During Indian Summer I photographed the Skokomish River in Olympic National Park. A lovely day: the bigleaf maples were gloriously yellow, the sky a perfect cobalt blue.

As usual, I took my contrarian approach to photography. Instead of focusing on the traditional views of colorful trees lining a wild river, I spent hours slipping on slimy stones and splashing in cold riffles. All in search of something thoughtfully fresh.

This image is among my favorites from that day. A long exposure softened the water surface, contrasting the flowing liquid with the hard forms of the rocks. The golden and blue colors are reflections of maples and sky; note the golden reflections on the wet stones. This photograph recalls a raked gravel Japanese garden, in which the stones seem as islands in a vast sea.

Lee Rentz