Last Hour of Autumn

Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado

Much of the visual interest and balance in this image comes from its great sense of depth. However, capturing such depth in photographs requires a small aperture and therefore lots of light, and I didn?t find this composition until after sunset. With no accurate way to calculate the long exposure in fading light, I took a long shot, leaving the shutter open until after dark. I resolved to try again in the morning and camped nearby, but the first winter storm of the season blew in within the hour and I woke up to find the area under ten inches of snow.