Contrast, Balance, Harmony

This photo is meaningful to me because it captures the beauty of Fall. I have always enjoyed the changing of leaves and weather that this season brings. My favorite holiday being Halloween, this photo also represents the magic I feel this time of year. I took this photo from my Pinterest, and with it came this quote by George R.R Martin, "We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La. They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth." This quote compliments the photo brilliantly, pushing the viewer to open their mind to fantasy.

Contrast in this photo, I believe, comes from what is real and what is not. The hand looks very real, even providing some texture from the skin and hair. The leave, however, is not real and is the reason the photo is deemed as fantasy. There is also contrast between the out of focus background and the clearly in focus hand and leave. 

Balance in the photo comes from both the bright and dim lighting. It looks as though the image is 50% light and 50% dark. Although most of the bright and dim lighting resides at the top or bottom of the photo, I think it provides even more balance that they are a little mixed within. 

Harmony is the way the photo perfectly combines both real and not real elements. The tree image in the leave gives a sense of belonging and family. The leaves blowing off the main leave represents the new breaking away from the old. The true beauty in this photo is the imagination that is triggered when looking at it.