Hiking to Cascade Falls

I took an unusual approach, for me, with this piece. First I found a reference photo that I didn't even remember taking the day before and feel in love with the composition. After completing a very complex tonal underpainting the day before I decided to take the piece out to finish it on location and the weather was perfect. I take most of my reference photos at 55mm because this is very close to the way our eyes see the subject and luckily I had done so with this image. I was able to find the exact spot and realized that the mist from waterfall was hanging in the valley behind the trees. Beautiful!!! There was just enough dappled sunlight coming through to highlight a few brightly colored leaves set against a more neutral background. I feel like most people, including myself, might walk by this seen and never appreciate its potential. For this reason I feel like I elevated the mundane, which is one of my goals for myself as an artist.