Although I liked my gold leaf shot yesterday it was really a test shot to make sure my kit was working after the tripod toppled over. I wonder, in passing, whether there is a Russian out there called Toppldova? Sharapova beat Toppldova in straight sets, 3 & 4 🙂
Any road up, I decided to see what the leaf would look like in black & white. After experimenting a little I settled on sepia. I also cleaned up the background and added a border. This was the result:
The background clean up was done in about 30 seconds. Two whirls of the lasso and a quick drag of the patch tool in CS6 and Bob’s your uncle. Done. No cloning, no spot healing. Right up to the edge. Wonderful.
I used Silver Efex Pro 2 to process this initially and then finished it off in CS6. I prefer this to the original but I have not come up with a snappy title. Suggestions welcomed.
All downhill from here 
There’s something almost extra-terrestrial about this.
Stunning. Sorry about the tripod incident… 😦
Nice BG (do you like my familiar use of “BG” ?) I think it would have greater impact if the tip at the bottom was sharper, still vairy naice.
Stumped for a nifty title, mind.
I’ve always said you had a way with words. Very araldite. And you are right. It needs a sharp bottom. Oo-er.
really admire this image. love the emotion feel to it with the color of the tone and the clarity of the detail is beautiful. great job!
Thank you, Lindsey. Very kind.
Your very welcome.