Switching Focus

Before the Man cleaned up the yard, the leaves were thick, thick, thick on the ground. We only have a couple trees in the yard but they sure produce a lot of leaves.

I love walking through the leaves, kicking them up, making them crunch.

I don't love when they follow me into the house, getting all over the place.

One of the exercises in the photography book I was reading last week sounded simple.

Pick a spot in your yard and shoot twenty images from that spot.

Of course I took the standard leaves-around-the-tree-trunk shot seen at the top of the post. But then I had to find different angles.

These are my favorite from the bunch.

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I love the out of focus shot above. I like the balance between the {very} bright sky and the dark tree limbs. I love the pops of yellow and orange from the leaves. I like the weight of the photo being at the top on the leaves closest to me. I think I'm going to try and turn it into a watercolor.

It's amazing the detail you can find when you have to keep looking.

And yes, I had plenty of other things to do, like clean my windows, laundry, dusting and vacuuming, along with a lot of other jobs. But it was much more fun being outside, absorbing all that beautiful color.

Camera close to the ground, nestled right into the leaves.

Switched the focus a little to a point further away. I love the crispness in the center and that gorgeous bokeh all around.

Crazy shot. 

Breaking-the-rules shot.

Kept the shutter open while panning on some red leaves from a shrub around the house. Looks like moving water. 

If you squinch your eyes a bit. And if water was red.

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Try this exercise if you're looking for something to push the creativity envelope. Loads of fun.

Really.