A New Life Just Starting

[JPS]

Hi all,
Maybe not what you were expecting, just the beginning for a 'Horse chestnuts' tree.

[Donald]

That is a very nice image. The lighting is good, focus is spot-on and exposure is right ... and it is a different subject.

Just one question/suggestion - That is quite a strong diagonal created by the (is it a leaf) at the left background and maybe it sort-of competes for attention? I wondered what this would look like as a 1:1 (square) taking out a lot of that strong line?

[JPS]

Hi Donald,
many thanks for the feedback.
Based on your suggestion, I have tried the attached crop. I will be interested in what you and others think of the cropped version. I'm not too sure at the moment but will see if it grows on me.

[FrankMi]

Hi John, I think the square crop works better. Up close like this, it looks like a good candidate for focus stacking.

[TheArcane]

I'm going back and forth between which of the two images I prefer. On one hand I tend to not like centered subjects which makes me prefer the original version. However Donald was correct that the leaf on the left side draws your eye a little too much. Either way it wasn't what I was expecting when I first opened the topic, but I was honestly pleasantly surprised. I really like the subject of the photo, as well as the color.

[JPS]

Thanks everyone for your comments they are appreciated.