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  • A family dune boards at White Sands National Monument, near Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA. White Sands National Monument preserves one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here in the northern Chihuahuan Desert rises the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Visit the park 16 miles southwest of Alamogordo, NM, USA. White Sands National Monument preserves 40% of the gpysum dune field, the remainder of which is on White Sands Missile Range and military land closed to the public. Geology: The park’s gypsum was originally deposited at the bottom of a shallow sea that covered this area 250 million years ago. Eventually turned into stone, these gypsum-bearing marine deposits were uplifted into a giant dome 70 million years ago when the Rocky Mountains were formed. Beginning 10 million years ago, the center of this dome began to collapse and create the Tularosa Basin. The remaining sides of the original dome now form the San Andres and Sacramento mountain ranges that ring the basin. The common mineral gypsum is rarely found in the form of sand because rain dissolves it in runoff which usually drains to the sea; but mountains enclose the Tularosa Basin and trap surface runoff. The pure gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate) comes from ephemeral Lake Lucero (a playa), which is the remnant of ice-age Lake Otero (now mostly an alkali flat) in the western side of the park. Evaporating water (up to 80 inches per year) leaves behind selenite crystals which reach lengths of up to three feet (1 m)! Weathering breaks the selenite crystals into sand-size gypsum grains that are carried away by prevailing winds from the southwest, forming white dunes. Several types of small animals have evolved white coloration that camouflages them in the dazzling white desert; and various plants have specially adapted to shifting sands. Based on an application by two US Senators from New Mexico, UNESCO honored the monument on the Tentative List of World Heritag
    1404NM-6073_White-Sands-NM.jpg
  • A family with children explores boulders atop Enchanted Rock. Boulders erode and split from the top of Enchanted Rock. Explore a large pink granite dome at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, between Fredericksburg and Llano, Texas, USA. Enchanted Rock is a fascinating exfoliation dome (with layers like an onion), rising 425 feet (130 m) above its surroundings to elevation of 1825 feet (556 m) above sea level, in the Llano Uplift. Geologically, the exposed rock (monadnock or inselberg, "island mountain") is part of a pluton (bubble of rock slowly crystallized from magma) within the billion-year-old igneous batholith, Town Mountain Granite (covering 62 square miles mostly underground), which intruded from a deep pool of hot magma 7 miles upwards into the older metamorphic Packsaddle Schist. The overlying sedimentary rock (Cretaceous Edwards limestone) eroded away to expose the prominent domes seen today: Enchanted Rock, Little Rock, Turkey Peak, Freshman Mountain, and Buzzard's Roost.
    1403TX-180_Enchanted-Rock_Texas.jpg
  • A hiking family admires Monte Civetta from a trail near Gasthaus Passo di Giau, in Dolomites (Dolomiti, a part of the Southern Limestone Alps), northern Italy, Europe. The Dolomites were declared a natural World Heritage Site (2009) by UNESCO.
    11ITA-2163.jpg
  • Photographers flourish in silhouette against a magenta and orange sunset in Granite Park, Sierra Nevada, California, USA (captured in summer 1983). This was Tom Dempsey's first published photo, appearing in February 1987 "Modern Photography" magazine.
    83HIS-03-27_photographers-silhouette.jpg
  • Hikers admire sharp peaks of the Cadini Group in the Sesto Dolomites, Veneto region, Italy, Europe. In the Cadini di Misurina, Cima Grande rises to 2999 meters (9839 feet), between Cima Piccola and Cima Ovest. The Cadini Group is in the municipality of Auronzo, in the Sesto Dolomites (Dolomiti di Sesto, or Sexten/Sextner/Sextener Dolomiten) which lie north of the Fiume Ansiei valley. From the Rifugio Auronzo toll road, hike for spectacular views around Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Italian for "Three Peaks of Lavaredo," called Drei Zinnen or "Three Merlons" in German). The Dolomites are part of the Southern Limestone Alps. UNESCO honored the Dolomites as a natural World Heritage Site in 2009.
