How often do you stop to reflect on what you are seeing? When I learned to see through my new photography eyes, I was able to see the beauty in nature through a new perspective. I had never noticed before how water can create a beautiful reflection of a scene the way I do now. You don't have to travel great distances to reflect on this new perspective, you can look right outside your window in your own back yard. For example, this above picture was taken in my backyard in my small water pond. I didn't even have to leave my property to appreciate the beauty in nature.
The pictures below are from a state park located about 15 mins away from me. I have lived in the same place for almost 10 years and had never visited this park until this fall. Which is very interesting considering many families plan extended vacations and camping trips to this park. I was looking for a local place to take a few photos and observe some wild life with my children when we drove by a sign to the park. I thought "Why not?". We had a great time, saw a lot of bird species, frogs, turtles and some fish. Another great example of taken for granted what is right around you.
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As I began to notice reflections, I would point them out to my children. This time they pointed one out to me. We were spending some time exploring the beach in the fall, and my son happened to turn around and notice the cloud formations in the sky. My daughter noticed that after the wave went back in the reflection of the clouds was created on the sand. This was the first time that I had every paid attention to this. I can't wait for it to warm up a little so I can get back to the beach to see what else I have always taken for granted.
I decided to make it time to go hiking up in the White Mountains, NH this past weekend. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see the foliage in all it's splendour. I was a little disappointed to see that I had missed the peak, but it was still absolutely beautiful. My children were amazed by the snow cap mountain peaks while they were only in sweaters at the base. We took a small hike at Franconia's Notch Waterfall Trail and then we Walked around at The Basin. My children got a kick out of following the river. My son noticed that part of the river looked like a natural waterslide. 
It's also funny how when we think of waterfalls we think of warm, exotic places. Until I picked up a NH hiking map, I didn't even know how many waterfalls were in my home state, and they are just as beautiful. I can't wait to explore and photograph more of them!
We couldn't have asked for better weather this weekend. We spent a lot of time outdoors enjoying the fresh air and the beautiful fall foliage. We went on a few hikes this weekend, and took some time to look at the color patterns in the leaves. My children even noticed that leaves have some similarities to snowflakes. No two are exactly the same and they too float down to the ground. Hoping the weather holds out for next weekend, we have some more local places that we want to explore. I would love to get up to the White Mountains, especially the Flume or Lost River, but I am not sure if that is going to happen before the foliage peak is over. If my family has weekend that isn't filled with sports activities, you know where we will be going! Until then we will use the smaller amounts of down time to enjoy what is right around us.
