Japanese Maple Leaf

Personal work is something I rarely get to do these days - working full-time and trying to be a good dad to my 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter leaves little time for personal pursuits.

But a few years ago, during a stint as the Ledger's primary Home & Garden photographer, I spent a year shooting gardens large and small and found it was challenging and deeply satisfying to photograph beautiful blooms in new ways.

Last fall, during a few rare spare moments, I turned my attention to autumn leaves. I put my son to work and had him help me collect leaves from our neighborhood. I placed them in heavy books to flatten and left them for five months. A few weeks ago, I pulled some out and started shooting. Above is one of many my son and I collected and flattened - definitely worth finding the time!