Week 72 "Autumn"

I like having a plan when I make images, but I also like being open. We went to Akaroa yesterday. I took my camera, but nothing delighted me, mainly because of the grey day. It was cold, and the sky was low and rain threatened for most of the day. We saw odd patches of blue, but nothing to be excited about. On the way home, sitting in the passenger seat, I was looking at the trees around Little River and on into Tai Tapu. Still nothing, but the germ of an idea began to percolate. I asked my lovely long suffering husband to slow down as we got closer to home because I had thought about winter trees, with a few leaves left. On the banks of the Heathcote River a few leaves are still hanging on, these ones to a weeping silver birch. I wanted back lighting to blow out the distracting sky, but that meant the trees on the opposite side of the river were in the frame too. After a short walk along the river I found this branch, low enough to photograph and with a clean sky. At last, an image, nothing pre visualised, just being open to possibilities.

I like the out of focus branch back left because it gives the image some depth. It might be a little distracting, but I think it balances the top by making it slightly wider. Another 16x9 crop. 

Do the trees mind losing their leaves?  Do they know, in autumn, that they are going to get another set in spring?