southern Maui along the road to Hana

this is a super closeup shot of computer CPU (or 0.01% of the whole CPU). this particular area shows a mish-mash of wires criss-crossing and refracting light into a rainbow of colours. the micro-wires are so tiny that over 48,000 of them can lay side-by-side within an inch and have plenty of room for insulation in between (as best as we can measure - it is really small stuff in there).

commonly misunderstood as an albino, this White Indian Peacock appears just as lovely as it's multi-coloured friends.

late spring in the Aleutian Islands

It was late spring in the Utah desert and I got caught in a light rain shower. It was hot, so the rain felt nice, but I still didn't want to get soaked and be encumbered with wet clothes. I stooped under a tree about the height of a house (tall for the region) and let it shelter me from most of the rain. In about 30 minutes, it turned to a fine mist and I continued up the mountain. Soon the sun started to peek out and turned my surroundings to a steamy sauna. Whenever the sun comes out after a rain, I immediately look for the possibility of a rainbow. Rainbows are so beautiful and last only a moment, that I do everything possible to capture one onto film. Sure enough, one started to emerge right in front of me, but was mostly obscured by the ground, so I started to run up the hill for a better view. The mountainside was steep and seemed to never end. Each time I thought I could see it leveling off, by the time I got there, it continued upward. I was exhausted and time was quickly counting down. I managed to make my way to a partial overlook and captured ¾ of the arch of colour before it faded away.

I was set up for this whitewater section of rapids and took several shots, freezing the splashes of water at different moments in time. It was an extremely wet area from all the mist, and the lens had to be wiped down between each shot. Then I continued my hike up stream, shooting along the way. At the base of the falls, it was time to change film. For an unknown reason, my camera indicated that I had rewound the film completely, but a good portion was actually still vulnerable. When I opened up the back, boy was I surprised to have just exposed my work to daylight. Having no idea which part I had just ruined, I retraced my steps and began re-shooting each scene with a different camera back in hopes to not repeat the malfunction. While in wooded areas, since many scenes are shaded by neighboring trees, I commonly will first hike unencumbered with gear to calculate the ideal time of day for that particular scene. Thankfully, my window of light for this area was long enough to obtain a second set of exposures.

looking straight-down on top of a lovely pink hyacinth. The fragrance is quite strong and i can understand why the French like to use these Mediterranean flowers in their perfumes.

I was spending some time in one of my favorite woods, and this time decided to strictly look upwards. For hours, I wandered about with a kink in my neck and tripping over the underbrush, until I came across this amazing view. I was in a pine woods and this one lone black cherry tree had made its stand. It certainly stood out amongst the group which I had never noticed by just looking horizontally. The surrounding pines appeared to be curious about the unique shape and colour of this tree and gave it just a little extra space all around. My neck was relieved to have found something of such interest; I setup my camera and laid on my back beneath the tripod and shot straight up.