    13ITA-50078-p1_Cadini-Group-Dolomite...jpg
  • Mount Baker, located in Mount Baker Wilderness, seen from Table Mountain hike, North Cascades mountains, Washington, USA.
    1010SHU-170.jpg
  • Mount Shuksan (9127 feet elevation, located in North Cascades National Park) is seen from Heather Meadows, Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington, USA.
    1010SHU-145.jpg
  • California, USA: Backpackers walk with poles beneath Virginia Peak, Yosemite National Park. Published in Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club Outings March/April 2003. We backpacked over several days from Virginia Lakes Trailhead to Summit Lake, then out to Green Creek Trailhead via Hoover Wilderness.
    00CAL-02-32_Virginia-Peak_hikers_Yos...jpg
  • A boy walks in Pray Lake beneath Sinopah Mountain (8271 feet or 2521 meters) at sunset in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Since 1932, Canada and USA have shared Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, which UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site (1995) containing two Biosphere Reserves (1976). Rocks in the park are primarily sedimentary layers deposited in shallow seas over 1.6 billion to 800 million years ago. During the tectonic formation of the Rocky Mountains 170 million years ago, the Lewis Overthrust displaced these old rocks over newer Cretaceous age rocks. Glaciers carved spectacular U-shaped valleys and pyramidal peaks as recently as the Last Glacial Maximum (the last "Ice Age" 25,000 to 13,000 years ago). Of the 150 glaciers existing in the mid 1800s, only 25 active glaciers remain in the park as of 2010, and all may disappear by 2020, say climate scientists. (Panorama stitched from 4 overlapping images.)
    10GLA-2205-08pan_Pray-Lake.jpg
  • Girls in swim suits play in Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
    10GLA-1209.jpg
  • A child explores fanciful hoodoos, mushroom shapes, and rock pinnacles in Goblin Valley State Park, in Emery County between the towns of Green River and Hanksville, in central Utah, USA. The Goblin rocks eroded from Entrada Sandstone, which is comprised of alternating layers of sandstone (cross-bedded by former tides), siltstone, and shale debris which were eroded from former highlands and redeposited in beds on a former tidal flat.
    06UT_1152-Goblin-Valley.jpg
  • The vetch flower is in the pea family. Goblin Valley State Park, in Emery County between the towns of Green River and Hanksville, in central Utah, USA. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    06UT_2037-Vetch-flower_pea-family.jpg
  • Meeting a friendly Turkish family in Amasya, Central Turkey. Published in Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club Outings January/February 2001.
    99TUR-33-nn-Turkish-family.jpg
  • Campesino farm family poses with oxen plow at Pishgopampa village in Jancapampa Valley. Day 4 of 10 days trekking around Alpamayo, in Huascaran National Park, Cordillera Blanca, Andes Mountains, Peru, South America.
    14PER-0965_oxen-plow-family.jpg
  • The former Fluke family vacation home greets public visitors in a small bay on the northwest side of Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea.
    1205VEN-003_Vendovi-Island.jpg
  • The former Fluke family vacation home greets public visitors in a small bay on the northwest side of Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea.
    1205VEN-053_Vendovi-Island.jpg
  • Frigatebirds (in the genus Fregata, in the family Fregatidae) sail the breeze over a ship in the Galápagos Islands, a province of Ecuador, 972 km west of the continent of South America. Related to pelicans, some call them a "frigate pelican". They have long wings, tails and bills and the males have a red gular pouch that is inflated during the breeding season to attract a mate. Frigatebirds are pelagic piscivores which obtain most of their food on the wing. A small amount of their diet is obtained by robbing other seabirds, a behavior that has given the family its name, and by snatching seabird chicks. Frigatebirds are seasonally monogamous, and nest colonially. A rough nest is constructed in low trees or on the ground on remote islands. A single egg is laid each breeding season. The duration of parental care in frigatebirds is the longest of any bird.
