At present, I’m in the Japanese backcountry leading my annual Autumn Leaves Niigata tour.   Participants, my team, and I are enjoying some breathtaking natural scenery while also improving our health from forest bathing (森林浴 shinrin yoku), communing with nature.  The Japanese alpine areas are so green and luscious here, and the air is so clean.  When I explored this region the first time, I was overtaken once I entered a small clearing where there was a tranquil pond, and I thought the path led down the hill, but I realized I was staring at a perfect reflection.  The trees surrounding this pond offer the photographer a different sight depending on what time of the year they join a Japan nature photo workshop tour.  They can enjoy either a mesmerizing green during spring and summer, a crisp yellow during the fall, or a shining white during the winter.  The trees at this location are said to be a century old, but the atmosphere surrounding the forest and pond harkens back to the pre-Meiji era of Japan when samurai protected artisans and geisha who used the roads nearby as trade routes connecting the major cities such as Edo, modern day Tokyo, and Naniwa, now Osaka.  Some of my pro photographer colleagues claim that you can only see a forest so many times before becoming bored of it, but I could visit this location a hundred more times and never tire of visiting it and photographing it.  Also, one of the reason why I have included it in my itinerary for this year’s Essence of Japan Autumn leaves photography workshop tour is because the pond is HUGE.  One piece of gear that I carry with me every year but not in my camera bag is the beginner’s mindset, seeing the same location with fresh eyes each time I visit.  The hues, saturations, contrast, and sharpness are ever-changing and essentially infinite, so my perspective stays fresh.  Thinking of the zen master D.T. Suzuki’s teachings, he said, “I like zen because everything is zen.” A beginner sees endless possibilities in each theme and pursuit, so that is the mindset I bring to each project I participate in, and I hope for the same from other visual artists that I work with.