This is a straight-down shot of a young corn lily plant (Veratrum californicum) common in moist meadows along the west coast. The accordion-shaped leaves look just like my camera bellows, but the plant is quite poisonous. In fact, if animals eat the foliage, their offspring can be born with cyclopia (one large eye in center of head).

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.

unique purple lily blooms in southern China

an assortment of brightly-coloured algae reflect in the steam rolling off a large hot spring.

one of the dozens of tiny islands in the Hawaiian Islands

The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco is a fantastic setting for many great images. I saw these two swans swimming about and set up on the nearby shoreline. As with most animals, you really must do a lot of waiting for the right moment (unless you are lucky enough to come across one that responds to verbal instruction). There were many fair shots, but each time something was not quite right, so I very patiently waited, slowly panning the camera to track their movement and making adjustments along the way. In as little as a half hour, there was finally a moment when they both stopped eating seaweed and faced each other just long enough for me to complete my work.

scenic coastline of Maui

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.