"The Leaf" - (please view large) original is in A2 poster-size

Well, I'm gonna try to keep this simple...

It seems that it is an image captured by an electro/mechanical device...utilizing a light source...a lens (of sorts)...some type of "image collection" device (ccd or cmos chip)...an operator...and an intention to communicate a particular view of the item imaged...

...It seems that it therefore qualifies as a photo, even if in a rather loose sense, nevertheless - I think that as an observation only, it stands so far...

Notwithstanding, all the technical, philosophical, aesthetic, pro, con, and every other comment that has gone before...and further giving that it all may - to one degree or another -

... Personally - I just do not see it as a very interesting "Piece Of Work"...although understandably, and I say this only because I have read what has been submitted here, and personally know nothing of the technique, (i.e., multiple scan/scan stacking) it is clear that the technique is time consuming and labourious, and requires a fairly advanced control of ADOBE PS...

...I do not, however find that the degree of "detail" and the "granularity" of the background, and the "subtle changes in colour" of same, and every other mention of grandeur - irrespective of how much of ANY of those are, or may be present in the finished work, manages to make it interesting...beyond an expression of techinical expertise.

To that end I agree, it is...interesting, technically, in it's creation...and as a very enlarged print, if I am understanding it's finished intent, which seems to be to demonstrate it's detail...however, [it] strikes me as "much ado about nothing"...and I have visited the other photos Juergen has posted - he is obviously prolific.That IS as simple as I could keep it...and BTW, I think that it is the leaf of a Catalpa tree.

A question begs more questions and fewer explanations with some preamble.

 

To me, the very fact that the photgrapher attempted to do something different- thought about it, spent many hours struggling with the experimentation and is sharing one of his experimental results freely,

is commendable.

 

I also commend the photo.net folks who chose to highlight this as POW

(whether it deserves that or not from a technical point of view or from an "aesthetic"potrayal, I am not getting in to that. There are plenty of folks with a rich vocabulary of superlative or derogatory remarks for that). This image does fit in to the theme chosen for this week.

 

It did generate some thought provoking discussions- some chose to try to understand the technical process that went in to making this image.

That is good.

 

Did this image (before I checked any remarks on how it was produced) evoke any emotional thoughts? Yes, it did.

 

It reminded me of that shabby little girl running towards the vehicle with her handcrafted greeting cards for sale and the triumphant face when she succeeded in getting her 2 cents for it. I have a small collection of such cards made with carefully preserved leaves mounted on handmade paper with very coarse structure from Nicaragua, El Slavador, Ecuador, Belize, Sri Lanka, India.... Beautifully crafted and real pleasure to look at.

 

The photographer's image (intentional or not) did remind me of some of my visits, experience... and with that he achieved something and I am thankful for that.

 

Why use a scanner? Why not? As I understand it, it will be a very very difficult task to do what Juergen has done. No, it is not just a pushing the "scan" button to acquire the image. Not at all!

 

I have been struggling with a scanning rig (nothing to do with scanners, by the way) for several months now, I do not know if it will get completed and if I will ever be able to take photographs with it.

 

Will I ever choose to share it with others in photo.net?

 

I will have to give it a lot of thought after looking at this highlighted image and the ensuing discussion!

Nice shot... I'm thinking this is a leaf from a Bohdi tree? The type of tree that Buddha attained enlightenment underneath. In 2001, I was visiting Bodhgaya, India - the birthplace of buddhism. There is a bodhi tree that is the decendant of the same tree Buddha sat under- I thought to myself, wouldn't it be cool to find a fallen leaf from this auspicious tree? Just then, I walked under the archway to the Buddha footprint and a leaf fell from my head brushing some wiring that was fixed to the arch. Unbelievable. I pressed it into my Lonely Planet and for once thought that there may be a higher plane of thought besides this existence. I'm not religious or anything... I just thought it was a little trippy. Thanks for the flashback and for the tight shot. -David Knight

It is a leaf from a "Bodhi" tree and also happens to be the material for the "first dress" of Eve.

Wow, this really took me by surprise. I wouldn't have expected another POW on photo.net. Thank you very much to photo.net and also thanks to all of you who have been bearing with this image for nearly a week by now. I have read all the comments and really appreciate all feedback given, positive or negative.

 

Yes, it was back in 2001 when I uploaded this scan (the textured background came from a piece of sanded glass by the way). Since then an 800MB file has been sitting on my harddisk. Last year I used this scan to make a digital negative on Epson Backlight Film in A3 size to do some contact-prints on watercolor paper using the almost forgotten "Van Dyke" method. After experimenting with some traditional toning and bleaching methods I was able to create two prints which I liked.

 

Many of your comments deal with the question whether scanned images are photos or not. I haven't really thought about that when I decided to use the scanner ... but then, what about those prints ? They went through a photographic process and not through the inkjet.

 

Finally I would like to thank all of you who have visited the other images and "real photos" I have uploaded here.

 

Juergen

Juergen,

 

This is an interesting image I think. A nice representation of monochromatic style. It could probably have more effectiveness if it were part of a series rather than as a stand alone subject. It certainly shows the beauty in simplicity and in the detail of nature. Certainly the image type is nothing new but this particular image is unique and it has good merits. You did a nice job with the digital process.

I too think that's a very good image - a pleasure to see. About doing it the POW, i cannot see any serious constraint, but two: it's maybe not a picture, and, yes, it's boring. Well done, surely, i myself am not be able to do a fine thing like this with a scanner (or with a camera, i suspect) but i think we have to put some limit to what we believe are pictures. PS is another thing: we are going to use software ability as a part of our taking-develiping-printing world of pics, but i continue believing they are different fields.

hi. funny, just the other week i picked up a book w/a very similar image on its cover -- same type of leaf, same single color... check here to check the picture out on amazon.com.

What do you mean by "multiple exposure" with layers in photoshop? I'm trying to learn photoshop and tips for making my photos better. Thanks! Beautiful BTW, I love this. Very zen :)

I Like it.