Autumn Reflections...

   This little pond is very near my home in Maine.  It is very special because, unlike most ponds and lakes in Southern Maine, it has no development along it's shores.

   All the land bordering this pond is owned by one family who stock it with trout each year.  People come to put in their canoes and kayaks for a quiet paddle undisturbed by motor boats and jet skis.  How long it will remain this sanctuary of silence and peace is anyone's guess.  I hope it can remain so somehow for people need places like this near to home.
  

   While I was sitting on the shore recently, enjoying the last of the Autumn color, I found myself reflecting on reflections.  What stirs our hearts when we see a particularly beautiful one?  Why do we respond so strongly to these sorts of images?

   Perhaps, one of the reasons is that they are not always there.  The light and the wind conditions must be just right or there will be no reflection.  It reminded me of my many trips to the shore of Loch Bee on South Uist in the Western Isles of Scotland.  I was going to try and see the flock of mute swans that live on the loch but on my third trip it was the reflection that stopped me in my tracks. You can read about my experience at Loch Bee in the post, A Contemplative Photographers "Thought Flow".  

   Another reason might be the stillness of the experience...the lovely silence.  Nothing disturbs the surface and that must appeal to some deep need within us.

    Finally, there is the element of soft abstraction in some reflections.  While there is a mirror like property to some reflections, the most beautiful reflections, in my estimation, are the ones that take on an impressionistic distortion.

   This blurring of reality is very thought provoking.  Each of my photographs of the pond's reflections, from top to bottom, become increasingly blurred.  I've presented them in the order I made the images.  I find it is often very enlightening to look at the specific order in which you record a location.  What came first and the progression to the final image reveals a lot about your thought process.

   The next time you venture out to photograph, pay attention to not only what initially draws your eye but where your eye finally comes to rest.

   I am not alone in my Autumn reflections.  You can find out how others view this magical season of change, impermanence and transformation....

Autumn: Reflections on the Season