A single leaf, the first colorful leaf of autumn, captured for Picture Fall. Most of the trees around here still have green leaves, firmly attached to their branches. The leaves that are on the ground are dead, brown, dull. This one little leaf was the exception – full of color and vibrancy and personality. A leaf ahead of its season.
I enjoyed photographing this one little leaf – capturing the light, the interesting shadows, the contrast of the lines of green moss in between the stones. You should have seen me, down on the ground on the path in the park. Brandon, who is now 9 years old, was quite embarrassed by my behavior. “Get up Mom,” he said, “You look weird.”
I find it ironic, that as I finally get to a place in my self that I don’t care what other people think, that I’m willing to lay down on the pavement in public for the sake of my art, that my son starts to care. Apparently, we are changing seasons in more than one way around here. This single leaf, a harbinger of fall, also has brought the realization that the teen years are, eventually, on their way for my son. Life is nothing, if not interesting, that’s for sure.
On day like today, with the rain lashing and the wind howling outside it's nice to see a bit of sunshine falling on this lonely leaf that managed to stay in reasonable good shape considering 🙂
What a perfect capture, Kat! Every vein of the leaf is in focus, and I love the square stones. Yes, you may be the subject of some scorn for a few years, but eventually my kids either gave up, or gave into the same behavior!
This is such a beautiful photo… the color, the textures, the composition, the shadow… I love it all! It's great you were down on the ground taking the photo… I can relate.
(A few weeks ago I was taking pictures of my gnome at Niagara Falls and I was laying on the ground too – tourists ended up taking pictures of me laying on the ground – ha!)
Isn't it amazing how much we can embarrass our kids??
This is a lovely photograph!
I love that you can see beauty in a single leaf. I can related to you and your son. When I take reference pictures of people for art subjects, my daughter calls me a creeper. (I try to take pictures of people in everyday actions, not posed) She even tells me to let her take the picture, because people won't care as much if they see a young girl taking pictures of them. Very funny indeed. When we talk … we call them creeper photos. 🙂
Beautiful photo, Kat – I love those colors, the shadow. It's just perfect!
And welcome to the world of emerging teenagers! What fun – not. I promise, this was not the last time your son felt embarrassed by you! It happens in our house (well, more outside the house…) all the time and it actually can be fun (for me)!!!
Beautiful photo! And I love that you've reached that point where what matters most is reaching your goals and dreams and not what others (even the kids) think.
Carrying a camera as my companion has allowed me to loosen up and not worry about what people think. That and gradually drawing more and more in public. It's a wonderful, freeing feeling. Even though your son wasn't thrilled, I think you are a wonderful role model of creativity + independent thought.
The leaf is not dull, and neither are our lives. Always something!