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

this allium bud is just starting to initiate the blooming process and is looking quite good so far. It's still only about an inch (2-3cm) in diameter and i've got my camera gear just a few inches away to capture the minute details of this beautiful process.

Ka'anapali Beach is famous for it's gentle shallow waters and beautiful sunsets.

High in the Urubamba Mountains, lies the recently famous ruins of MachuPicchu. The peak off to the right is WaynaPicchu. After a lengthy steep climb up damp and slippery rocks, it provides a nice overlook of the ancient city. Many photographers stand on the hill on the left side of this photo and capture a portion of the ruins; I chose to climb to a neighboring peak and shoot down over the entire area. The stepped plateaus going down the side were farmland and between each level are stone steps protruding out from the wall.

clearly appearing like something out of a Hollywood special-effects laboratory, this unreal-looking skin is actually quite common and is perhaps devouring something right outside your back door... it is a super-closeup of a June Bug's thorax (shoulder blade equivalent). the June Bugs in our area are an uninteresting plain brown, but as we explored it's outer surface, we noticed a very small metallic-looking shiny spot. far too small to see with the naked eye, we zoomed in on this spot and discovered it to be made up of many 'skin' cells of reds, oranges, and yellows each measuring around 1/3000 of an inch across. the green jellybean-like objects are actually pits in the bug's shell and have a hair growing out of each one (similar to a human pore). these deep bowel-shaped pits (about 1/400 of an inch long) were lined with more metallic-type cells that reflected our lighting back in various greens.

This is called "get the shot and run for cover". I'm wading waist-deep to get the desired camera angles and when i saw this swell raising more and more, i knew i would be grabbing the camera and heading for more shallow water before i get clobbered.

variegated bamboo trees in China

east end of Glacier National Park