1st leaf of Spring Photo

Photographer’s Note

This brave little Hazel Corylus avellana has put forth a leaf a month ahead of the official start of spring here in England.At the moment we have high winds direct from wintery Scandinavia, so inspite of the bright sun shine it is "brass monkey weather" (cold)here.
Adjustments.
Open and use a rotated crop to position twig into corner of frame 28.22 X 21cm X 720dpi.
Levels- move centre to the right to darken image a fraction.
Saturation +8 Lightness +2
Brightness -2 Contrast +5
USM 134% X 2.3 radius threshold 1
save file ready for printing then change to 72 dpi to help reduce file size.
use save to web to get file below 200k (195.7)
post to TE

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Critiques | Translate

mogens-j (56) 2004-02-20 16:24

Nice picture Robert - spring is sure comming up. I like the dark background - I suppose it is the flash. Very good use of dof and post work but I do not understand why you enhance resolution to 720 dpi - it cannot be from the camera.

dob_31 (0) 2004-02-20 16:51

I love your macro shot... The leaf is very well detailled. The work you did gave get results. Well seen, well framed and well commented.

I'll post a WS, I ho^pe you won't mind,

ninadev (5225) 2004-02-20 17:18

Very nice - this leaf seems to be all wrinkled as she just opened up, but maybe this kind of leaf has this texture anyway. I love the other buds and the light on it. Great DOF.

The only think I find a little hard to cope with is the fact that spring is already in Europe.

bullybeef53 (3231) 2004-02-20 17:30

Robert-this photograph is fantastic to like all your macros . You are one of my main inspirations . I did A workshop on your photograph as another way to look at it . But It is difficult to improve on near perfection .

[workshop] [compare]

milloup (1829) 2004-02-20 17:47

Isn't it great to see that spring is marching boldly on and will be coming soon ;-) This little hazel is a bit ahead of ours here, so thanks for showing us what it's going to look like not so very long from now. I think I'd crop a little left and bottom to accentuate the leaf, something like Daniel's WS.

charmante (1053) 2004-02-21 3:26

yes, I felt the arrival of Spring by seeing your picture ! in my country , Iran, we celebrate the spring with the new year ! for they both begin in the same day /

dsidwell (9745) 2004-02-21 16:32

this may look better at a third node, but the effect is still magnificent. The colors and sharpness are very nice indeed!

summer89 (5414) 2004-02-22 17:27

So simple, So great. Nice colors and detail.

Congratulation.

Porteplume (3257) 2004-02-22 17:40

Very appealling, very attractive shot!
The tenderness in that fresh green, the new begin, the hoop... You just captured the essential of an early spring - Less is More - Very well done Robert!

Nina (4613) 2004-03-01 8:33

Really nice closeup of this brave soldier Rob. I like your compo, but Jim improved it the way I would have suggested. Well done both of you.