Golden leaves seem to be frozen in mid air - but upon closer examination, they are floating above a tree root in the still waters near a river’s bank. Three of the brave leaves are leaving their friends on the bank to begin a journey down the lazy river. These brave individuals are nervously looking at the river’s bottom where the darkened bodies of earlier leaves attest to the dangers of the journey.

This photograph made good use of the technique of balance. The individual leaves in the water are balanced by the mass of leaves on the left. The left leaves are also balanced by the dark leaves on the river bottom. The tree root served as a leading line to all three floating leaves - two are positioned at the end of a root, the third is at the intersection of the roots. A polarizing filter was used to eliminate the
river’s surface glare.