The day I went and took all the photos of the autumn leaves outside, I also collected a heap of them. I put them in paper towel and between boards to flattern them so they would be easier to photograph. Some were really curled up.
I’ve never done anything like this before, so it was a process. Then I found some of my backdrops, set them up on the floor and put my camera on the tripod to photograph the leaves. I did use my macro lens to take these. The camera lens was pointing straight down to the leaves.
I had this idea of them being like botanical photos, but then I decided that would be boring. I processed them with ON1 Photo RAW 2025, though I didn’t really do a lot to them. I really wanted the background to be dark in the hope the leaves would stand out from them.
Here are some of them.
It wasn’t easy to do and I have to admit that my back was killing me towards the end. I have kept the leaves and I might try doing it again, maybe a different way. I don’t really know. Time will tell, I might end up just throwing them away.
I have wondered if I could do this with flowers. Press some flowers and then photograph them. I’ve never done that either, so I would have to do some experimenting to see if I can make it work. Then again, it is winter now, so we will have to wait until spring to try it out.
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I have done this many time over the years. They never look quite the way they are supposed to look and they fade rather fast. I think if you put them in a frame made of two pieces of glass with the leaves (this wouldn’t work with flowers — too lumpy) between, they might last longer. I let them dry, enjoy them for a while, then dispose of them. Pressed flowers seem to last forever in novels, but so far, not in my real world.
They do change that’s true Marilyn. I don’t know what I will do with them, probably nothing in the end. I like the idea of the flowers and would like to experiment with pressing them. Thank you Marilyn.
The leaves really glow, almost as if they were backlit, but I know they can’t have been if you had them on the floor! Very effective 😀
No, definitely not backlit. Thank you Sarah.
How fun and what nice results.
Thank you Donna.
I did this with some herbs once. I ended up making a wreath on paper with the pressed herbs but never ended up doing anything with the ‘picture’.
I think they are worth keeping (between paper towelling or blotting paper) as you’ll probably think of some other ideas in the future.
What a shame you didn’t do anything with it. I will keep them for a while and then see if I think of anything else. Thank you Vicki.
These are beautiful! Hope your back is on the mend.
Thank you Tim, yeah it stopped hurting when I stopped taking photos.
Beautiful leaves Leanne! I’ve never tried anything like that. I like them on the black for contrast. Well done.
This was a first for me too Anne, it was interesting. Thank you.
I love doing this!
I’ve never done it before, but I do like it. Thanks Beth.
These are gorgeous Leanne – like the spirit of autumn captured – they do have the look of a botanical specimen but only in a way that an artist would do it
Thank you so much Kate, I like that.
I used to dry leaves, and my mom used to dry flowers. For flowers, mom used a very fine-grained white sand, sold for the flower-drying hobbyists. It might work on leaves too, helping to preserve their texture. Fun thing to do with dried colorful leaves is to make a “stained glass” of them and photograph the sunlight coming through – extra fun when they somewhat overlay each other, creating new colors.
I like the idea of doing flowers, pressing them anyway which is something I might do for next spring and summer. You have some good ideas Sam, thank you so much.
These are pretty, Leanne. The black background makes them glow!
Thank you Lois, yeah, I thought the background was a good idea.
They’re rather nice. But so labour intensive!
They were, but I think the effort is worth it sometimes, thank you Margaret.
very nice collection. I do this with seashells when vacation on the beach.
Thank you Art, that is a good idea for the beach.
Those are gorgeous Leanne.
Thank you Jean.
Your experiment worked well, Leanne.
Thank you Sandy.
These are lovely…was it worth having a bad back?
Thank you Sue, yes, I think it was a good experiment, but I think I would do it differently next time.