This image was inspired by the Ansel Adams photograph entitled, Leaf, Glacier Bay National Monument, 1948. I've always loved that image, simple in its elements and all about the interplay between tones and shades of gray.

These leaves of our Sargent Tina Crabapple tree - 10 ft. from the front door of my home - emerge in early summer after a hard prune in January. The new foliage is easy to spot against the leaves that grow on older stems.

The difference in tonality of the leaves becomes a perfect canvas with which to work when the image is converted to black & white.

Focus stacking allowed me to combine 4 separate images with various focus points to achieve sharpness across all important elements of the scene.

Canon EOD 5D, Tamron AF 180mm f/3.5 Di SP A/M FEC LD (IF), 1/4 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 100, Calumet 8000 Carbon Fiber Tripod, Gitzo G1276 Ballhead, 4 separate exposure focus-stacked using Adobe Photoshop, Black & White conversion using Nik Silver Efex Pro