![]() WATER |
![]() ROCK |
![]() DESERT |
![]() SKY |
![]() TREES |
![]() PLANTS |
![]() ANIMALS |
![]() MAN-MADE |
![]() PATTERNS |
![]() CLOSE-UP |
![](nature/ca_Swans_.jpg)
The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco is a fantastic setting for many great images. I saw these two swans swimming about and set up on the nearby shoreline. As with most animals, you really must do a lot of waiting for the right moment (unless you are lucky enough to come across one that responds to verbal instruction). There were many fair shots, but each time something was not quite right, so I very patiently waited, slowly panning the camera to track their movement and making adjustments along the way. In as little as a half hour, there was finally a moment when they both stopped eating seaweed and faced each other just long enough for me to complete my work.
Swans
![](nature/m_ZinniaPetal_.jpg)
closely resembling a (well used) golf ball, this is actually a super closeup shot of a Zinnia's flower petal. the petals have a cool pattern of dimples each measuring about 1/1000th of an inch across. we then focused a ultra-tiny spotlight so that the shaft of light was the size of a human hair (smaller than a laser beam). as the highly focused light bled out through the relatively flat petal (see inset), it created the shading effect of a round ball.
Golden Golfball
![](nature/hi_CraterRedRock_.jpg)
I'm hiking across the inside of a volcano crater and loving the diverse assortment of mineral colours. every few minutes it seems like i enter a new alien world with unique soil and rock types. The distant base of the clouds are over a mile in elevation, and they peak around 8,500 feet – the camera is just under 10,000 feet to capture this beautiful and unique land.
Crater Walk
![](i/ls_3.png)
We receive countless thank-you notes from people around the world who look forward to every tuesday morning when they receive our