Although this can commonly grow into a tree it is officially classified as a shrub (cotinus coggygria) from Eurasia, and a really cool shrub at that. This was my first encounter with one of these and I was delightfully amazed with its colours. The leaves were a grape-purple on the top side with a more common greenish underside. When the sunlight shown through the leaves, they lit up a brilliant red, adding another odd colour to this unparalleled plant. I made sure to capture this wonder of colour on a bright sunny day with an equal amount of leaves showing their upper and lower hues.

It's been raining most of the day and it's paying off by making this typically smaller waterfall much more voluminous.

This is one of many pools of water from underground hot springs at Yellowstone. As the water spreads out at the surface, it cools and allows a variety of different algae to sustain life. In this case, the algae that survives in the hotter temperatures is blue and green, and the somewhat cooler algae appears red and orange, forming a circular rainbow pattern to mark the temperature ranges of the water.

coming down off the mountain just in time to witness the sun setting and the nearby cloud-line lighting up in pink.

Banyan tree silhouettes and reflections in Horseshoe Lake (southern Illinois) during sunset

giant variegated Agave plant in Arizona desert

i'm no giraffe expert, but i think the left one wants a kiss.