Until a year ago I had never heard of wabi-sabi*, but it was chosen by my photoclub as one of our monthly assignments last year. A the time I came up with a photo of a dying fern, all brown and shriveled, lying on top of several living green ferns. I liked the composition as well as the detail seen in the brown blades. I definitely liked the assignment.

What I have posted here today is another wabi-sabi composition. It's a single oak leaf resting on two split oak billets. One doesn't ordinarily think of a fall oak leaf as gorgeous.  Perhaps that's because they lack color compared with maples, and are usually all brown.  And, to be honest, our lawn all covered (as we speak) with brown oak leaves is not pretty at all.

But having said that, there is one small oak sapling on our property that has this year put out these (relatively?) colorful leaves.  The reds and oranges and browns are subtle, but when viewed closely I just found it all so beautiful.  

*wabi-sabi is a world view centered on the acceptance of transcience and imperfection.  The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty in nature that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

"Wabi-Sabi Oak Leaf"
October 24, 2020
Panasonic GX80/85
Olympus 60mm F2.8 macro
F8 - 1/125sec - ISO1000
Edited in Lightroom, Nik Viveza, and Skylum Luminar