Last fall, I captured my favorite photo of 2014 at Maroon Bells. That wonderful location just outside of Aspen had long been on my bucket list, especially during the foliage season. The scene was what you might expect at this photographic iconic location. Get there around 4am and wait in the dark and cold morning for the 7am sunrise. You need to get there that early to get a good spot. By the time that the light began to light up the sky, there was no space to be had. Tripod legs were interlocked with other photographers, some of whom were unknown. When the sun began to hit the peaks, it was almost impossible to vary the composition of the mountains and lake other than zooming in and out, changing from horizontal to portrait, or going for a higher or lower perspective.
After shooting more shots that I probably should have, I untangled my tripod legs from my neighbors and looked around for different subjects. Two of my habits are to look behind me and to look for water and both came into play on this shot. The mountain peaks behind me were lit up quite nicely, and there was standing water on the path from the previous nights downpour. Lesson to learn: get the iconic shots and then look for the unusual ones.