    09ECU-4614_Galapagos.jpg
  • A sphinx moth (or hawk moth, Sphingidae family, order Lepidoptera) is attracted to night lights in Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve, near Quito, Ecuador, South America. Sphingidae is best represented in the tropics but species inhabit every region. Sphingidae are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid, sustained flying ability, assisted by narrow wings and streamlined abdomen. Some hawk moths, like the hummingbird hawk moth, hover in midair while they feed on nectar from flowers and are sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds. This hovering capability has evolved only three times in nectar feeders: in hummingbirds, certain bats, and these sphingids. Sphingids can swing hover (move rapidly from side to side while hovering). Some of the sphingids are some of the fastest flying insects, capable of flying at over 50 km/h (30 miles per hour). They have a wingspan of 35-150 mm.
    09ECU-1815_Bellavista-Ecuador.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Photo is from Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Ecuador, South America. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip’s Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain.
    09ECU-3398_Galapagos.jpg
  • Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpure, in the Plantaginaceae family) flowers on a tall spike in Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington, USA. The Latin meaning of "Digitalis" refers to the "finger-like" ease of fitting the flower over your fingertip. Digitalis also refers to cardiac glycoside drugs (such as digoxin) extracted from plants of genus Digitalis.
    1109HEL-053.jpg
  • Japanese dinner at a minshuku (family pension). Tsumago preserves an Edo Period post town on the feudal Nakasendo route between Kyoto and Edo (present-day Tokyo). To enforce historic ambiance, phone lines and power cables are concealed, and cars are prohibited during daytime. Visitors are encouraged to stay in minshuku and ryokan lodging, and to hike a portion of the trail preserved between Tsumago and Magome villages, via pleasant rural and forest scenery. The Nakasendo, or "Central Mountain Route", was one of Five Routes (Gokaido, begun in 1601) which helped the Tokugawa shogunate to stabilize and rule Japan (1600-1868). Tsumago is in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
    1810JP2-192.jpg
  • Fried sweet crickets served in Japanese dinner at a minshuku (family pension). Tsumago preserves an Edo Period post town on the feudal Nakasendo route between Kyoto and Edo (present-day Tokyo). To enforce historic ambiance, phone lines and power cables are concealed, and cars are prohibited during daytime. Visitors are encouraged to stay in minshuku and ryokan lodging, and to hike a portion of the trail preserved between Tsumago and Magome villages, via pleasant rural and forest scenery. The Nakasendo, or "Central Mountain Route", was one of Five Routes (Gokaido, begun in 1601) which helped the Tokugawa shogunate to stabilize and rule Japan (1600-1868). Tsumago is in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
    1810JP2-195.jpg
  • Columbine flowers (genus Aquilegia, in the Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae). Lake of the Hanging Glacier trail, in the Purcell Range of the Columbia Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. The trailhead is 1.5 hours drive west of Radium Hot Springs on the dirt Horsethief Creek Forest Service Road. High clearance vehicle recommended. On 2018 July 19, via rough but dry roads plus two small streams crossed, our Toyota Prius V made it carefully to parking at 1 km from the trailhead, making the spectacular hike 11.7 miles round trip with 3100 feet cumulative gain. The scenic reward was worth hiking over and under 60 fallen trees each way.
    1807CAN-655.jpg
  • Bison family on the road near Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4494_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • A pink flower with yellow center blooms in a garden (probably Cistaceae / rock rose family). Compass Rose Bed & Breakfast. Coupeville, Washington, USA.
    1604WHI-519.jpg
  • Martagon Lily / Lilium martagon (Liliaceae family). August is a good month to see many attractive alpine wildflowers blooming in the Alpstein limestone range, Appenzell Alps, Switzerland, Europe. Appenzell Innerrhoden is Switzerland's most traditional and smallest-population canton (second smallest by area).
