Leaf and Leather

Decomposing leaves create rich soil in our heavily treed conservation area. During a fall walk in the park behind our house, I found this decaying beech leaf among millions of others on the ground. It is so wonderful how the macro veining structure is patterned after the branches of the much larger tree. I took the picture against my husband’s beat up leather jacket. I manipulated the original image to get the magnifying lens effect, and played with the size and color for rhythm and balance. There is so much beauty in even the tiniest detail in the natural world.