In late September I spent a couple hours wandering beside a short section of stream in a nearby park. We had rain the evening before so the ground, rocks, and trees were still wet, and the area had that wonderful smell you find in these environments. The stream was slowly and softly flowing, creating a soothing background music, very calming. For the most part I was alone with the stream, my thoughts, and of course, my camera and tripod.

Wandering back and forth along the bank of the stream, I considered the different scenes within my view. I only had one lens with me, the 105mm macro, so I was focusing in on smaller sections of each scene. This was really the first time I’d gone out photographing in quite some time and I was just trying to slowly absorb the scenery and create images along the way.

I didn’t notice this scene right away. It took me time, exploring what was there, before I really began to see. I found I liked the reflections of the rocks, and of the one larger tree, and the lighter colors of the leaves as the light shone through, especially when reflected in the water. I tried several angles and perspectives and kept coming back to this one.

The sky was covered in clouds, so the light was soft but still illuminating sections of leaves, and this was all reflected in the water which was slowly flowing downstream. By closing down my aperture to f/22 I was able to slow the shutter speed to 2 seconds, long enough to make the water appear more calm and more reflective. I didn’t have a polarizer with me, otherwise I might have tried that, as well.

This is a scene I plan to return to, perhaps as leaves continue changing color, maybe at different times of the day. I’m considering bringing my waterproof boots and wading into the creek if it’s not too deep to play with more perspectives, ones I was unwilling to explore with the boots I had on that day.

I really enjoy this small portion of the park. It’s off a short trail with, perhaps, far less to see than the majority of trails. And because of this it tends to be less frequented, and when folks do try it they often don’t spend much time there. This gives me more quiet time to explore and contemplate this wonderful little piece of the forest. Perhaps I’ll find even more worth photographing and sharing.

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