along coast of Lake Michigan

My friend and master gardener was showing me the sites and we came across her favorite of all trees, the chionanthus virginicus, or fringe tree. In late spring it blooms with drooping clusters of white flowers. I now understand her passion for the tree as is had a very soft friendly appearance with a lovely scent from it's quantity of blooms.

looking straight down toward the tops of foliage and a simple dirt (mud) road.

if you ever wondered what a photography studio does on a slow day... well, we photograph our toothbrush, and here it is. this is a close-up shot of the bristles on a toothbrush (Oral-B if you're curious) and each one has a diameter of 0.0075 inches (thickness of 1½ sheets of paper). we found it interesting that the plastic bristles start out very smooth on the handle end (seen at top) and then have a rougher texture on the brushing end (seen at bottom).

long and soft water drops at the upper Talafofo Falls in southern Guam

commonly misunderstood as an albino, this White Indian Peacock appears just as lovely as it's multi-coloured friends.

the meter-deep water is covered with a perfect layer of duck weed appearing as a green carpet spreading through this banyan forest.

This cute little fella was raised on a large pond not too far from the studio. Never more than a few inches from Mom, the adorable youngster was swimming about, getting its share of seaweed from just below the surface. They both tend to stay away from the shore (probably for safety) and I haven't managed to coax them much closer. So this shot was captured through an 800mm lens to bring in the detail and expression of the young bird without disturbing the mom.