This is one of the first photos of the series taken. It was a cloudy day in central Utah, during the peak of the color in October 2003. The diffuse lighting was perfect this afternoon to enhance the colors of the trees, while avoiding any harsh shadows from direct sunlight. I was looking across a small valley and was taken by this composition, with the illusionary compressed perspective of a trunk, partial tree and crown all in balance with very colorful foliage to support the composition. A duplicate layer was blurred and combined with the original image for enhancement.