tall Saguaro cactus towering over others in southern Arizona

appearing to be a nice artsy mosaic of tiles, this is actually a closeup shot of a Rose of Sharon flower. this particular shrub had white blooms with dark-pink patterns down in the throat. when you zoom in (way in) to where the pink and white meet, you can see cell patterns like this. (photo captures 0.05 x 0.03 inches of the flower petal so the height of this photo is the thickness of a credit card)

female brown bear taking it easy (Aleutian Islands)

scenic coastline of Maui

this is a closeup shot of an Asiatic Lily. toward the base of each petal, are two short rows of fleshy-hairs running down the center (easily gone unnoticed). as the dark red petal nears the main flower stem, it makes a quick transition to white and then green. this shot captures the tiny fuzz (gummi worms in foreground) near the base of the petal (green brick-like cells in background) during that multi-colour transition. each 'worm' measures 0.0021 inches in diameter (a row of 475 would make an inch).

rarely does an insect stay put long enough for us to go through our setup process, but this large dragonfly was very trusting and didn't move while we choose a good macro lens, took light readings, test exposures, and finally this shot.

A short distance from the studio, there is a woods that slopes into a large marsh area. In this area, I commonly find many little things to capture on film. Although I'm in a four-season climate, it is not uncommon for there to be orchids growing in the wild at places like this marshy woods. This type of cypripedium orchid is commonly called "Lady's Slipper" as the bloom shape resembles the footwear.

sunny day following a heavy snow in northern Indiana