Snow and Autumn Leaves

• Photographer
  Ryohei Irie
• Prize
  Bronze in Nature / Seasons

This area is one of the world's heaviest snowfall areas, with unseasonably heavy snowfalls on occasion. This year, the peak of the autumn foliage was late, and the snow fell at the time when the beech leaves were at their most colorful. This made for a beautiful sight of red and orange leaves in some places in the snow-white forests. While a forest tinted red with autumn leaves and a forest tinted white with snow are both very beautiful in their own right, I find this mixed seasonal scene, which reminds me of the transition and continuity of the seasons, even more fascinating.