This is my favorite image in this gallery. It is one of those photos that changes its meaning as we acquire context for it. Looking at it out of context, it is a remarkably beautiful study of autumn leaves, a palette of brilliant color interlaced with rugged textures of sturdy bark. Yet you cleverly add a question mark to its title, which asks the viewer to wonder what is going on here. I was part of a Santa Fe Workshop digital photography class shooting with you in Bandolier on that day in March of 2003, and know why those leaves seem to appear almost on fire. Life and death are part of nature's cycle, and these trees are infested with disease. Given this context the meaning changes for us entirely. This tree's life is over, and it is going out in a blaze of glory.
