (Lumix DMC-GX7)

I've been feeling that I'm at a creative plateau for quite some time. I'm trying some things that are new, if not to the photographic world, at least to my portfolio.

 

Autumn leaves are not so impressive in my part of the world this year, at least not yet. So, I decided to try adding some motion to those same old fall pictures I take every year. On October 30, I posted a set of five images of leaves with motion, starting with simple lines, then moving on to rotations.

 

I really enjoyed looking at those images. I could hear the photographic mentor in my head saying:

 

Good. Nice start. Now go spend some time with it. See how far you can take it.

 

So, I went out for another session. As I was walking out to the small stand of trees that are my subject, I started thinking about the degrees of freedom I could play with in motion while the shutter is open. I came up with several: f-stop, shutter speed, lateral (x,y) motion, angle (of the sensor, in-plane rotation), and angle of view (zoom). So, I played with them all.

 

Here are three images that show one theme that came out. I call it "Pulled Skyward." The threads of white (there was no fog; it was a perfectly clear day) remind of a spirit being pulled up through the trees.

 

Pulled Skyward 1, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm Series II Kit Zoom

iso 200, f22, 0.4s sec.

This first one is very nearly completely abstract. For me, abstract means that you can't really tell what the actual subject was. And, for me, it's a little too abstract to stand on its own. Hopefully the next two will give it some context, and help it to remain in the collection.

Pulled Skyward 2, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm Series II Kit Zoom

iso 200, f20, 0.4s sec.

Number two clearly shows that we're looking up into the treetops. The white streaks show nicely.

Pulled Skyward 3, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm Series II Kit Zoom

iso 200, f20, 0.4s sec.

 

Number 3 is my favorite of this set. I feel like I am being pulled up through the trees. The white streaks are just prominent enough to connect me to the treetops. However, I do feel that all three go together well.

 

If you know my photography, hopefully you'll recognize that this is a real departure for me. I'm somewhat of a photographic realist. I enjoy razor sharp images of interesting subjects, or street scenes where you can see multiple things going on. These are much more symbolic than my normal work.

 

It's good to stretch the mind.

 

I have a different set of images from this session, with a different color palette. I'm still working on those.

 

To those of you looking for how technically well the new DMC-GX7 and Series II kit zoom work, how sharp they are, sorry. I feel drawn in this direction at the moment, and the sharp, realistic images will have to come later.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Autumn Leaves in Motion

Autumn is coming slowly here in Northern Virginia this year, or at least it feels that way. Lots of browns amongst the yellow and orange trees.

 

I was out playing around with my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 yesterday, and decided to put some motion into my images. Nothing new here, but I think they're interesting. I started by putting the camera on shutter priority exposure (S), picking the lowest speed I could use without serious overexposure. First, I tried moving the camera linearly, upward, to follow the lines of the trees.

 

 

Leaves in Motion 1, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm Series II Kit Zoom

iso 200, f22, 1/6 sec.

 

This first shot has a little mood to it, I think. While the sky was actually completely clear and blue, the blur gives it a little feel of fog. I think there are multiple smaller images within this one. I could imagine cropping to just the lower 1/3 of the image, for example. Actually, I can see three images, each 1/3 of the vertical height of the original. I think I'll give that a try.

 

Here's another with upward movement, this time with some branches that go off the vertical quite a bit.

 

Leaves in Motion 2, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm Series II Kit Zoom

iso 200, f22, 1/6 sec.

 

Then, I started rotating the camera around different centers in the image. Here are my three favorites:

 

Leaves in Motion 3, 4, 5, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm Series II Kit Zoom

iso 200, f22, 1/6 sec.

 

I realize that these are the first images I've shared from the new GX7, and they don't help much if you're trying to see the capabilities of the camera or new kit lens. I promise to share some sharp, more traditional images soon. But for now, I can say that I am enjoying the new camera, and the lens is quite impressive for what it is.

 

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