well, not actually a mountain, nor made of anything hard like crystal – this is actually a very closeup shot at the edge from where a flower petal was torn. the tear left little shards of protruding flesh that when brightly lit, the whole thing glowed like an ice sculpture. this particular shard measures 0.046 inches tall (less than the thickness of a DVD) and you can see the elongated cells of white and purple that made up the flower petal.

When one gets a camera close enough to a drip of water, the whole surrounding world can been seen within. This makes for a rather unique and interesting image that is sure to start conversation. Seeming to be an eternity, I v-e-r-y carefully moved my camera around to capture the surrounding patch of daisies and early morning sky inside this water-lens without the slightest disturbance to the delicate drop. After a few micro-adjustments to the position just right, the sun glistened on the edge of the drop and made a wonderful sparkle highlight.

I was hiking to the Paria wilderness in Arizona and parked my car in southern Utah, as far as the nearest dirt road would take me. On my way to the Arizona border (located at the "V" on the far left), I passed by a grouping of vermillion striped mounds that reminded me of a dessert of some sort. Perhaps it was just the heat and my desire for something cold to eat.

i've been scouting around for a perfect rose shot - which for anyone whom has tried this, understands the challenge - there's almost always some imperfection or imbalance that keeps one searching for something better. i happen to find these three pink roses in a row and focused on the perfect pattern of soft pink petals on the center bloom.

looking directly at an enormous wall of ice as it crumbles into the sea. the ice is under intense pressure from the weight of the ice above and from the relentless pushing of new ice forming in distant mountains. this pressure causes the ice to be abnormally dense, and gives it an obvious teal colour. very loud cracks and pops can be heard as it continues being shoved downhill.

a closeup shot of an Amanita Bisporigera mushroom... more specifically the thin fleshy fins on the underside of the mushroom's top. each of the fins measure 0.0048 inches in thickness (like a typical sheet of paper). i found it interesting that the seemingly simple brown fins were speckled with millions of tiny dots arranged into clusters that made up the brown and near-white patches seen here. we made an attempt to photograph these dot patterns extra closeup (resembling the dots on a dice), but our lighting kept cooking the thin and delicate mushroom fin before a quality photograph could be obtained. we'll probably try again using a refrigeration plate or ice to keep the tiny fin fresh.

Although appearing to be an autumn scene, this was actually captured mid-spring. At the edge of a woods quite near the studio, was a young red maple and hovering over it like a parent, was a much larger green maple and then some oak trees. With a short tripod, I laid on the ground and shot up toward these colourful leaves. The back-lighting from the sun created very strong colour and interesting patterns of light and shadow.

curious young brown bear in late spring (Aleutian Islands)