a pleasant combination of rocky cliffs and thick forest in southern Illinois. i was lucky to find a very large fallen boulder to climb up on to get above the brush and capture this view.

almost passing for a multitude of old dusty harpsichord strings, this is actually a closeup photo of a polished gemstone called 'Tiger Eye'. we zoomed in where the chatoyancy effect was the strongest to capture these fiber-like inclusions that make up the cat's eye appearance. the width of this photo is about 0.037 inches which is a tad thicker than a playing card.

When one gets a camera close enough to a drip of water, the whole surrounding world can been seen within. This makes for a rather unique and interesting image that is sure to start conversation. Seeming to be an eternity, I v-e-r-y carefully moved my camera around to capture the surrounding patch of daisies and early morning sky inside this water-lens without the slightest disturbance to the delicate drop. After a few micro-adjustments to the position just right, the sun glistened on the edge of the drop and made a wonderful sparkle highlight.

layers and layers of spire-shaped mountains in ZhangJiaJie

no photographers were harmed in the capturing of this photo (although we are in need of a new photo-assistant ;-)

close-up shot of Niagara Falls (Canadian side)