Photography, in a sense, is a process of visual editing. As with literature, it is sometimes possible to say as much by what you exclude as by what you include, through implication or suggestion. I enjoy focusing on a section of the landscape and implying what is beyond that frame through reflections, lighting effects, or other means. In this case, I preferred not to include the mountainside, washed in the golden light of sunset, within the field of view. To do so would direct one's attention upward and out the top of the frame. Instead, I wanted to focus the viewer's attention within the frame, by showing the reflection of the mountainside in the pond.

This concept is reflected (no pun intended) in other images, such as: #9642, #9252, #9458, and #91103.

In real life, we tend to see the foreground and miss what's in the reflections, or fail to associate a change in atmospheric conditions with a change in the quality of the light. These things seem to lie a step beyond the immediate scene before us; with our "selective perception," we screen these things out of our consciousness. Yet, the camera sees everything -- and we could, too, if we would only open our eyes to see, rather than just look.