Maple leaf: 1/50s f/5.6 ISO400 195mm, Canon 30D, EF 70-200 f2.8 L IS, adjusted

I rarely have reason to change the contrast of my images, but sometimes it is just what is needed. The image above started life as a much paler version:

It was taken in very diffuse light and the contrast was very low. Rather than increase the saturation as I usually do, I found that increasing the contrast dramatically had the desired effect. A small increase in the exposure was also needed:

The new version has much more depth than the original because there is enough detail to separate the leaf from the background.

Tags: Aperture, Canon, 30D, Contrast, Adjustments, Leaves