the exotic blooms on this particular tropical vine last only a day. After just missing a couple of openings, a gardener friend and I was pulling shifts going to check on it's status twice a day. Finally, late one morning, the magnificent passiflora opened to display it's unparalleled details. Immediately, I load up an excessive amount of gear so that nothing would warrant a second trip and spent several hours more than adequately capturing the moment on film. As the day progressed and the sun started getting low, the entire wonder began to close only to fall off the next day; but on film it lives on.

appearing to be some seaweed gently swaying under water, this is actually an above-water decorative grass (green foxtail) that has those fuzzy tops resembling caterpillars. this is a closeup shot (capturing 0.1 x 0.16 inches) of the seeds and fuzzies that dance in the wind atop this tall grass. the seeds can be seen as large light-green pods with dark-green stripes (like a melon), and the fuzzy strands can be seen in light-green branching off the main stem in the middle, and eventually fade to brown as they reach their end.

almost looking like someone dropped a jar of jelly, this is actually a closeup photo of a dark red Asiatic Lily. toward the base of each petal are two tiny rows of fleshy-hairs that when magnified, look like dripping jelly. one of the hair rows is the dark red feature going diagonally across this shot, and a glimpse of the second row in the upper-left corner. the 'hairs' in this shot average 0.0087 inches in height, so 115 of them lined end-to-end would equal an inch.

as the snow accumulates in the high mountains, it stacks up and begins to slide down the mountain side as a glacier. as the glacier continues to get pushed from behind (from more incoming snow), it becomes packed into a very dense ice and can travel decades across the country side. sometimes they end by finally giving way to the heat, and turn into a stream of icy cold water. other times they end by crumbling into an ocean like this one.

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.

Alder Lake in Washington state

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.

this is one of the final water drops from the 'wettest place on Earth'. The inner parts of this canyon receives over 240-inches of rainfall each year which flows through a large number of tall waterfalls throughout the canyon.