glass tulips illuminated with various neon lights would certainly make a wonderful piece of contemporary art, but this is actually a closeup photo of a Grecian Windflower. in between the bumpy center cone and the outer petals, is a ring of many stamen with short filaments. zooming in extra tight on the area where the anthers (top part resembling mini-tulips) connect with the filaments (supporting stems), and adding in a micro-spotlight to make everything sparkle, you then get a shot like this. each filament (stems seen at the bottom) measures around 0.0062 inches in diameter which is a tad thinner than a bristle on a toothbrush.

a cool place to hang out (if you're a seal or if you like a lot of ice in your water)

Bamboo forest in China

giant variegated Agave plant in Arizona desert

Sierra Nevada Mountains in late spring as the snow begins to melt at this elevation

Along the desert surface, a lengthy crack can be seen. More exploring reveals an entire other world of underground beauty. I have the camera pointed up at about 45° toward these whirls of sandstone carved out by centuries of flash flood waters from rain many miles away.

A short distance from the studio, there is a woods that slopes into a large marsh area. In this area, I commonly find many little things to capture on film. Although I'm in a four-season climate, it is not uncommon for there to be orchids growing in the wild at places like this marshy woods. This type of cypripedium orchid is commonly called "Lady's Slipper" as the bloom shape resembles the footwear.

an up-shot of the large clusters of dates on this Phoenix dactylifera in Kauai