@blessingscaptured, I respectfully disagree that your “falling leaf” photo looks fake. (I mean, yeah, as a photographer I know that it’s pretty much impossible to achieve all that in one photo…) But I think that the subtle “clues” (such as the leaves falling further away being blurred) help to make it a lot more realistic looking. I’d be proud to have an image like that in my portfolio! I do agree though that it might enhance the realism a bit to have all the leaves falling from the same kind of tree. 😉 Maybe consider removing 1 or 2 as well, so it doesn’t get too “crowded”.
Also, a quick tip for achieving maximum DOF with your pumpkin shot… If the goal is to have the stems in focus, then try to keep them the exact same distance from the camera. (i.e. in photo #5 the little punkin on the left should have been scooted forward just a tad to bring its stem in line with its bigger brother’s.) Then they’d both be in focus at the same time. Even so, there’s just too much “depth” to get it all in focus… Maybe consider focus stacking a couple of shots?
That is so creative, @lenspirationlydia! I would never have thought to tape a leaf to a piece of glass! 🙂 The only issue I see with that approach is that the leaf is a little too flat and parallel to the camera. I wonder if you could “bunch it up” a bit on the glass to give it some shape? Or at least maybe angle the glass a bit so that it’s not perfectly in line with the camera? (Of course, that probably makes more glare… 🙁 )
Now I’m kinda disappointed that we don’t have prettier leaves around here! This assignment looks like fun, but oak leaves aren’t very photogenic.