    16SWI-1230.jpg
  • Martagon Lily / Lilium martagon (Liliaceae family). August is a good month to see many attractive alpine wildflowers blooming in the Alpstein limestone range, Appenzell Alps, Switzerland, Europe. Appenzell Innerrhoden is Switzerland's most traditional and smallest-population canton (second smallest by area).
    16SWI-1185.jpg
  • A campesino family shops in Huaraz, Callejon de Huaylas Valley, Ancash Region, Peru, Andes Mountains, South America.
    14PER2-182_Huaraz-Peru-street-scene.jpg
  • Large yellow flowers of Paranephelius uniflorus (in the Asteraceae/Compositae or "daisy" family) hug the ground on a day hike 630 meters vertically up a steep trail to Lake/Lago Churup (4465 meters elevation), near Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca, Andes Mountains, Peru, South America.
    14PER-0093_Paranephelius-uniflorus.jpg
  • A family bicycles on a brick cobblestone street closed to cars in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Dolomites, Italy, Europe. The ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo (Ladin: Anpëz, German: Hayden, at 1224 meters/4016 feet) is surrounded by the Dolomites (or Dolomiti, part of the Southern Limestone Alps) at the head of Valle del Boite, in the Province of Belluno, Veneto region, Italy, Europe. Cortina gained worldwide fame after hosting the 1956 Winter Olympics. UNESCO honored the Dolomites as a natural World Heritage Site in 2009.
    13ITA2-6342.jpg
  • Family riders on horseback tour the Hat Shop in Kodachrome Basin State Park, Utah, USA. Geologists believe that ancient hot springs and geysers in the park area filled with sediment and solidified. Through time, the Entrada sandstone surrounding the solidified geysers eroded, leaving large sand pipes. 67 sand pipes rise in the park from 2 to 52 meters high. You can drive to the park from the north via a paved road from Cannonville and from the south via Cottonwood Canyon, Road 400, a dirt road from the Page, Arizona area, passable for most vehicles in dry conditions.
    1303UT-1594.jpg
  • Chuquiraga is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. Quilotoa, in the highlands of Ecuador, South America.
    09EQUCIMG_3070_Ecuador.jpg
  • Chuquiraga is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. Quilotoa, in the highlands of Ecuador, South America.
    09ECU-2841_Ecuador.jpg
  • Chuquiraga is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. Quilotoa, in the highlands of Ecuador, South America.
    09ECU-2840_Ecuador.jpg
  • Masked Flowerpiercer (Diglossopis cyanea, in the Thraupidae family) was photographed at Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve, near Quito, Ecuador, South America. It is a blue and black bird with red eyes found in humid montane forest and scrub in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
    09ECU-1682_Bellavista-Ecuador.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Photo is from Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip’s Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain.
    09ECU-3293_Galapagos.jpg
  • Gaillardia (or Blanket flower) is a genus of drought-tolerant annual and perennial plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Photo from Baring Creek Valley, in Glacier National Park, in the Rocky Mountains, Montana, USA.
    10GLA-3532.jpg
  • Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa, in the sunflower family) blooms with a yellow flower in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. In Valley of Fire State Park, the pleasant half-mile round trip walk to Mouse's Tank visits a desert canyon.
    11NV2-4080_Valley-of-Fire-SP-Nevada.jpg
  • A captive coati (member of the raccoon family, Procyonidae) climbs a tree at the Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
    03AZ-10-02_Coati_Sonoran-Desert-Muse...jpg
  • The coastal fishhook cactus (Mammillaria dioica) is a member of the Ferocactus family, meaning fierce cactus. Photographed in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California. It usually blooms February to April, and also grows in Baja California, Mexico. Published in "Bizarre Blooms of Baja", April 2006 issue of Americas, the official magazine of the Organization of American States, or OAS.
