It was a gorgeous fall day in north Alabama. My husband (boyfriend at the time) and I took the day off to go and visit a friend who lived in Double Springs whose home was just south of the Bankhead National Forest.
Before heading to our friend's house, we first explored the woods and, of course, took lots of photos of the autumn-clad trees. Though we loved our friend dearly, it was hard to say good-bye to the beautiful scenery there.
However, our friend, a great cook, had made an extravagant lunch for us so it wasn't really that hard to head that way. We knew the food would be tasty and there would be lots of it. Plus, he also loved making dessert so we had that to look forward to.
Lunch was ready when we arrived and it didn't take long before we were stuffed, so much so that we decided to wait on dessert. We helped him clean up the kitchen from the lunch mess and visited for a while in his tiny living room. As he was also my mentor, whenever I got to see him, I would bring my photography and writing for him to see and to praise or critique, depending on how I did. This visit my husband and I both shared some of our recent photography we had gotten to do and I shared a few articles I had written.
As the afternoon ran toward evening, he decided to get the dessert out. We planned to eat it outside. While our friend was working on the treats, my husband and I explored his yard, which also had a lot of wonderful photo-ops. We took photos of the trees with their leaves beginning to change, close-ups of mossy and fungus-y areas of fallen trees, and any autumn flowers we could find.
My husband put up his camera so that he could enjoy his dessert and our friend's company without distraction. I hate to admit it, but I couldn't put my camera down. What if I saw something extraordinary and I didn't have it? So I was there with two men I each loved deeply, but I was probably more so there with my camera at that moment.
Then I saw it. Thinking back, I don't even know how I did so. It wasn't in a normal field of vision.
Let me set-up where we were. To the side of his carport, our friend had put up a tent - the kind with four legs, not the kind one sleeps in. He had some cozy chairs in this area and it was especially nice in the late afternoon to not have the sun blaring down on us.
This tent had grommets at the top. Somehow, one of the grommets caught my eye and I saw these beautiful colors inside. It looked like stained glass. Then I noticed a second one that was similar to the first. The metal of the grommet itself framed the colors really well and I knew I wanted to capture that beauty.
However, it wasn't easy. I was shooting straight up. I have back and neck issues and trying to hold a heavy DSLR camera still while in that awkward position was work. I took image after image, knowing that most would be blurry to an extent and that I wouldn't be able to tell for sure if any had a sharp focus until I got back home to my computer. I was literally sweating and in lots of pain, but I knew it would be worth it if I could get it.
I did all this while not knowing for sure what it was up there. I had a suspicion (which turned out to be correct), but I didn't know until I took as many pictures as my body allowed. You see, the sun was starting to set and I was quickly losing light. I couldn't take the time to investigate what it was because then I wouldn't be able to get it.
After I decided I could do no more, I put down my camera, stretched my neck and back out, and had my husband reach over to get one of the objects I literally had been so focused on.
It was a leaf - but I had never seen a leaf like this. With one of them, there were actual cells missing. The other had all of the cells intact. In the almost seven years since I took these pictures, I still haven't decided which I like better. The part of me that loves to have things perfect and whole loves the one without any missing cells. But the part of me that loves science and the imperfection of nature loves the "imperfect" one.
My then-boyfriend/now-husband and I got a lot of great photos that day, but nothing rivaled the beauty of that autumn leaf found in an unexpected place.
(All images by Tracy Riggs Frontz)
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