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

a lovely and unique treasure discovered while roaming the hawaiian rainforest

vanda orchids growing in Hawaii rain-forest

when a large mass of lava cools very slowly, it can create column-like fissures during it's cooling. then, over the years, water and ice push the columns apart and the outer pillars topple giving you a scene like this one. there's only a handful of places on earth where conditions were just right for these strange rock formations to form.

A very excited neighbor boy brought this to me one day and wanted to know if I wanted to shoot it. I went inside and got a good macro lens and started to set up next to a nearby boulder. The young man coaxed the mantis from the carrying stick onto the boulder and I began getting ready. To my surprise, it made a very nice pose, turned its head to face me, and just sat there patiently while I took readings and captured this shot.

a straight-down shot at a wonderful assortment of summer flowers growing together

rapids along the McKenzie River in Willamette National Forest

a picture-perfect passage between cliffs in southern Illinois