# 8018
Hostas are one of my favorite plants and we have a few of them around the house. It’s getting close to the time of year where I cut them down to the base for winter so I started with this one leaf which I thought seemed photogenic. I attached it to a south window Emo was not using at the moment with Scotch leaf tape and shot some photos over a 2 week time period. The leaf, over the course of the two weeks, and in addition to the original green, took on a yellow and rust color that picked up the light nicely, In the end, though, I thought the colors were a little gaudy so I use a creamtone preset I made in Lightroom. I also got a chance to use the extension tube set from Amazon and it worked very well. More on that later.
click on any photo to enter the gallery:
Emo eventually demanded the window back so I had to discontinue this series. But there will be another leaf series coming up so stay tuned.
2clicksaway 
A very interesting study of leaves.
Thanks, Bente.
What a great idea, with really cool results too. It gives me ideas of for a long duration timelapse! I like the preset too, it suits the leaves.
Thanks ehpem. This particular preset doesn’t include a change in the saturation slider, so when you apply it the photo looks the same and you make adjustments to the saturation slider. -100 gives the full creamtone effect but sometimes -90 is nice too. It’s definitely a judgement call like any other adjustment.
This is a lovely gallery – I liked all the photos, though the close-ups were my favorite.
It was very generous of Emo to share his window.
Thanks, Mel. Emo can have an extraordinary amount of patience but he’ll definitely telly you when he’s had enough.
We used to have hostas all around our home in Michigan. Lots of different textures and shapes. I never thought to do a study of just one leaf undergoing death.
Very nice. Also will be interested in the tubes you used. I’v been debating getting some, but with the resolution on the camera, and a good macro lens, I wonder if I need them.
. . . perhaps a comparative piece on macros with and without?
Thanks, Emilio. The extension tubes are by Polaroid and came from Amazon. They link to all the camera functions but I use manual focus and exposure. I shot some with the zoom and some with the macro lens. The macro lens is best for this type of work but to get in tighter without actually getting too close to the subject, the tube performed very well. These tubes are plastic, which are fine with the zoom and macro but I wouldn’t put a tele on them.
Wow, these look great! Another idea I’d like to steal, if I can find a window around here that would work….
Thanks, Charles. I’ve been attaching stuff to windows for a long time. It’s a poor man’s lightbox, but it works well (during the daytime, that is).
Interesting processing and macro comps, I like the results!
Thanks, Maureen. I’m thinking of doing more like this. I have a lot more leaves!
The colours in that first one are so beautiful.
Thanks, Sync.
I love hostas’ plant too and their leaves are just great. Thanks Ken
Thanks, Chantal. They’re one of my favorites too. I have several varieties around the house.
A very clever idea to attach these to the window. I’m particularly attached to the first two – the leaf shape in itself is so attractive. Hostas certainly have very photogenic leaves.
Thanks, Andy. Hostas are photogenic. The Landscape Arboretum in Minnesota has a huge hosta garden and it’s a delight to visit and photograph.
Love these and love your thought process for the post-processing.
Thanks, Chris. I made two presets in LR5 to get the consistency for these. That makes it a little easier.