Anyone can love a rose, but it takes a lot to love a leaf. It’s ordinary to love the beautiful, but it’s beautiful to love the ordinary.
MJ Korvan
It may well be true that ‘It’s ordinary to love the beautiful, but it’s beautiful to love the ordinary’. But I don’t think there’s anything ordinary about a leaf. There is so much variety in their shapes and textures, and in their colours of course, especially (but not only) in autumn. They are endlessly satisfying to photograph because of those textures and shapes just as much as for their colours.
And that is just as well, as this week Dawn asks us to share monochrome images of leaves for the Monochrome Madness challenge. I have argued in previous posts that monochrome need not mean black and white, and leaves are a great subject for monochromatic colour shots with their harmonious shades of green or the reds and yellows of autumn. But today I am sticking to black and white, and as I have plenty of light and shade in these shots I have squared them to double up with Becky’s November Squares theme of Shadows. In fact, some of them appeared in their colour version in my Fleeting shadows post earlier this month.
My feature photo was taken in the garden of a roadside coffee shop near the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park, Washington State.
Leaf shadows on a plant pot, Kyoto, Japan
Shadow on a plant pot in the Jardins de Majorelle, Marrakesh
At Ngala Lodge, Gambia
In Villa de Leyva, Colombia
In Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State
Rain in Sagada, Philippines
In a restaurant garden near Cauayan, Luzon Island, Philippines
In the Iharana Bush Camp, Madagascar
At the Bohol Beach Club hotel in the Philippines
At the Hidden Garden in Vigan, Philippines
On the rice terraces near Bangaan, Philippines
A front garden in Old Town, Chicago
Autumn leaves in Lee Vining, California
Autumn leaves in Walpole Park, Ealing, west London
Springtime leaves in Walpole Park, Ealing, west London
33 Comments
grandmisadventures
Beautiful collection of leaves
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Meg 🙂
equinoxio21
You do get around don’t you?
Sarah Wilkie
I try!
Alison
That’s true
Alison
The first two are really good (well they all are!). I like how you’ve incorporated two challenges. They are all such different photos too.
Sarah Wilkie
Many thanks Alison 😊 I did aim to get some variety as there’s a risk in B&W that leaves can look quite similar!
Egídio
Beautiful gallery, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Egidio 😀
Leanne Cole
You got your own raindrops too Sarah, these are beautiful, I really like the shadow ones, they are really different.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Leanne 😊 The raindrops in Sagada were taken while I was skipping a walk on a steep path that seemed too slippery to attempt in the rain!
rkrontheroad
Loved these!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Ruth 😊
Anne Sandler
Oh so beautiful!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 😊
niasunset
This is great collection and photographs. I don’t know what can I say more, Thank you, Love, nia
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Nia – no need to say more!
margaret21
I felt a bit grumpy about this challenge, and I know it showed. You have demonstrated that in fact leaves have got a lot to showcase in the hands of a sympathetic photographer I love the variety of shape, texture and structure you have shown here.
Sarah Wilkie
I didn’t notice any grumpiness in your post! I’m glad you liked the variety here – probably being able to capture plants in many different countries helped with that 😀
BeckyB
and these certainly are not ordinary – fabulous collection
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Becky 😊
Teresa
Great collection Sarah. Glad to see some images from the Philippines.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Teresa 🙂 I found plenty of interesting plants to photograph in the Philippines!
harythegr8
Your reflection made me pause and smile — because you’re right, a leaf is never ordinary. Each one carries its own geometry, its own veins of memory, its own quiet poetry. I loved how you connected monochrome with shadows, showing that even stripped of colour, leaves still speak in texture and light. Reading this, I felt that loving a leaf is not about choosing the ‘ordinary’, but about discovering the extraordinary in what we often overlook. Beautifully written, and your images must have captured that silent elegance perfectly.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much for this lovely comment 😊 You make a great point that ‘loving a leaf is not about choosing the ‘ordinary’, but about discovering the extraordinary in what we often overlook’. I’m glad you liked the images too – yes, monochrome often forces a focus on texture in particular, which I really enjoy.
harythegr8
Thank you truly, Sarah.
Your words brought a genuine smile — not everyone can express depth with such beautiful simplicity.
Sue
Great set of leaves, Sarah! Love the Ngala Lodge one
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sue 🙂 Ngala was a special place, its garden full of lovely details like that!
Sue
Brilliant!
Dawn M. Miller
I especially like the contrasts on the ones from Columbia.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Dawn 🙂
Annie Berger
As always, I’m fascinated by your your cast collection of the subject from across the world, Sarah. This time, you’ve captured images from four continents!
Sarah Wilkie
I didn’t count the continents Annie but I’m sure you’re right 😀