    94SW-02-16-fish-hook-cactus-blooms.jpg
  • Cormorants (in the bird family Phalacrocoracidae) fly over Harney Channel, San Juan Islands, Washington, USA
    09SJI-011_San-Juan-Island.jpg
  • Fungi and False Lily-of-the-Valley (Maianthemum, in the Lily Family) leaves grow together on the verdant Lake 22 trail, near Verlot on the Mountain Loop Highway, in Snohomish County, Washington, USA.
    1007L22-071.jpg
  • False Lily-of-the-Valley (Maianthemum, in the Lily Family) grows with heart shaped leaves in the verdant Central Cascades of Washington, USA. Hike to Lake 22 on the Mountain Loop Highway near Verlot Visitor Center, in Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest.
    05L22_062.jpg
  • The Columbia Monkshood flower, Latin name Aconitum (Buttercup Family) grows with a fern in the background on the hike to Rachel Lake in Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Washington, USA.
    05RAC_34-Monkshood-flower.jpg
  • The Columbia Monkshood flower, Latin name Aconitum (Buttercup Family) grows with a fern in the background on the hike to Rachel Lake in Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Washington, USA.
    05RAC_33-Monkshood-flower.jpg
  • A yellow violet (Family Violaceae) flowers yellow with maroon veins, leaves evergreen. Photo from the Pacific Crest Trail between Rainy Pass (Highway 20) and Cutthroat Pass, Okanagon National Forest, Washington, USA.
    0907-239.jpg
  • Anemone seed heads blow in the wind along the Chain Lakes Loop trail, in Mount Baker Wilderness.  Anemone occidentalis (Western pasqueflower) is an herbaceous plant species in the genus Anemone (or Pulsatilla) and family Ranunculaceae. In the background rises the icy peak of Mount Shuksan (9127 feet elevation), located in North Cascades National Park. Anemone occidentalis is native to far western North America including British Columbia to California and Montana, found growing in gravelly soils on slopes and in moist meadows.
    0810CHA-063.jpg
  • Western Pasqueflower (Anemone occidentalis, or Pasque Flower) is an herbaceous plant species in the genus Anemone (or Pulsatilla) and family Ranunculaceae. This plant was photographed in Mount Baker Wilderness on the Chain Lakes Loop trail. Anemone occidentalis  is native to far western North America including British Columbia to California and Montana, found growing in gravelly soils on slopes and in moist meadows.
    0810CHA-059.jpg
  • The Cloudless Giant Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) is a small to midsized butterfly in the family Pieridae found in the New World.  The caterpillar will form a chrysalis that is pointed at both ends and humped in the middle. The chrysalis will be either yellow or green with pink or green stripes. From the chrysalis comes a large butterfly (2 1/8-2 3/4 inches) with fairly elongated but not angled wings. Their range is wide, from South America to southern Canada. They are most common from Argentina to southern Texas and Florida, but are often visitors outside this range becoming more rare further north. The common habitats of this butterfly are open spaces, gardens, glades, seashores, and watercourses. The adult butterfly feeds on nectar from many different flowers with long tubes including cordia, bougainvillea, cardinal flower, hibiscus, lantana, and wild morning glory.  Photographed in the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Washington, USA.
    0809ZOO-112.jpg
  • A roped family ascends to Glecksteinhütte above Grindelwald, in Switzerland, Europe. Gleckstein Hut (German: Glecksteinhütte) is a steep hike (6 miles round trip, 3000 feet gain and loss) high above Grindelwald. Run by the Swiss Alpine Club, the hut is at 2,317 meters elevation, above the Upper Grindelwald Glacier in the Bernese Alps. It's a popular goal for hikers, and climbers use it as a base for the ascent of the Wetterhorn and the Schreckhorn. From Grindelwald, take the PostBus to Abzweigung Gleckstein stop at 1557 m elevation, halfway between Hotel Wetterhorn and Grosse Scheidegg pass. (Hiking from Hotel Wetterhorn trailhead at 1275 meters elevation will add 900 feet of climb for 3900 ft total gain.)
