These guys brought a great smile to my face as soon as I saw them. They looked so funny and entertaining, I nearly titled the shot "Abbott & Costello" after the famous comedian pair. They had a certain life about them, as if they were a part of some mythical legend beings that became frozen into these rock formations. The two formations are actually a fair distance apart, making a combined photo more of a challenge. So I did my usual circle the item of interest until you find the best perspective. I tried hiking a ways away and zooming in from a neighboring hill, then up close, then this side or another, until discovering this perspective that worked perfectly for my taste.

you'd probably believe me if i said this was a tentacle from some deep-sea creature, but it is actually a closeup shot of a common flower stigma (the tiny little stem sticking out of the center and captures pollen from the stamen). the stigma of a red gladiolus is only 0.025 inches in diameter (thickness of 2 playing cards) and this photo captures the very tip that protrudes farthest outside the bloom. (check out our "Balanced Gems" shot to see the neighboring anther part of the same flower).

huge canopy over Japanese garden creating a perfect balance of shade and sun for comfort.

beautiful rain-forest trees and foliage in southern Maui

since we did not get the chance to place one of our camera's onto NASA's deep space probe, we went with the next best thing... we photographed a piece of tile from Home Depot. yes, this is looking at only 0.4% of a 3/4-inch piece of glass tile that to the naked eye, looks clear dark brown (like coca-cola) with gold glitter streaking through. zooming in, revealed the gold specs to be sharply formed pyramids that reflected light very well. as the glitter streaked through the depths of the tile, it resembled an asteroid field with more colour and beauty than if we went with the NASA probe (mission accomplished).

vanda orchids growing in Hawaii rain-forest

Such a strong blue is a rare colour to be found in butterflies which makes the Blue Morpho an excellent find. This vibrant blue is very visible to their predators and so they rarely rest with their wings open to display these alluring colours.

almost passing for an aerial photo over some trees, ocean, and a smoldering volcano, this world was actually discovered on the belly of a small fly - more specifically a tiny Blue-green Long-legged fly (Condylostylus). the micro-hairs along the contours of it's abdomen now look like a forest of trees covering the hills of a tropical island. the way the light reflects of the fly's metallic-like surface, gave us the ocean and rainforest colour palette. and the volcano is actually a hair pore with the hair shaft going out of focus toward the camera, giving the appearance of rising column of smoke. the width of this shot covers 0.0126 inches which is the thickness of a playing card.