from time to time, i see a shot that just shouts "tropical" and i capture the moment just for that reason.

in June 1967 a special type of meteorite called a 'pallasite' was discovered in the Magadan district of eastern Russia (near Seymchan). it is one of only 61 known meteorites of this type and it contains olivine crystals mixed in with other metals and rocky materials. we noticed a tiny spot that really sparkled in the light, so we zoomed in and photographed it (seemed like the proper thing to do at the time). this photo is 0.03 inches wide which is about the thickness of a credit card and just big enough to capture this most interesting area.

layers and layers of spire-shaped mountains in ZhangJiaJie

close-up shot of a young tree bud

cluster of Dendrobium orchids in China rain-forest

a super closeup photograph of a swimsuit (Ocean Pacific, if you're curious). all the nylon/spandex fibers are white and only the portions toward the outer surface are dyed with a pattern of colours. the spaghetti-like strands seen here, are the ultra-tiny fibers that make up a single thread. these 'micro-threads' measure only 0.0004 inches in diameter (thinner than kitchen plastic wrap), and quite a few are bundled together to create an actual thread used to knit the fabric.

almost passing for an aerial photo over some trees, ocean, and a smoldering volcano, this world was actually discovered on the belly of a small fly - more specifically a tiny Blue-green Long-legged fly (Condylostylus). the micro-hairs along the contours of it's abdomen now look like a forest of trees covering the hills of a tropical island. the way the light reflects of the fly's metallic-like surface, gave us the ocean and rainforest colour palette. and the volcano is actually a hair pore with the hair shaft going out of focus toward the camera, giving the appearance of rising column of smoke. the width of this shot covers 0.0126 inches which is the thickness of a playing card.