C&C requested - I'm debating myself

[Kris V]

I took this last Saturday - the sun was going down, and the ligh tray came through the trees, illuminating this leave.
I had my camera with me, just turned it on and shot - I did not pay any attention to any of the settings.
The light on this leaf only lasted a few minutes, and I but I liked the effect.
Very little PP - just some sharpening and WB adjustment.
Keeper or File 13?
ISO 400/f5.6/1/400

[tbob]

I would consider getting rid of the bright area on the lower left of the leaf, it draws the eye too much and dominates the image. I suspect it may have to be cloned out as the highlight is blown out; the rest can be darkened with the burn tool but just a hair as the rest of the image is dark.

Overall I think it's a keeper. Interesting and subtle.

Good eye to spot this.

[Donald]

Keeper or File 13?

Can I be honest? - File 13. There's too much of the frame gone to black.

I too like the idea. But I feel it just wasn't given the chance to make it. It feels like one of those (and I suspect it's not just you and me who had them) images when you kick yourself that you weren't there 5 minutes beforehand so that you could have seen the possibility of the image emerging and got yourself properly set up for it - getting the exposure right, etc.

That happens so often - Why wasn't I here 15 minutes ago as this light began to develop so that I could have had everything just right?

Just before finally binning it, how about a crop to 1:1 (square)? What would that look like?

[Kris V]

Can I be honest? - File 13. There's too much of the frame gone to black

Sniff! Sniff!

Before I trash it - I ran it through LR and bumped up the exposure.Could recover quite a bit.
Trevor, The 1:1 crop did not work for me. Since I'm not planning to print it, I cropped away some of the background that really didn't do anything for the picture.
Here is the LR edit:

[shreds]

Kris,

I potentially like the shot and your eye for spotting it.

Did you only shoot it as a jpeg? Does your camera do RAW? Donald is right in that the blacks are too far gone in this image, but if you have the RAW file, then a couple of stops and a bit more PP might keep it from that dreaded bin.

Failing all that, go out to the same spot, (if necessary on a number of occasions) this time leaving yourself more time and see if it is possible to replicate the image but take a whole series of shots leading up to sunset. Ok I know it will be raining or the sun won't shine but at least you now have a better idea of what you are trying to achieve and what to avoid, and apart from the light, everything else should be roughly replicable. That is one of the great things about still life shots!

[shreds]

Its changed whilst I write

Unfortunately for me the leaf itself has lost that leathery brown texture and in this configuration I am now going to say file 13. Only my view mind. Its your shot.

[Snarkbyte]

This is one of those very rare occasions where I will go out on a limb and disagree with Don... I like the original, just the way it is. Granted, it's not a textbook example of proper exposure, but IMO, the image derives it's emotional impact and artistic merit from that very "fault". The moment I looked at this photo in the litebox, I was reminded of a song by Emmy Lou Harris, "Just Before It Gets Dark". Honestly, I'm not a fan of country music (or even Emmy Lou Harris), but that song and this image have the same haunting quality. If you like the image, Kris, keep it. I suspect that most, if not all, of us here have a stash of "Guilty Pleasures"... photos that we like, despite the fact that no one else does, and we know they're right by all accepted standards of good photography.

[Kris V]

Its changed whilst I write

Unfortunately for me the leaf itself has lost that leathery brown texture and in this configuration I am now going to say file 13. Only my view mind. Its your shot.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it". If I decide to keep one, it'll be the first one.

[Kris V]

I ran the RAW file through LR -and after seeing both pictures side by side, The LR edit turned into something very ordinary.
5 minutes after I took the shot, it was just one of the many leaves laying around in the shadow. The magic moment was gone.
I have a tendency of going for "a litlle on the dark side" for nature photos.
Wonder if that leaf will still be there next week? (I'm only in that location on weekends).
This was just a "seize the occasion" grab, that came out better than I expected.
Ah! Magic Moments.....so few and far between!