mysterious mounds of rock peaking through the surface of a mineral water pond in JiuZhaiGou

closely resembling a (well used) golf ball, this is actually a super closeup shot of a Zinnia's flower petal. the petals have a cool pattern of dimples each measuring about 1/1000th of an inch across. we then focused a ultra-tiny spotlight so that the shaft of light was the size of a human hair (smaller than a laser beam). as the highly focused light bled out through the relatively flat petal (see inset), it created the shading effect of a round ball.

This is the remains of Bristol Lake in the Mojave Desert. After the water evaporated and lake bottom began to dry, the variations in temperature caused the drying surface to crack and the soft elements underneath to ooze out between the cracks, forming little walls. The surface is extremely hard and rock-like and the jagged walls are strong and sharp.

abstract shot of dichrolam film in bright sunlight

Banyan forest growing in swampland

Trying not to sound like an advertisement for tripods, but I really love my Benbo Trekker. It is an extremely well engineered piece of British equipment and is the only tripod that has accommodated every place I have desired to place a camera. For this photo, I'm set up between the seats on a 737 so I could capture this through the window.

This is truly in the middle of nowhere and reachable only by foot (or perhaps parachute). It's hard to believe that rock could form in such fluid shapes but it sure makes for a great find for those willing to bare the elements of the desert.

foliage on the tropical island of Guam