nude/not nude

I was admiring Mr_Subjunctive's post on transmitted light today, and decided to do a version of my own. As I was photographing some leaves, it became immediately apparent that the size of the leaf is critical. Then I began noticing that all the interesting surface characteristics vanished, even though interesting other characteristics became apparent.

It reminded me of the work of a photographer that I saw in 1988 or so, a project titled Nude/Not Nude. In this project, people were photographed, as you might imagine, each person photographed both clothed and nude. It was fascinating how people behaved differently for the camera. Some became very shy of course, but others appeared shy when clothed, and very not-shy when nude.

In doing my photos today, the same things seemed to occur with the leaves as I photographed them back-lit as opposed to front-lit. Some leaves became vibrant, others less interesting. You judge. Left images nude, right images not-nude.

Click to embiggen (much better view).


Stachys

Purple plum
Cercis canadensis

Heuchera 'Amethyst Mist'