I’ve had a few people ask recently how I’m able to pick up the golden glow in some of my forest images. One of my recent images, “November’s Golden Litter” – Hermon, Ontario, is an example of their fabulous effect on a large scale. When conditions are just right: the right light, the angel of that light, the condition and colour of the leaves, and a contrasting background, the effect is almost magical. If you have stood on a forest trail and experienced this, you will know what I mean. It is tough to describe.

Many times I’ve seen this phenomenon and tried to capture it as a photo, only to be disappointed in the results, the surreal glow muted down to a dull orange or yellow. Over the years, and many failures, I’ve found ways of capturing the moment fairly consistently.

During one of those moments I picked up a few unsullied oak leaves to photograph in my little studio. Well, today was the day, and the result is shown above. Once again, with the right light and the right angle, I was able to reproduce this golden effect successfully in a single leaf. Now, imagine thousands of these littering the forest floor, interspersed with other yellow and bronze leaves like maple and beech, and you will understand where this stunning golden light comes from. I’m so very pleased this little experiment turned out so well.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
2.0 sec, f/29.0, ISO 100

Hi Resolution image on 500px

For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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http://www.edlehming.com