I had not seen a Bald Eagle before and certainly did not expect to see one in Indiana. I was driving along a stretch of highway with forest on both sides and where hawks are a common site. I usually scan the sky to see what might be flying around and one day I see an absolutely huge silhouette swooping down. It was far bigger than any hawk I've seen, so I pulled off the road and began to explore. Not far away, I learn that it was a Bald Eagle and it was now calmly sitting in a tree. I reposition my car to make full use of a hill, then stood on top with my tripod and longest lens to grab this shot.

cliff-edge walkway through the mountains and trees in Pennsylvania

ruffle and stripe details on a giant Bearded Iris

I was set up for this whitewater section of rapids and took several shots, freezing the splashes of water at different moments in time. It was an extremely wet area from all the mist, and the lens had to be wiped down between each shot. Then I continued my hike up stream, shooting along the way. At the base of the falls, it was time to change film. For an unknown reason, my camera indicated that I had rewound the film completely, but a good portion was actually still vulnerable. When I opened up the back, boy was I surprised to have just exposed my work to daylight. Having no idea which part I had just ruined, I retraced my steps and began re-shooting each scene with a different camera back in hopes to not repeat the malfunction. While in wooded areas, since many scenes are shaded by neighboring trees, I commonly will first hike unencumbered with gear to calculate the ideal time of day for that particular scene. Thankfully, my window of light for this area was long enough to obtain a second set of exposures.

funny-shaped sandstone monuments in Utah wilderness

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.

I was camping out on one of the lower peaks (about 8500 feet) in the Andes Mountains. It was a wet and somewhat tropical area and had a light rain most of the night. As daylight started making itself known, the remaining rain clouds started dissipating and swirling about the neighboring peaks. Once again, I grabbed my camera gear and prepared for a moody shot. The sunlight was peaking out here and there, clouds blowing by and changing each second, I just had to wait for everything to come into balance and squeeze the shutter's release cable. The dark neighboring mountain peak intertwined with scattering clouds created a mysterious and suspenseful image, expressing the drama in the air this morning.