Fall Leaf, Yosemite National Park, California, 2004 photo

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15-OCT-2004

Fall Leaf, Yosemite National Park, California, 2004

I photographed this fall leaf from the inside of a Native American shelter exhibit in Yosemite Village. The leaf was resting on the side of the shelter, overlapping one of its openings. Light was passing through it, and a close inspection reveals that a spider had been passing over it – the fragile thread of its web is visible between two of the leaf’s points. By photographing only half the leaf, I make it seem as if the leaf is peeking into the shelter. As with any abstraction, much is left to the imagination of the viewer. To me it is an image that evokes a sense of season in one of America’s most treasured environments.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20
1/200s f/4.0 at 13.8mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		13-Sep-2006 22:11
It's so simple, Jenene. Look for the light first, then the subject. We can't get caught up in WHAT we are photographing. We must concentrate instead on what we are SAYING. Light can be extremely expressive -- as in this case. Thank you for recognizing its value to this image.

JSWaters		13-Sep-2006 19:25
As you often tell me, Phil, make the light work for you. This is all about the 'light'. It is suggestive of a certain season, but it's also just a beautiful rendering of nature's creativity at work in a glorious setting.

Phil Douglis		16-Aug-2006 23:02
Yes, it does make sense, Adam. In contemplating the simple story told by half a leaf, the trace of a cobweb, and much translucence, along with a peek-a-boo stance, your imagination has taken over. I make it easy for it to do so by limiting the information in this image to a minimum. Thanks for this thought.

Guest		16-Aug-2006 16:29
I don't have any transformative interpretations of this photo; I see it as it is in its literal sense. What is effective for me, though, is that in processing the various components in the photograph to "put the picture together" in terms of its meaning, I find myself "pulled" into the scene more than I would be normally had the image not been abstract. (I don't know if that makes sense at all...) Anyway, nice shot.

Phil Douglis		20-Jul-2006 22:53
Glad this leaf stirs your imagination, Annie -- the image has become as much yours as mine because of it.

Annie J		20-Jul-2006 22:45
The leaf reminds me of a child playing hide and seek. He seems to be peeking out saying "Hi, come and play with me"...I can almost see the leaf giggling too.

Phil Douglis		06-Aug-2005 19:09
Wonderful interpretation, Harl. Thanks for picking up on that cobweb. I like the idea of a dead leaf acting as metaphor for our ultimate destination. At least we seem to be enjoying the ride while it lasts.

Guest		06-Aug-2005 17:34
A traveller stuck, like when your flight is cancelled. Just waiting for a liberating wind to come along and wisk him onward toward his destiney. The spider web indicates that it has been waiting awhile. The sunlight shining thru indicates that the wait has not been unenjoyable, sometimes the journy is better than the destination.

Phil Douglis		24-Jun-2005 19:57
I am glad that you turned this image around and made the viewer hide, instead of the leaf. It shows the value of this image as a trigger to the human imagination.

Guest		20-Jun-2005 13:47
I didn't see a shy or half-hidden leaf. Instead, what I see is an old guy standing out there bravely backed by a trunk. Actually it is us hiding in shadow behind trees, not the leaf. Here I am moved by the spirit of the leaf and the value of life.

Phil Douglis		29-Dec-2004 19:10
Once again, Zandra, you have given me cause to rethink my own intentions here. I shot this picture to demonstrate the effect of abstraction on the human imagination. If the entire leaf had been in full view, I would never have made this image. But half a leaf said something to me that a full leaf did not. It evoked, as I said in my explanation, a sense of the season. Fall. Fall come comes and fall goes. Fall is here, but not quite here, so the leaf is only partly seen. It is peeking at us, and your interpretation of this image as a playful game of hide and seek is certainly valid. So is your attempt to bring human values to bear on this image. One of the great functions of abstraction is to trigger the imagination of the viewer, and viewers will almost always mirror their own emotions and feelings when they look at an image such as this. You ability to open your mind enough to see multiple meanings in expressive photographs is a gift, Zandra. I hope you will always be willing to do this when you analyze photographs. Some might say you like to see many meanings because you want to cover all bases. If you see enough meanings, one of them is more likely to be the correct, right? Wrong. There is no such thing as a correct single meaning for an expressive photograph. I made this picture as a stimulus to thought. I knew what I wanted to say. But that does not make it correct or right or wrong. You can see whatever you want to see in it, and you should see a number of different meanings. The more meanings you see, the broader and more deeply the image functions as expression for you. It is your second and third meanings that most provoke my own imagination, Zandra. Fear is often represented by darkness. Abstract images often express aspects of fear, as well as mystery and the unknown, by featuring deep shadows. You even project this leaf as a protector here -- guarding its family from the dark that is enveloping the scene. The translucent light symbolizes happiness and innocence to you as well -- a striking contrast to the encroaching darkness. And then you make the biggest jump of all. You express a more universal meaning here by making my composition represent humanity itself and its fear of the unknown. Your meaning speaks of our vulnerability as human beings, and our reluctance to reach out and grasp opportunities we have never experienced before. You astonish, me, Zandra. For the second straight time, you have taken one of my images and illuminated it for me. You show me how limited my own imagination was when I made this image primarily to express the comings and goings of the seasons. You use the strength of your own imagination to leap once, twice, and then a third time -- finally bringing out the universal meaning that rests within this abstraction. The process you have just gone through here should be invaluable to you as a photographer as well. Don't be satisfied with the first concept that strikes your fancy. Keep working it -- one idea always leads to another and still another. Thank you for making this abundantly clear in your response to this image, Zandra.

