Primed

Sometimes it seems I'm subconsciously primed to see the same type of image as the previous day. Here again, luminous leaves, this time oak, set against a darker background. This time though they were in full sun high up on a branch. Occasionally it's worth looking up.

Torrential rain came eventually yesterday, clearing out the heaviness, leaving today cooler and fresh - a blue sky day with puffy white clouds.

I'm discovering that, if I sort out the very bright and dark areas of a high contrast image such as this, I have a lot more latitude to adjust the exposure, contrast and colour. I've been thinking of it in two phases, as a balancing exercise, followed by creative adjustments. In this case to focus attention on the bright yellow leaves. I'm not sure to whom I should attribute that piece of learning, since it's fairly common advice.