Is it Fall or Fell?

Anyone that knows me, knows that fall is my favorite time of year. I am not a big fan of summer, it is just too hot here in Hotlanta most of the time. But I love waking up to cool mornings and especially those first frosty mornings. There are just so many reasons to love fall. Cooler temps, the wildlife is at it’s prime appearance as it readies for winter, and of course the fall colors. I have these internal debates on what are the prettiest leaves during fall. Is it the golden yellows of the hickory, the reds of the maple, burnt orange of the oak, or the multiple choices of the aspens? Today it was the reds of the maple! Oddly though I love the color on the front of the leaves but I almost enjoy looking at the backside of the leaf and all of the incredible textures it contains. If I am photographing dew on the leaves, the back of the leaf is always the best.
For this image I “helped” 2 leaves find each other in the growing larger pile of leaves in my yard. I used the Olympus Pen EP-3 with the Lensbaby Tilt Transformer with the Tamron 60mm Macro lens attached. Because I am getting close to the ground I selected my Vanguard Alta Pro 284CT tripod and set up about 12″ from the ground. I used the translucent disk from the Interfit 5 in 1 disk set to even the light on my subject. I chose the Lensbaby Tilt Transformer to mount the Tamron lens so I could easily adjust my aperture by “over turning” the lens on the mount. This alone is a reason to get the Lensbaby Tilt Transformer if you are a M 4/3 shooter. I turned the lens to about f16 and tilted the lens to be parallel with the leaves to maximize the sharpness too.

I have one burning question though when photographing leaves in the fall. If they are already on the ground is it now “Fell” or is it still Fall?

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