a cluster of purple vanda orchids in Brazil

appearing as an aerial shot over an industrial area, this is actually an extreme closeup photo of a computer chip. more specifically a 64-bit Pentium dual core processor, containing 167-million transistors. the various colours come from the studio lights reflecting off the ultra-fine details in the semiconductor material causing a diffraction-grating type effect. this entire shot captures an area of 0.0000205 square inches (tad larger than the diameter of a human hair). to capture the whole CPU at this magnification, would take nearly 8,400 photos.

this is a closeup shot of the feathery scales on a Monarch butterfly wing. each scale has a length of around 1/220 of an inch, so the height of this entire shot would be equivalent to the thickness of 3 sheets of paper. this particular butterfly died naturally near our studio, so we took the opportunity to explore what it had to offer.

This is a young Tigré, or jungle version of a tiger that only grows to be the size of a large dog. This one is about one year old and is stalking some nearby movement while I remain motionless with my equipment rigged in a small tree. I had a most entertaining encounter with its father the night before.... I was sleeping in a native hut which consists of an elevated wooden platform with some poles to support a roof made of dried leaves. Needless to say, there's not much to keep out wildlife with the ability to climb. I woke to a very intimidating low growl from the throat of a mature Tigré. Hoping that if I remained still, it would simply pass without interest - I was wrong. After leaping onto the hut floor and examining this new terrain, it wasn't long before it was on top of me and being a nuisance. Realizing that sleep was going to be impossible with this guy prowling around, I decided to get up and deal with the situation. It had hopped off me and was making itself comfortable in the middle of the floor. Remembering a little bit of house cat knowledge, I wondered if that trick of picking them up by the back of their necks worked on the larger species. So I carefully made my way closer and slowly reached down, got a fist full of fur, and began lifting him from the floor. All was going well; his front legs appeared limp and he appeared relaxed - well, at least until I got his hind legs off the ground. Suddenly, before I could blink, he had reached back with one of his large paws, grabbed my arm that I was lifting with, and twisted around forcing his release. His strength and speed were very impressive and I quickly let go. Standing there next to me, I'm sure it was wondering what I was going to do next - I was also. The reason I was in the jungle was to shoot a variety of Peruvian blankets using the natural surroundings. I grabbed one of the thick mat-like blankets and threw it over the Tigré. Then quickly started to roll him up into a harmless ball. No sooner did I complete this task, his strength again impressed me as he was quickly wiggling his way out of my trap. I managed to get the bundle to the edge of the platform and unrolled him back off into the jungle so we both could get some rest.

northern Arizona (Utah border)

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

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