[NT73]

Just a few oak leaves basking in +6C

[Don Schaeffer]

Nicely presented NT

[Toad]

Yes - lovely photo.

[shuttertalk]

Yes, nice burst of colour against a dreary winter backdrop. Nice framing too!

[Zig]

(Do you mind not posting in Don's gallery? )

Seriously though, this is unashamedly right up my street. For me the frame almost distracts me from all that's going on within the image...and the pic is great: an everyday object(of sorts) ennobled really nicely. Composition; the placement of hotter and more strident tones; the balance of hotter, cooler, harder and softer; the many lines that have been treated with a structured and creative eye, so that they actively guide the viewer around the shot. There is a harmony and radiance to this, that would have been totally lost without this approach.
Sorry to go on, but for me it's the way the photographer has intervened, structured and made sense of what he sees, that has really given this natural scene a heightened nobility rather than it being a "random" capture. I know I'm reallly taking the mick here, but I can't help thinking of something like a "torn paper", distressed white edge sort of "frame" or even a fade-to-white in my mind's eye here, but that's me running away with it.
I think this is great.

[Don Schaeffer]

ooh that hurts :-{

[NT73]

It doesn't hurt me Don.

Zig is right in that the framing is pretty naff.
Maybe I should have just used the pic, without the frame on this forum.
It was a selected shot rather than a random (among the dross that I sometimes take) one. The original was very dull and wintery for want of a better word. I pondered with selecting everything but the leaves and blurring, but that seemed too easy.
The vignette is not a vignette as such but 'inner shadow' in the styles of PS.
It also has poster edges before saturation of the leaves and resizing.
There you have all my little secrets.

[Don Schaeffer]

I meant it hurt me (a little). I never made a claim to owning Photo Showcase. I just post in there a lot.

[shuttertalk]

You know we all appreciate you Don, and it's only natural - after all you are our #2 poster!

[Toad]

Don't worry Don. The forum is lucky to have such a proliphic photographer as a regular poster.

[Zig]

I unreservedly apologise Don: my poor attempt at joshing humour.

NT: That posterising of edges, yes, of course...I occasionally use that also on low cotrast shots; nice!

[Don Schaeffer]

Thanks all. I feel unreservedly better.