Sometimes the unexpected scene is the one that stands out the most. While hiking with Danny Hashimoto we came across this little stream with a tree over it. The green rocks were super vibrant and the pattern of the water was pretty interesting. However there was a tree that had fallen and was hanging over top. Walking in to the stream with the camera I realized it would make a perfect frame for the scene!
Composing the image to have the water bottom left leading the eye in. The rock bottom left anchored the foreground but this yellow leaf was stuck in the crack...well...I decided in this case a splash of yellow would greatly enhance the scene and made sure our yellow leaf just happened to fall in the right spot on the rock From there it was 2 shots for depth of field and one very small one for the brightest spot of the water to get the highlights in control.