©Brad Mangas
Another image taken during my morning walk with Lexi or maybe it’s Lexi’s morning walk that I get to go on is probably more accurate. With the weather cooling and hints of autumn in the air we spend more time out mostly in Shunga Park where I have been going nuts with the acorn shots and let me tell ya I have more. This walk was after a nightly shower and the path we took goes under some big cottonwood trees. There are a line of large rock that forms the outline of a landscaped area under the trees and from a distance I could see the yellow of a cottonwood leave lying on one of the flat top rocks. I could spend all my time shooting images like this, not sure what strikes me so much about the color changing of flora during this time of year. Like everyone I enjoy the colors turning from dull summer green to vibrant yellows, reds and oranges but something else touches my thoughts when I find something as simple as a single leave just lying on a wet rock. A perfect piece of art yet untouched by man put there as no great effort just a natural event caused by mother nature. The leave, the wet rock, the small puddle of water, how lucky I felt just to be able to see it.
Intimate and macro shots seem to touch me in a different way, it’s like seeing something you never knew existed but was right there all the time, learning to see in a new way. Photography has done that for me and a love of nature makes it stronger everyday. Life can be a struggle then I see something simple such as this and realize, life is a mystery and how lucky I am to be able to experience such a thing.
