Leaf in the Sun - 50with50 / What Is Good?

Colors and Sun

50with50 no. 46

A yellow and brown sweetgum leaf soaks up the sun in our yard on a fall day in the latest 50with50 photo.

In the previous 50with50 post, I mentioned having a similar leaf photo with different lighting. And so here it is. In the previous photo, I deliberately created a shadow for the leaves. But in this one, I used the sunlight to highlight this one leaf. That presented a few challenges, and you can read about that in the About the Photo section below.

So which way is better? Neither one. Which way is not good? Again, neither one. I like both looks, although they are both different. And for both, I like some things and don’t like other things. But I do like being able to share both photos here, so that you can decide which one you like.

What Is Good?

I remember being in English class as a senior in high school. Yes, I can still remember back that far.

Anyway, one day in class we discussed an article about the difference between whether you like something versus whether something is good. The point of it all was that just because you like something, that does not mean that it is good. And conversely, just because something is good does not mean that you necessarily like it.

For example, I might like hamburgers from a certain fast-food place, but that does not necessarily mean that they are good. And a fine-dining restaurant might be considered by many to be good, but that does not mean that I like their food.

Take for example this photo above, and the other photo posted last week. Is one of them good, and the other one isn’t? Or does it even matter? If you like one and don’t like the other one, that is perfectly fine.

Everyone has an opinion about things. When we get into sticky situations is when we try to force our opinions on others by claiming that something is good, rather than just saying that we like it.

I am probably not a good judge of what might be considered good. Besides what is in the Bible, of course. There is a reason why it is nicknamed the Good Book, because it is definitely good.

Otherwise, don’t get too caught up in trying to force your opinions on others. It is fine to like something, but then go on with your life and let others go on with theirs.

And that will be good.

Bible Verse

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” - Matthew 19:16-17

About the Photo

As I mentioned above, this photo was a little more challenging than the previous 50with50 photo. And I blame it all on the sun.

The sunlight was pretty bright that day, especially on the yellow part of the leaf. In fact, it was almost washed out so that you could not see much detail on the leaf. It just looked like a bright yellow thing.

Fortunately, I had shot this photo in Raw mode instead of JPG mode. Raw mode is my standard mode of shooting on my camera. With that Raw file in Aurora HDR, I was able to decrease the highlights, the white value, and the brightness. All of that made the leaf look much more like a leaf than like a yellow blob. This version is much more interesting.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Aurora HDR. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: SonyFE 50mm f/1.8
Date: November 9, 2020
Location: Home, Williston, Tennessee