Below ground caverns in Arizona wilderness, carved out by centuries of flash flood waters from rain many miles away.

crown-shaped pinnacle in Colorado

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.

i'm no giraffe expert, but i think the left one wants a kiss.

Jackson Lake and Teton Mountains

this is a Maple tree photographed at night and illuminated only by an industrial-strength helium-cadmium laser (441-nanometer blue). extra care was taken to perform this unusual lighting technique in a secluded country setting due the laser beam having an effective distance of 35-miles. I'd like to note that no plants or animals (or photography assistants) were harmed in the making of this photo; although, we might have sterilized a few mosquitoes.

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).

a closeup shot of an Amanita Bisporigera mushroom... more specifically the thin fleshy fins on the underside of the mushroom's top. each of the fins measure 0.0048 inches in thickness (like a typical sheet of paper). i found it interesting that the seemingly simple brown fins were speckled with millions of tiny dots arranged into clusters that made up the brown and near-white patches seen here. we made an attempt to photograph these dot patterns extra closeup (resembling the dots on a dice), but our lighting kept cooking the thin and delicate mushroom fin before a quality photograph could be obtained. we'll probably try again using a refrigeration plate or ice to keep the tiny fin fresh.