The beauty of the whole forest of autumn Alpine Larches was astounding, with whole hillsides at timberline glowing gold. I took a lot of those pictures, of course, because they overwhelmed me with a sensory explosion. After spending a satisfying amount of time exploring the big landscapes, I turned my attention to the details, which I often find more intriguing.

For this photograph, I composed it so that the aquamarine waters of Perfection Lake formed a contrasting background for the lovely needles. Notice how each cluster of golden needles emerges from a bumpy growth on the stem. After the needles fall–which happened soon after I took this photograph–the knobby branches make an interesting visual study in themselves. Our world is ever-changing and ever-fascinating at scales big and small.

LIMITED EDITION: This photographic print is part of a limited edition produced by photographer Lee Rentz. The edition consists of 250 prints, which includes all sizes and methods of printing.