Yesterday morning I had planned on walking along the Jordan River after the sun came up and when I saw that there was fresh snow on the ground I was even more excited.

Golden Eastern Cottonwood leaf on fresh snow, Salt Lake County, UtahGolden Eastern Cottonwood leaf on fresh snow – Nikon D500, handheld, f7.1, 1/4000, ISO 800, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 70mm, natural light

A few weeks ago there had been snow predicted in the valley and I wanted to walk near the cottonwood trees that line the riverbank to take photos of snow on the golden colored leaves. The forecast was wrong. It didn’t snow and I didn’t get the photos I had hoped to take. In fact, I stayed home that morning.

But yesterday there was a skiff of fresh snow and my desire to take photos of snow on the golden leaves of the cottonwoods returned. It still didn’t happen because there wasn’t much as much snow on the leaves of the cottonwoods as there was on the ground.

While I was gazing up into the trees looking for birds, I saw a single gold-colored Eastern Cottonwood leaf drift towards the ground.

Golden Cottonwood leaf with fresh snow, Salt Lake County, UtahGolden Cottonwood leaf with fresh snow – Nikon D500, handheld, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 800, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 70mm, natural light

So instead of getting snow on the cottonwood leaves that I envisioned I photographed a single golden cottonwood leaf on the fresh snow. I’m just as delighted with the resulting images as I would have been had I gotten the photos I have been thinking about for a few weeks.

This golden cottonwood leaf got me to thinking about how, in both photography and sometimes in life, I don’t always know what I want until it is right in front of me. And I don’t mind at all.

Life is good.

Mia

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