Canon 300D Rebel, handheld Mamiya 80mm at f4 1/200 second at ISO 100

Aquaphobic

I don't know what this plant is, though I see it from time to time in various water sources around here – it always grows from the water and never stands very tall from it, with those leaves appearing both above and below the surface. This one, near the base of a spillway on the Eno River just outside Hillsborough NC, was receiving a fine mist from the splashing waters, which reacted quite curiously with the surfaces of the leaves. It seems odd to me that a water plant should be so repellent to water that it could bead up so perfectly, minimizing contact with the leaves, but there you go. Sprawled on my belly on a rock just above the river's surface, I was able to go in for high magnification and capture a secondary image of the leaves behind in the drops themselves, as well as some nice vague spots of bokeh. I find it pleasantly surreal.