Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough . . .

[Steve Foss]

. . . Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades

Forever and forever when I move.

"Ulysses," Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The passage from this poem, one of my all time most cherished works of literary art, immediately passed through my mind when I saw this image.

It is not a photograph of autumn color through a window in a geological arch formation, though it looks much like that. It's a reflection from a still pool in the Little Indian Sioux River from this afternoon.

It was the only image I captured today that moved me.

Hope you enjoy.

Canon 5D, Canon 17-40 f4L at 30mm, iso400, 1/8 at f11, tripod, mirror lock-up, remote shutter release

[pickinupafew]

Steve, this images moves me too.

Very, very nicely done! Definitely a fresh perspective on fall colors.

Nicely done.

[Canon Guy]

I surely enjoy it. It's wonderful!

[jonny_redhorse]

Beautiful capture Steve!...love the composition and colors!.......just a beautiful,unique image....congrats on the 5D!,Sweeeeet camera!

[Dbl]

Very cool shot!

[Catmendo]

Beauty Steve! It's amazing what one can stumble upon, "if" one looks!

[finnbay]

Very cool shot! Can't find a frame like that in a store!

[MN Shutterbug]

Really cool and extremely unique.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I have never seen a reflection that clear... almost unbelieveable, you sure you didn't use a mirror?

[Royce Aardahl]

Verry nice!

[buzzsaw]

Good eye! I'm kinda dizzy looking at it! ( ;

[Cicada]

Crazy cool shot. Would it look strange (surreal) if you had taken another one after dropping a pebble in the middle with circular ripples?

[Jim Uran]

That is awesome.. I could see that on my wall.

[DTro]

One of nicest shots I've seen in a while. Awesome

It might find it's way to my desktop background

[micpic]

That's true art. Thanks for sharing.

Mic

[mountaindew]

That's a very cool shot! Love the "frame" around it. Sweet!

[mmeyer]

Steve, you're really pulling out some extraordinary stuff last last couple days. Not that any of your stuff isn't great but I really like what you've been shooting.

[Steve Foss]

Thanks, everybody.

Mike, there are times when equipment can push a person to fresh things. Having the 5D for 10 days from CPS allowed me to express myself at a true 17mm with my 17-40, which is something I've been wanting to do for quite awhile, and so it woke me up a bit and got me thinking in new ways, just as I'd hoped it would.

Even though the 5D, alas, went back to CPS yesterday, the stimulation will last awhile, and it affects the way I shoot everything from weddings to weevils.

As for the pic in this thread, I've been wanting to make an image like that for three years (and you see from the exif that I didn't need the full frame body to do it with the 17-40), but the leaf color had to be just right at a time when rivers were low enough in fall so pools would form rather than flowing water. Then it had to be a sunny day to get that nice blue sky and it had to be calm enough so the wind wouldn't keep rippling the pools.

Sunday it finally all came together.

I did feel Sunday like I'd been watching a trophy buck get bigger and bigger and more elusive as I stalked him over three hunting seasons and finally bagged him.

After five years up here, I have a mental list of iconic images I want to get in very specific places that, like this image, depend on the convergence of several factors. So far that hasn't happened. But each day I get up and take a look at the weather and run these various scenes through my head, and on the day things are just right I'll be throwing my gear in the vehicle and heading up the trail. That flexibility is a big reason I left behind the 9-5, although if I'd stayed with the career job and continued to do photography on the side I could more easily afford the gear I want. You know how that goes!

While I'm determined to find the funds to pick up a used 5D, there are a couple other options. I need the noise performance of the 5D for indoor weddings to ease my time in post processing (don't have to run noise ninja on 5D images). If it weren't for that, I could pick up the Canon 10-22 or one of the other ultrawides specifically designed for the crop sensors, which yield a 16mm equivalent, or I could put the 17-40 on my film body and shoot slide film when I want to go wide. Now that we have a top-of-the-line drum scanner for my wife's business, I could make excellent digital scans.

We'll see.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

50D + 10-22mm

[Steve Foss]

Equals $2,000, $600 more than I can get used 5D for.

[mcary]

I don't comment on many of your shots, because they're always good and I know you don't need me to tell you so . But, this one can't go without comment. I love the way you used the rock to frame the scene. Awesome idea and great execution. Needs to be a cover shot somewhere - I can think of a few nature and outdoor related photo mags that this would suit just fine.

[WCS]

Awesome Steve. Really have to look close to see that it is a reflection on water. Amazing how lifelike that reflection is.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

local pawnshop has a mint 5D for $850! someone put it on a 24hr. hold. I'll check on it tomorrow for ya Steve!

[Steve Foss]

Hey, maybe they'll trade for some fine art nature prints or some wedding photography.

[Swimmer]

Gorgeous unique photo Steve!