What happens to me when I step off the river bank and into the water is more than just getting my feet wet. Suddenly I’m in a world that is not my usual one, and I’m intimately connected to this living liquid that moments before was simply something I looked at.
Depending on the stream and the time of year, it can be a pleasant experience, full of sensation and sound, each moment changing as the water flows by. Maybe that is part of it too: that it is undeniably a world of constant change.
As a photographer long in love with reflections from the water’s surface, I know those changes can be subtle or substantial. A cloud passing by, a beam of sunshine, the wind rippling through, all are part of an experience that, honestly, reminds me of my days with psychedelics, only much more intense and real.
The things I see can often be partially explained by science but that seems not so important. What I try to understand is how the water might interact with the light so that I can be in a place and time that produce the kinds of images I’m interested in. But even then, I’m often just stunned by what actually shows up and am thankful I was in the right moment to see it. Though I use Lightroom to process my digital images, the water does things any program would find impossible to replicate.
No matter how long I am in the water, when I step back onto the bank, I know I’ve left a special place, honestly one where unexplainable magic happens. My feet enjoy the memory and my mind is calm.
Still Learning To See 
thanks John. I really enjoyed the imagery.