Donald Darling Jr
July 2026 - STRAGGLER
About the Image(s)
This is a dried up leak that made its way into my garage last fall. I set it on a bench for potential still life use. this past February, on a calm winter's afternoon, I brought it out onto the crusty snow in my backyard for use as photographic subject.
I used my D750 and old 20 - 105 Nikon lens at f11 with a shutter at 1/250 second hand held.
I added clarity and vibrance to the image when importing to Elements and then cropped in some.
The snow didn't have the granularity I would have liked. it was pretty well iced over.
7 comments posted
(Groups 21 & 42 & 71)
Donald, love the simplicity and detail. You also did a great jove toning down the snow and not letting the white take over. The leaf and shadow are super. Hope you don't mind but I thought a slightly tighter crop was in order. Image well captured. Posted: 07/06/2026 12:58:11
Tom, thank you for your comments and the crop. The crop does emphasize the subject more and makes the image less static in the frame. Posted: 07/15/2026 01:20:55
Stephanie Phillips
Nice minimalist type of image. I like the contrast of the leave color on the snow, but I am also wondering what it might look like in B&W. I also like the tighter crop - it makes the shadow stand out a little more. Posted: 07/09/2026 20:09:12
Stephanie, thank you for your comments. I appreciate them. Attached is a quick BW version made using an older NIK Silver Effects app I have. I made use of their Fine Art Process option. Posted: 07/15/2026 01:29:18
This is a very well thought out creation. I like its artistic flair. The exposure and sharpness are very good. The white backgound is pleasing. I am curious what your original image looked like to understand what changing clarity and vibrance did to this image. Well done!!! Posted: 07/20/2026 10:12:58
Richard, than you. Attached is a tiff file of the unedited original for your review. Posted: 07/21/2026 00:16:40
You did a really good job of pulling the best out of the leaf. I tried to duplicate in LR and found it challenging. You hit the sweet spot in processing this image. Congrats!!! Posted: 07/21/2026 11:14:15