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.

another spectacular view of Waimea canyon. The lush vegetation and diverse soil colours make for some very nice canyon photos.

I am a personal fan of lots of foliage. I maintain several quite large house plants but they just don't compare to standing amongst a rain-forest. This was captured along the way to Hanna, a remote southern town on Maui.

looking straight down toward the tops of foliage and a simple dirt (mud) road.

eastern Utah just after sunset

east end of Glacier National Park

Lake Michigan lighthouse in northern Indiana