A different view of flameleaf sumac

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On the overcast and misty morning of December 6th I took pictures along Great Northern Blvd. in central Austin of a prairie flameleaf sumac tree, Rhus lanceolata, that still had plenty of color on it. The light was low but I didn’t want to introduce the harshness of flash, so I ended up using a high ISO and a wide aperture to take pictures in which only parts of my subject were in focus. I thought these would likely be the last photographs I’d take of colorful flameleaf sumac leaves for 2012, but you may recall that December 25 provided an unexpectedly late chance to take more.

If you’re interested in photography as a craft, you’ll find that points 1, 2, 9, 18, 20, and the seldom-invoked 11 in About My Techniques apply to this photograph.

© 2012 Steven Schwartzman