I and my colleagues feel photography should be thought of as art, a natural manifestation of aesthetics founded on the natural world.  This point of view seems particularly apt now as autumn has arrived.  Many paintings have been created with the autumn leaves as their inspiration and equally as many with them as the subject.  The leaves themselves can also be used as the medium to create art, and a quick search on the internet yields millions of results for the gold, red, and orange of the fall in song, music, poetry, and literature.  It makes sense that many photo tours in Japan are focused around capturing some of these natural masterpieces on the mini-canvas at the back of most digital cameras.

There is even a famous proverb, most notably used by the great William Shakespeare: “All that glitters is not gold.”  Gazing up at the variegated canopy of the forests on the Nikko Tours or perhaps the multi-tiered timberland wrapped around Mt. Fuji, that proverb rings true.  The leaves may not be used as currency, but the glittering, shimmering golden leaves among the red and yellow are valuable for another reason entirely.  Make autumn the season where you create and capture art.  The season holds the photo ops, and I'm waiting for you to make your reservation and to bring your camera so the creation of your personal artistic exhibition can begin.