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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Nine: Composition -- putting it together > Wet Leaves, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 2002
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15-JUN-2002

Wet Leaves, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 2002

Wet leaves and flat gray skies. It doesn't sound like much of an opportunity for an expressive photograph. But it was. On closer inspection, I realized that these leaves were all on the same bush and came in no less than five different colos and hues: three shades of purple and red, plus two shades of green. Glistening drops of water add surface texture, as well. The flat, shadowless light enriches color saturation. I built this image around three vertical sections of contrasting color -- purple, red, and then purple once again. These contrasts in color, plus the bonus rain drops, and rich saturation, offer a vivid and memorable insight into the ways of mother nature on this wet New England June morning.

Canon PowerShot G2
1/50s f/4.0 at 7.0mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis31-Oct-2004 19:24
Thanks, Maureen, for demanding such perfection as this. I am glad nature obliged us here. You are obviously attracted to images that evoke perfection, which tells me that you probably seek perfection in everything you do. Which is a good trait for a photographer to have.
Guest 31-Oct-2004 14:12
This is a simple photograph that becomes so interesting with the raindrops, which seem to highlight the elements here - the perfect shape of the leaves, the perfect colors, the perfect textures and the perfect drops of water. You've captured the perfection of nature.
Phil Douglis23-Oct-2004 16:36
Thank you, Jen, for taking the time to look at this image again, consider the ideas I offered below, and then seeing this image in a new light. The most important quality you bring to your passion for imaging is your open mind. You separate your ego from your art, you see without bias or prejudice. Thank you again for sharing and, indeed, appreciating, what I have put into this image.
Phil
Jennifer Zhou23-Oct-2004 15:34
Phil
Once again you totally convinced me! And I really have nothing to say to disagree with you, I just admire you even more..

In this simple picture you put so many thoughts, wonderful thoughts. I now see the cycle of nature, see the different colors making a point together, see how essential the raindrops in here..They are making perfect sence to me now!

Thank you for making this picture and taught me a great lesson!

Jen
Phil Douglis21-Oct-2004 22:32
How can a picture be both "good" and "boring" at the same time, Jen? If it is "good," it works for you. If it is "boring," it is not working for you. Obviously this image failed to make you think, feel, or wonder, and as such you must judge it a flat out failure. Yet perhaps after reading my own comments, you might take another look and see if it is still failing to excite your mind or emotions. Let me know how you feel then.

It sure worked for me. And here's why. This image is all about color, pattern, and texture. It is also about the life and death cycle of nature. I deliberately varied the depth of color in the leaves by shifting vantage point to create through reflection those three vertical bands of light red, dark red, and then light red again plants. To me, these bands represented the cycle of nature itself. The plant, which normally red, appears to be fading at left and at right but strong and vital in the middle. Just as nature cycles, my image seems to cycle. Even the bits of green coming through the background of the image work -- it represents the plants of the future that will eventually replace these.

I do not use a focal point here because the entire image works as one coherent pattern -- the points repeat the leaf shapes over an over, pulling the eye in to the image and guiding it from leaf to leaf, and stem to stem.

The texture is unusual here because it makes these leaves so tactile. This image would have never worked as well if it had not rained and left those glistening drops on the leaves. They represent nourishment and life and creates a unifying pattern in itself. I was hoping you would want to reach out and physically touch the water here -- that is what happens when you stimulate the viewer through a heavily textured image.

Now to color and color theory. Red demands our attention over any other color. If this image was of green leaves, it would have never said what it says or drawn the eye as it does. Red leaves are unusual in themselves. This is not fall coloration. I took this image in mid-June, when plant life was its most vital. But this color goes beyond the attention getting quality of red itself. I count at least five different shades of color in here -- deep maroon, and light purple augment the bold red leaves, while two shades of green underly it. These variations create contrast and depth -- some colors advance and others recede. When we shoot colors, we must always be aware of colors that fade and colors that thrust themselves out at us. The reason some colors advance and others recede, is because some colors reflect light, and others absorb it. That's exactly what is happening here. The light itself is part of my story here, because along with water, light is the very stuff of life for a plant. The varying degrees of reflectance offered by these colors tell the story of how light works as well.

Do you still think this image is as boring and meaningless as you originally saw it, Jen?
Phil
Jennifer Zhou17-Oct-2004 14:50
Phil, I keep looking and looking at picture but still can't find anything interested me. Yes, this picture may fulfilled three principals (you are showing only three color leaves, how different but same they are and what a miracle the nature is), but still this is a good but boring picture to me.

As you said "Every picture should a focal point." Do you have one in this picture? The raindrops or the green leaves? The refections also left very little details on the leaves and color also been washed out.

Should it be better if you keep less leaves in your frame but still tell the differences between them and bring out some details for us and show your focal point in a more obvious way that make this photo more interesting to look at?

Jen
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