The hunter in us

A leaf and its reflection, seen from below

Do floating leaves elicit the same wistfulness as falling leaves? I have been meaning to find out all week, but by the time the pool emptied today, there was little light left, and I had to work hard to get my small leaf, no bigger than a 50 pence coin, inside the frame. The slow shutter release proved to be a  challenge, especially as taking shots from the bottom of the pool upwards sends the leaves drifting on turbulence.

I'm not happy with the results - underexposed and unsharp, but I caught the mood, which is possibly even more melancholy in these water-shots, and tantalisingly surreal.

What I really enjoyed about today's shoot was the honing of my hunter's instincts: mind fixed on the prey, nostrils flaring for light, pupils calibrating exposure, heart-beat steadied (no idea why, perhaps not to alert the leaf?!), and breath held for each shot. Concentration so acute that I had no awareness of the cold (both water and air were chill), nor of time. But then, that's what I love about concentration, the way it transcends time and incidentals to focus on intent. Photography definitely brings out the hunter in us, and sometimes, even though we come back empty-handed, the experience is too good to miss!

Forever suspended in mid-fall