Guest		29-Dec-2004 10:07
Also here i get mixed messages, or i tend to try and seek more then one meaning in pictures. The very first though that came to my mind when i opened the image was "He has captured a shy leaf" and imediatly i gave it human values, maybe transmitted from myself as i somtimes can feel shy and want to hide in the shadows untill i have analayzed a situation. But i can also see the playfullnes, the hide and seek game that has been pointed out. The leaf is playing with us..."has she discovered me here behind the tree?". I can almost hear it gigle and see it hide behind the tree again, so the game can continue. Looking at it again i can see fear. The leaf is not shy, it does not play...it hides from the dark and unknown that is in front of it. Can you imagen the family behind the tree, that he/she tries to protect from this dark that is coming closer to their world. The leaf looks very innocent as the backlight brings out the delicate vains and colours, the background is lit up by the warmng rays of the sun...a happy life. In front there are the trees with it's much harder structure that contrast greatly with the thin vains in the leaf. Teh dark to the left and the bottom...once again the unknow that is coming closer. What lurks in the shadows? When that thought crosses my mind, then this composition can easily represnt humanity and its fear for the unknown. How we peak in at the unknow from our own perfect litle world and how we hide from it rather then take the step to reach in to this unknown to grasp it, understand it and welcome it.

Phil Douglis		14-Dec-2004 21:22
Thank you, Mikel, for commenting on this image. The abstraction here works quite differently than the abstraction in the preceding image. While this leaf is fully recognizable as a leaf, much of it is also hidden from view, making it seem to spy on us. Once again, my viewers must use their own imaginations to complete the mission of this picture as a seasonal symbol.

Guest		14-Dec-2004 16:57
On this case I agree in the coment, perhaps the spider web wold not have catched so much my eye rather then the detail of the vanes from the leaf but with it's transparency and as you say: having shown only a part of it makes the abstract object realy determinant in this photo, specially since it is in a much higher tone then the rest of the photo and it also brakes the verticality of the two woden parts with the ground. I like this spiyng leaf. ;)

Guest		01-Dec-2004 17:03
yes the leaf is the main subject, and what I like is the poetic tone of the composition and colors.

nut		11-Nov-2004 15:58
Yeap. I put my thought on this photo. That is the my way to appreciate this photo.

Phil Douglis		09-Nov-2004 19:36
You bring leaf to life, Nut. You apply human values to it.

nut		09-Nov-2004 16:36
The leaf is the colorful of autumn. I think he want to say hi to you then soon winter will come.

Phil Douglis		08-Nov-2004 21:24
Glad a simple leaf can trigger thoughts of Native Americans and the history of Yosemite, Nut.

nut		08-Nov-2004 20:44
I think I read the history of Yosemite National Park, that's why I am thinking about native americans. By the way, no autumn in Thailand. Only hot, very hot and oh! Buddha it's hot. So it remind me more about history of this place.

Phil Douglis		31-Oct-2004 03:04
Hide and Seek! A great title, for this shot. There is a whimsical quality to an image that features a leaf peeking at us! Through the history of art, leaves have been used to keep US from peeking at certain parts of various statues and paintings deemed by prudes as unsuitable for public scrutiny. I love this sense of retribution!

Guest		31-Oct-2004 02:41
This reminds me of the playfulness of autumn. That leaf is definitely playing hide and go seek. It's beautiful!

Phil Douglis		30-Oct-2004 22:34
Thanks, Nut. Expressive images don't force anything. They allow room for the viewer to enter the photograph and experience it. That is what you are doing here.

nut		30-Oct-2004 08:03
It's my concentration. I didn't force myself but I do follow this photo. It's my feeling when I saw this one. I like the way you used the light in this photo. It's nature and you never force nature to be what you want. You just present it and let them talk by their own. I like this. My imagination is never end or cover by the aim of photographer.

Phil Douglis		29-Oct-2004 21:45
I'm not sure how to interpret "balance," Nut -- do you mean it gave you a sense of concentration or focus?

nut		29-Oct-2004 17:45
This photo balanced me.

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