Fine Art Photography: Tips for Photographing a Leaf

Photography can indeed become a hobby that can be done anywhere and at any time. From grandiose landscape photography to the most trivial of objects, photography can be made artistic by its photographer. With the right techniques, accurate lighting, and high artistic taste, a mere leaf can make for an interesting photograph. Here are a few tips and tricks to creating an extraordinary leaf photograph:


-Use a macro lens.
Use a macro lens to capture unique details of the leaf. If you’re using a point-and-shoot camera, activate the macro mode. On the macro mode of a point-and-shoot, the optimal focal length is at its shortest. Another solution, if you don’t own a macro lens and your camera doesn’t have a macro mode, set your camera at its highest resolution setting and later crop your photo to make it look like a macro shot.

-Use backlight lighting.
To further understand what backlight lighting is, please read the previous post detailing the concept here. By using backlight lighting, we’ll be able to capture interesting and eye-catching leaf color and textures.

-Do not restrict yourself to only photographing fresh leaves.
Fresh leaves aren’t the only photographable leaves. Knowing how to correctly shoot a dry leaf can make for a fresh and interesting photograph. For example, choose dry leaves with a bit of freshness remaining to get a green-to-red gradient.

-Combine with flowers.
Incorporate flowers into the frame. A bright-colored would be best. A photograph of a leaf can get boring if it’s monotonous in its green or yellow color. Combine leaf colors with flowers to get an attractive and bold photograph. Pick a flower color that contrasts the color of the leaf.

-Sprinkle leaves with water.
Sprinkle a bit of water on the surface of the leaf to create an impression of freshness within the photograph. Also, try photographing leaves in the morning when dewdrops decorates the leaves or after a rainy day when leaves are also covered with droplets of water.

I think you are now ready to get out there and experiment with leaf photography. You might be surprised how highly artistic it’ll turn out and how it’ll go great hung on a wall to increase the aesthetic value of any room. And all this can be done without even leaving your backyard. Good luck!