This large Bird-of-Paradise bloom gave me quite a challenge. I was hiking in a tropical rain-forest when i saw glimpses of this beautiful bloom. The only trouble was the best side to photograph was rather hidden by thick foliage with no practical way to get closer. I found a peek-hole through the network of leaves, but it was very high, so i stretched the tripod to it's full height and then more so by greatly decreasing it's base to obtain just enough height to peek through this hole in the foliage. Then added a very large zoom lens on top of this very unstable camera setup. After waiting some time for everything to settle down from micro-movements (including not breathing on or near the camera), i was able to capture this exotic shot.

northern shore of Guam

cliff-edge walkway through the mountains and trees in Pennsylvania

the American side of Niagara Falls

a lovely and unique treasure discovered while roaming the hawaiian rainforest

geyser at Yellowstone

i'm keeping my distance and using my longest lens as this female hunter is sizing up lunch.