Morning Idyll
I have to say, I quite like this photo, personally. But for a photographer, it can be difficult to distinguish how much feeling for a photo is because of the quality of the image itself, and how much is tied to the emotional memory of the time and place where it was created.
For me, there is a strong element of emotional attachment to this image. I was hiking up toward a waterfall, climbing the trail that vaguely followed the course of the creek. It was not a terribly difficult climb, but enough to make me work, and I was panting and ready for a breather. The trail had taken a bend away from the stream to follow the contour of the hillside, but I could still hear the laughter of water over rocks, off in the distance through the trees. So I veered away from the trail, through the woods, knowing the flowing water couldn't be far. In only forty yards or so the trees opened up into a clearing at a rocky bank, and I saw this beautiful cascade, a miniature waterfall, tumbling before me, dappled by sunlight weaving through the boughs of the trees lining the stream.
Being somewhat off the trail, I had the place all to myself, which seemed to enhance its charm. I doffed my pack and spent fully twenty minutes there, enjoying the sound, the sight, the fresh scent of the woods and stream mingled together. I worked my way out onto a rock just off the bank, to get a frontal view of the little waterfall. Then I sat beside the creek munching a light snack and having a good drink of water, before pulling my pack onto my back and resuming my upward climb.
So it might look like just another little waterfall photo to others. But to me, it will always be very special.