On my way back to the studio, after a routine walk with the camera, I stopped to rest a moment halfway up a steep hill. It was early autumn and the leaves had begun their colour cycle. Like most of us, sometimes I forget to look up to see what's directly above. In my moment of fatigue (too much gear), I arched my back to stretch and WOW! I was standing right under a perfect shot. A lower branch spread across my view with bright red leaves and a little higher up was a maple that turned yellow and just past that, a couple different greens from the oaks. Topped off with patches of deep blue sky, it was truly a colourful moment.

it is rare that i photograph man-made things when i'm traveling around looking for beautiful things in nature, but artistic construction like this will make it into the photo collection.

This is a Great Horned Owl at about 3½ weeks of age. Quite a darling little puff-ball of feathers sitting there wondering what the guy with the camera is up to. The mom isn't due back for a couple hours so I have a chance to capture this cute creature for everyone to enjoy.

foliage on the tropical island of HaiNan

I planned my passage through southern Arizona when the giant saguaros would be in bloom. I always enjoy shooting flowers, but these blooms posed a new problem for me - they were all twenty to thirty feet above ground. As I hiked around exposing film on all sorts of life, I not only came across a good steep hill, but it had a large healthy cactus growing right next to it. Thanking mother nature for making this possible, I set up on the side of the hill and maxed out my largest zoom lens to capture these blooms.

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.

a walk in the woods during early autumn in Indiana

Meet "Crusty" the sand crab on the coral-sand beaches of Guam. He was kind enough to not move while I setup my gear in very close proximity and capture this macro shot.