Different Faces of Autumn Leaves
Exploring the beauty of autumn through unique perspectives—reflections, colors, and hidden faces in nature, captured in Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." – Marcel Proust
We often see autumn through warm colors and fallen leaves, which is impressive and worth noticing on its own. But when we shift our perspective, the scene reveals an unexpected beauty. This photo captures the essence of the season, blending reality with reflection as colors merge together. Taken in Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, I rotated it 90 degrees to make the horizon vertical. In this orientation, the scene reminds me of Rorschach inkblots, inviting personal interpretation and the discovery of hidden meanings.
What also fascinated me was that, by rotating the image, I could spot at least a dozen "faces" along the boundary between the trees and their reflection. To me, these faces represent the many layers of connection we share with each other and with nature—a reminder that we’re all reflections of one another, intertwined like the colors of autumn.
And if the photo is a metaphor for life, as it often is, it leaves me looking forward to the next phase, with joy and anticipation for the sunset years.
I edited the photo in Lightroom, enhancing dehaze and saturation to bring out the already stunning colors. It was taken with a Fujifilm X-H2 camera and a 16-80mm f/4 zoom lens.
The symmetry of course, is always interesting.
But, I've never understood the upside down reflection shots. (More accurately sometimes found them to be annoying. 😅) Similarly, not sure how I feel about the sideways...
But it's art, it's subjective... I'm trying to understand it, however slow I may be.