I did a double take when I walked back from the mailbox Thursday. My live oak was sporting some new growth on the trunk but these leaves are about 10 times the size of the tiny live oak leaves. On closer inspection, the leaves aren’t new growth from the tree. This small tree is growing from an indentation on the trunk of the oak where a branch was removed years ago. At first I thought it might be another kind of oak but based on the shape of the leaves, I think it’s a fig, probably planted there by one of the scrub jays who plant acorns everywhere. What the fig? I know one of my neighbors has a fig tree so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
The midday light filtered through the tree on the leaves was quite pretty and I grabbed my D5 with the 300mm lens already attached and went back outside. I wasn’t happy with the first shots I took so I tried again a few minutes later but by then, the beautiful light had changed to a very flat light. I added a chiaroscuro filter from Topaz Impressions and it magically created the same gorgeous light effect.
