P.H. Emerson’s Gathering Water Lilies became a talisman for American naturalist photographers, and replicating it became something of a rite of passage for them. Post’s image, Summer Days, pictured a woman alone, in a sun-drenched and tranquil scene that, like Emerson’s, was shot from an elevated vantage point. Post incorporated a subtle sense of depth, by softly rendering the foreground and background, purposely invoking Emerson’s concept of differential focusing.