Sometimes the simplest things make the best photos.  The below photo was taken right outside my back door, and is just two fallen sycamore leaves overlapping each other.

When photographing leaf patterns, I often have a hard time finding a composition that captures what really draws me to a certain leaf or group of leaves.  Often, I have to pause for a moment and define what it is about a particular scene that’s actually appealing.  Is it the color or pattern of one particular leaf or the juxtaposition of multiple leaves together?   That helps me decide what the appropriate scale is for the photograph.  Many times, I end up getting closer and shooting a smaller scene – to scale down to the real essence of the subject.  Other times, I back up and either try to capture the way several objects interact visually with each other, or the way a subject is set off against its surroundings.  (I also abandon a lot of potential shots because I just can’t find a way to make them work.)

With this photo, I decided that what I really liked about these two leaves was the shape of the line that separated them.  When I tried to compose a photo showing both leaves in their entirety, the power of that line was diminished, but when I got closer, the line dominated the photo – and that’s what I wanted.