Faded Maple Leaf, Snowy Day: Squamish, BC

I made this photo while wandering in the rainforest after a rare Squamish snowfall.  It was refreshing to see the normally wet environment frozen and white.  A paradigm had shifted, as in the mind of a man who suddenly decides to walk the wrong way on a busy street.

Giant Maple leaves were still hanging to and fro, leftovers from the fall when they covered the ground in thick, pungent piles.  Some had been caught in branches; others were pasted to the side of wet tree trunks.  The leaves contrasted with the snow oddly and perfectly, each seeming like a symbol of a different corner of the world.

I composed this scene as bluntly and chaotically as I could, trying to resister the slightly unsettled mood of the day in a photograph.  The many acute angles and the shallow depth of field keep the focus on the moment, while the water glistens on the snow as a reminder that the moment will be short.

Faded Maple Leaf, Snowy Day: Squamish, BC, 2002