Photographer's Notes for this page: images.theotherpages.org Red Water Lily One of numerous pictures in the collection from Kew Gardens, South-West of London. The vivid colors, textures, contrasts, shapes and reflections in the Water Lily House alone could easily fill a book. This shot catches both the bright green surface as well as the darker underside of the leaves, the brilliant red of the flower, and hints of the complex jumble of stems beneath the water. --Steve Lion The Chicago Art institute is one of those places I wanted to visit many times as I passed by it's entrance, but never had an opportunity - until recently. The collection inside is fantastic in breadth, volume, and quality. This is one of the lions that guards the entrance. I liked the contrast as a black & white image of the lion against the building fascade with its filigree arches and parade of recognizable names. --Steve Before Sunrise Sanibel Island on the South-West cost of Florida is famed for its shells and beaches. I always enjoy sunrise there (sunset can be rather buggy). Here a sandbar provides a stage for a lone figure (Cathy), caught between the deep blues of the sky and its reflection in the tidal strip. The blue streaks in the first glow of sunrise are shadows of cloud-tops below the horizon. --Steve Pedestrian Tunnel Terminus This is the dome above the entrance for the Greenwich Pedestrian Tunnel below the Thames River. The Cutty Sark and the Royal Naval College are nearby, along with the famed Greenwich Observatory which marks the Prime Meridian. This image was color shifted (HSV), from purplish-blue toward lavender. --Steve Buckingham Palace Fence The Queen's front yard has a substantial fence - not the usual chain-link that Americans are accustomed to. Then again the typical house does not have 10,000 people pressed up against it daily for the changing of the guard. Shot in black & white to emphasize the contrast and bring out the detail in the building fascade behind the fence. --Steve Sunrise This is not Wisconsin's Lake Geneva, but a tiny lake in West-Central Florida near Leesburg which has a beautiful sunrise on most fall mornings. Shot at F8.0 and -2 to keep the sun from overpowering the textures in the wood and the ripples in the water. --Steve Bleached Trees The Everglades are often, and correctly, described as a fragile ecosystem - a thin layer of water, plant, and animal life stretched over hundreds of square miles of fossil limestone deposits. Small changes in water levels, invasive exotica from other ecosystems, or pollution from visitors and surrounding areas all do their damage. I have no specific explanation for this area of bleached truncks that used to be a hammock, along the canoe loop in the Arthur R. Marshall Wildlife Refuge in Del Ray. Thanks to Skip Fisher for the paddling expedition. --Steve Pentas Pentas in full summer bloom - in Linda Cable's back yard. Focused to Z=0 for a very close-up macro. --Steve Bridge and Weir on the River Avon The City of Bath in South-Western England is a World Heritage Site, and has a near infinite variety of material for picture taking. Unfortunately, I always seem to visit on grey windy days with rain threatening. This shot encompasses a bridge - copied on an Italian model, and the weir on the River Avon (one of the rivers Avon - there are several). The seagulls seem to agree that this is a picturesque location. The adjacent canal boats, garden, and stone houses on the hillside left me wishing for a wider-angle lens. --Steve Hammock and Leaves Bright Green leaves from a Silver Maple resting on twisted blue-green hammock ropes; another close-up from Linda's back yard --Steve images.theotherpages.org