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.

glass tulips illuminated with various neon lights would certainly make a wonderful piece of contemporary art, but this is actually a closeup photo of a Grecian Windflower. in between the bumpy center cone and the outer petals, is a ring of many stamen with short filaments. zooming in extra tight on the area where the anthers (top part resembling mini-tulips) connect with the filaments (supporting stems), and adding in a micro-spotlight to make everything sparkle, you then get a shot like this. each filament (stems seen at the bottom) measures around 0.0062 inches in diameter which is a tad thinner than a bristle on a toothbrush.

Lake Michigan lighthouse in northern Indiana

This is called "get the shot and run for cover". I'm wading waist-deep to get the desired camera angles and when i saw this swell raising more and more, i knew i would be grabbing the camera and heading for more shallow water before i get clobbered.

peeking through the trees toward Horseshoe Lake mostly covered with lily-pads and blooms

a cluster of purple vanda orchids in Brazil

a fun place to roam around with a camera within a remote corner of the Utah wilderness

This is the main center area of MachuPicchu. The "D" shaped structure near center is the Temple of the Sun. For some reason it was worthy of a complex curved wall, unlike all other surrounding structures.