I took 83 photos to get this. The creative process was fairly typical for me. First, the photo wasn’t premeditated.

I was walking by this table outside our front door with a handful of stuff I was taking into the house when I saw leaves on it. Then I took a photo of a little stone bird my wife had placed on the table. Then I put more leaves on the table and took more bird photos. Then I got the ladder and shot from above. Then I saw the three distinct planes of focus in the aerial shot. Then I set the lens to f1.2. Then I got rid of the bird. Then I got the hose and sprayed everything with water (“Rain”). Then I edited this photo in Aperture and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Then I had my photo.

Canon 5DIII 1/400s f/1.2 ISO100 50mm