A short distance from the studio, there is a woods that slopes into a large marsh area. In this area, I commonly find many little things to capture on film. Although I'm in a four-season climate, it is not uncommon for there to be orchids growing in the wild at places like this marshy woods. This type of cypripedium orchid is commonly called "Lady's Slipper" as the bloom shape resembles the footwear.

This is truly in the middle of nowhere and reachable only by foot (or perhaps parachute). It's hard to believe that rock could form in such fluid shapes but it sure makes for a great find for those willing to bare the elements of the desert.

i love bamboo. there is just something about its form and usefulness that appeals to me. it grows quite fast and is very strong yet flexible. while traveling through various bamboo forests in China, i've seen new bamboo sprouts that were at least 4-5 meters tall.

I'm climbing down inside a volcano crater and am amazed with the variety of rock/soil colours that are so neatly piled about.

it's a beautiful mid-spring day and i walked in many circles, ducking and bobbing my head for some time, trying to find the angle that best complimented this tree's glory. the clusters of large white flowers are quite bright against the surrounding forestry and such contrast made for a great shot.

I'm certainly not a marine biologist, but am informed that this is a 'Dactylometra Quinquecirrha' type jellyfish, so I'll take their word for it. Their tentacles are covered with stinging cells that attach themselves to anything that touches them and injects a venom into it's prey. Fortunately I didn't get the opportunity to experience this in action even though I'm told it's not fatal. My biggest problem capturing this image is that there is absolutely nothing stable to attach a camera to underwater. Tripods are useless, I'm moving, the camera is moving, the sea creatures are moving, all at different rhythms (guess I didn't need to bring the cable release). All in all, this was probably the most serene and beautiful creature I've ever witnessed; it's pulsating motions and delicate nature were extremely enjoyable.

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).