The late day sun was pouring in. Casting a splendid glow upon the withered remains of my Japanese maple leaves. I’ve got a hundred or so of these bad boys that refuse to let go and find their final resting place in the dirt. At about an inch and a half in size these tenacious leaves make an excellent macro subject. Inspired I ran inside and fetched my camera, fixing my macro lens as a soldier would fix bayonets. Of course that’s a ridiculous notion but my mind can get pretty ridiculous. I digress.
From the get go I knew I wanted to go black and white. Even with the rich golden light, I figured a low key black and white would really accentuate the story being told by this leaf. I wanted to set a sharp focus on the leaf tips alone, which struck me as the fingertips of an aged hand. The soft focus allows the eye to fade back into the picture, filling in the wrinkled, gnarled details for ourselves. Our own lives and our own mortality are inextricably linked to the unstoppable passage a time. Time being a concept that will forever fascinate me until the moment I can know it no more.
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