a cool place to hang out (if you're a seal or if you like a lot of ice in your water)

if you can't find any fruit stands in the Chernobyl district, you can create your own wacky-looking berries by dipping them into a vat of radioactive waste (or high fructose corn syrup will probably work the same). okay, this is actually the center area of a Grecian Windflower that happens to resemble raspberry-like shapes and colours. each protrusion measures 0.007 inches in diameter (equivalent to a single bristle on a toothbrush) and is surrounded by tiny clear hairs giving the appearance of ice crystals.

I'm precariously hanging over a sheer cliff to capture a straight-down perspective of the ocean waters below. With my assistant faithfully grasping my belt and a small nearby tree, i was able to get the camera gear over the edge enough to watch for the best mixture of rock and swirling waves.

sunset above the clouds near the hawaiian islands

The minerals in the lake water cause it to be abnormally blue and clear. I can see straight to the bottom where lie many fallen trees that seem not to decay or dirty the water. As I hiked around these lakes, I really enjoyed the wavy branches that overhung the water like this one. The colours and shapes complemented each other quite well.

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

This large Bird-of-Paradise bloom gave me quite a challenge. I was hiking in a tropical rain-forest when i saw glimpses of this beautiful bloom. The only trouble was the best side to photograph was rather hidden by thick foliage with no practical way to get closer. I found a peek-hole through the network of leaves, but it was very high, so i stretched the tripod to it's full height and then more so by greatly decreasing it's base to obtain just enough height to peek through this hole in the foliage. Then added a very large zoom lens on top of this very unstable camera setup. After waiting some time for everything to settle down from micro-movements (including not breathing on or near the camera), i was able to capture this exotic shot.

top of MarcaHuasi in Perú