One of my favorite trees for photography in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil is the Embaúba (Cecropia). When completely dried, the leaves of this plant curve inwards like a fist and reveal interesting patterns and shapes.
The leaf of the Cecropia, although green, has a somewhat silver glow that stands out against the green of the canopy (below). Sorry it’s just a cell phone photo, but does the trick.
The silver glow of the Embaúba is more intense on the underside.
Before photographing the leaf of the Cecropia, make sure you wash it and wait for it to dry, then use a narrow aperture to get most of its tridimensional shape in focus. Don’t forget to get close (below). Black and white conversion is a little tricky because there is little contrast in the leaf. To enhance contrast, I used various post-processing techniques, including color filters, and dodging and burning.
I asked my mother to take a cell phone photograph of me with one large leaf, to give a scale (below). For photos of the various stages of this plant in nature, click here.
This leaf was the reason why I started a new project photographing dry leaves, follow up on my next post about the subject.
It is all about the light 
Wonderful images, wonderful plant, a great host for wonderful insects!
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Thank you. There is a well-known association between plant species of the genus Cecropia and ants, mostly belonging to the genus Azteca.
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The leaves are really big’. Fascinating.
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Thank you. They are intriguing and large.
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You’v got excellent composition and shading in your opening portrait. You’re in good company with Edward Weston, and your subject is more exotic (at least to Americans) than his: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/46644
The final snapshot is almost funny, with the embaúba leaf half as big as you.
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Thank you. I was aware of the cabbage (or lettuce?) leaf by Weston, but had somehow forgotten about it momentarily. Aging is interesting 🤔. Yes I wanted to show that the leaf is big, although this one is not particularly large and I’m somewhat short.
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Wow! Those are really, really big leaves! I love the feature image with the black background. Exquisite tones & beautiful detail.
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Thank you. Keep in mind that I’m small 😉
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What a difference the photo of you and the leaf made in my initial interpretations of these already beautiful images. Thanks for sharing this gem of the Amazon!
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Thank you, Mark, I’m glad you like it. Although there is Cecropia in the Amazon, I believe that this species I photographed is endemic to the Atlantic Forest, in the Brazilian Southeast.
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Ugh, my apologies – I misread the location.
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What a great leaf; it’s so large. Your photos are amazing, and I enjoyed your explanation.
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Thank you, Anne. Yes it’s a large leaf, and it’s the favorite food of the sloth.
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Such an interesting curly leaf! Love the last pic, too
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Yes, it is a fascinating leaf. I’m glad you like it. Thanks for stopping by.
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Ah, nice to see you, almost! And loving your close-ups especially. Just stunning, Alessandra. 🙏📷
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Thank you, I’m glad you like it!
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Wow, you aren’t kidding about it being a huge leaf. You could probably take a series of these black and white images and have a neat project. I love the way you have dodged and burned to give it a three-dimensional appearance.
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Thank you. I have thought about doing a project but it’s hard because I don’t live here. Something to keep in mind.
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Very nice, especially the black and white. And I like the photo at the end, where you seem to be hiding behind the leaf :).
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Yes, the leaf is big!
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