Weekly #732 - Leaves Competition

I apologise for the delay having fallen into the trap of expecting universal internet access. I took my laptop with me to darkest Cornwall and I have ended up sitting outside a National Trust property, using their 'FreeWiFi' to get this to you. (I AM a member!)
It's a bit terse but I'm a bit stuck waiting minutes for each image to download!


Greenery by Perspicador: Nice picture of a bluetit. The leafy part is somewhat secondary to it?

Stop and go by JAK: A very clever interpretation with good observation to find it in the first place and careful setting up to get the pair perfectly focused.

Leaves in the morning sun by MHOL(etc): Nice contre jour image that has resulted in super bright colours with good use of a 300mm lens to isolate the subject.

Batsford autumn leaves by Johnwnjr: I can guess that looked quite lovely. It turned out well too but there was an exposure problem cused by the deep shadow at the top(?) which has resulted in many of the highlights being blown. (Great advert for the camera!).

Autumn Leaves by Tyronet2000: Can't beat a big acer in the autumn (I have some). Beautifully set off against the dark background, these tiers and tiers of autumn leaves have been near perfectly exposed.

Dead ivy on the fence by Aitch53: Marvelous composition from the most surprising of subject matter. I wish the tones were not quite so close. A bit lighter fence or a more dense brown would make this one "pop", (as they say).

Autumn at Thorpe Perrow by davidtrout: A beautifully isolated twig-full of pretty coloured leaves set off by a lovely dark, out of focus bokeh. Nailed the brief in one.

Fall leaves in Southern Arkansas by tefletcher3: A really nice composition of overlapped leaves with a very delicate background tracery of twigs. It's a bit dimly lit to my mind however. With the sun behind it it would shine!

Holly on slate by Fodwick: It looks like a set up shot rather than randomly found and it works! Technically just so, it pushes the envelope of the brief and I like it. I think it would have worked even better with a square format?

Pepper plant by PRYorkshire: For a Tamron 90 it looks a bit lacking in detail (but I don't know the nature of a pepper leaf). The fly is pin sharp and so drags the viewer's attention away all the time.

Autumn arrives by retsoor: Nice receding layers of light and shade with an unusual tree - oak? An effectivve composition.

Life and death on the forest floor by Noelcmn: I can't believe there was no tripod here! You observed it, you planned it and you smashed it! Great story telling.

Ranin leaves by Flan: Very pretty and an eye-catching composition, especially against a wet, black background. What are they? I Googled it and got nowhere?

Water lillies by jeffmsc: Now had this been a waterlilly contest ....? The composition is great and the low angle with a wide lens has worked very well, including the interesting sky. Is it celebrating 'leaves' though?

tapioca leaf by dhedwards: Don't worry about the dowload - it preserved 'Pentax K5' and got over the bar! Amazing shape to this plant's leaves which you have managed to isolate and convey very effectively. The slight crop off the end of the bottom lobe is surprisingly distracting (to me anyway)!

jupiter leaf by u01dcg: Had you gone for an abstract, or the complex patterns of veins in a leaf then this would have worked but I am at a loss to see what a formless blank space does for a portrayal of leafiness. I see the likeness to the great red spot but ...?

Golden leaves by drofmit: Is it because these leaves have been forced into an alien environment? Or is the focus out? They just don't look either right or convincing.


David trout had it until Noel came along with his rebirth story on the forest floor. That's followed by a lovely backlit scene from MHOL

1st Noelcmn
2nd davidtrout
3rd MHOL190246
and HC to JAK, Fodwick and dhedwards

Well done Davidwozhere for going to such lengths to get back to PU
Thanks for the critique and comments
well done to Noelcmn for first place and the runners up also
My own entry. i meant (Raining leaves) as the title
the photo was an accident as i never realised that the self timer was on and i pointed the camera down to see what was wrong and then it fired.
it was totally underexposed so i played with it in Rawtherapee and kind of liked it
hope that clears up the Ranin leaves

Congrats, Noelcmn. Definitely the winner I would have picked. Well done too, davidtrout and MOHL, and my fellow HCs.
Thanks for the HC, davidwozhere, and the comments. Square format? Hmm...🤔

Well done David on setting and judging a competition which resulted in some fine entries and on beating the odds to get the results across. Congrats to Noel, and to MOHL and the HCs and thanks or my 2nd place.

Thanks for the judging, done from darkest Cornwall!

Congratulations to the Winner and other Places and well done everyone who entered.

Congratulations to Noel, David and the HCs. Thanks for third place and indeed for critique.

Regards

Michael

Wow, another unexpected result. Thank you David, Congrats to davidtrout and MHOL190246 and not forgetting the HC's JAK, Fodwickand dhedwards. Fabulous challenge, thanks davidwozhere for overcoming all those hurdles and judging this one! I'll have something up for this week in a few moments