Most waterfall images show the waterfall itself. I wanted to add a sense of depth perspective to this waterfall, giving it a sense of scale. I also wanted to put something between the viewer and the waterfall to increase the sensation of “being there.” The solution is this layered image, which fills the foreground with a bare bush. I was fortunate to visit Zion in the winter, when much of its vegetation was sparse. We can see right through this wild, feathery bush, on to the waterfall itself. The waterfall is the subject layer of this image, but equally important is the context given to it by a third layer – the dappled cliff that dominates the background on the right. I liked the way it repeats the colors in the foreground layer. There is a fourth layer to this image that is just as important as any of the others. It is the additional background layer of darkness at upper left, which throws the narrow stream of water before it into prominence.