i love bamboo. there is just something about its form and usefulness that appeals to me. it grows quite fast and is very strong yet flexible. while traveling through various bamboo forests in China, i've seen new bamboo sprouts that were at least 4-5 meters tall.

northern Kauai

some picture-perfect stalks of Imperial Fritillaria (lutea maxima) just waiting for someone like me to come by and capture them on film.

northern Indiana woods

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

tall Saguaro cactus towering over others in southern Arizona

very close-up shot of a young tree bud

although passing for the scales on a blue dragon, this is actually an extreme close-up photo of the iridescent stripe on the wing of a Mallard Duck. the feather starts off with a main shaft (or quill) with hundreds of branches (barbs) protruding from the side. zooming in on one of these barbs, there are again hundreds of protruding tiny branches (barbules) on each barb. this photo captures approximately 4 of these barbules and their scale-like shapes. each of these 'squares' measure around 0.0012 inches across (less than the thickness of aluminum foil).