    22ALP-10029.jpg
  • A bright orange flower of genus Mutisia blooms at Pasarela Rio Arrayanes, Lago Verde, Los Alerces National Park (honored on UNESCO's World Heritage List), in Chubut Province, Argentina, Patagonia, South America. Mutisia is a genus of flowering plant in the Mutisieae tribe within the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Mutisia comprises about sixty species which can be found along the entire length of the Andes and in southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina.
    2002PAT-9096.jpg
  • Columbine flowers (genus Aquilegia, in the Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae). Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada.
    1807CAN-1368.jpg
  • A family walks along the Capitol Gorge Trail, returning from the Tanks & Pioneer Register, in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA. Capitol Gorge was the original route for travelers through Waterpocket Fold before State Route 24 cut along Fremont River.
    1503SW-0126_Capitol-Gorge_Utah.jpg
  • The Jersey Tiger, Euplagia quadripunctaria, is a day-flying moth of the family Arctiidae (in the order Lepidoptera). Euplagia quadripunctaria has a zebra-like black and white pattern and is widely distributed in Europe from Estonia and Latvia in the north to the Mediterranean coast and islands in the south, plus West Russia, South Urals, Asia Minor, Rhodes and nearby islands, the Near East, Caucasus, South Turkmenistan, and Iran (Dubatolov, 2010). Photo is from Plitvice Lakes National Park (Nacionalni park Plitvicka jezera, in Croatia, Europe), which was founded in 1949 and is honored by UNESCO as World Heritage Site.
    13ITA2-6317.jpg
  • A female field cricket (family Gryllidae), in Val di Funes (Villnöss), Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy, Europe. Females have an ovipositor at rear, extending out between two cerci (spiky protrusions from the back of the abdomen). See the valley and municipality of Funes (Villnöss) in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (South Tyrol), Italy. Enjoy great hiking here in the vast Nature Park of Parco Naturale Puez-Odle (German: Naturpark Puez-Geisler; Ladin: Parch Natural Pöz-Odles). The Dolomites are part of the Southern Limestone Alps, Europe. UNESCO honored the Dolomites as a natural World Heritage Site in 2009.
    13ITA-30030_cricket.jpg
  • The “wax flower” is a member of Ericaceae, the Heath Family. Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve, near Quito, Ecuador, South America.
    09ECU-2096_Bellavista-Ecuador.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Photo is from Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip’s Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain.
    09ECU-3389_Galapagos.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Photo is from Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip’s Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain.
    09ECU-3259_Galapagos.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Photo is from Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip’s Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain.
    09ECU-3254_Galapagos.jpg
  • A yellow flower in the violet family (Violaceae), Viola genus, blooms in an alpine pasture in Switzerland, the Alps, Europe.
    05ALP_0232-yellow-Violet-flower.jpg
  • Gaillardia (or Blanket flower) is a genus of drought-tolerant annual and perennial plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Photo from Baring Creek Valley, in Glacier National Park, in the Rocky Mountains, Montana, USA.
    10GLA-3537.jpg
  • Gaillardia (or Blanket flower) is a genus of drought-tolerant annual and perennial plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Photo from Baring Creek Valley, in Glacier National Park, in the Rocky Mountains, Montana, USA.
    10GLA-3536.jpg
  • The sticky purple geranium (Geranium viscosissimum) is a perennial in the Geraniaceae family of flowering plants. Apikuni Falls trail, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA.
    10GLA-2559.jpg
  • Potentilla is the genus of typical cinquefoils, containing about 500 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Hike the Garden Wall Trail from Logan Pass in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA.
    10GLA-2090.jpg
  • The vetch flower is in the pea family. Admire fanciful hoodoos, mushroom shapes, and rock pinnacles in Goblin Valley State Park, in Emery County between the towns of Green River and Hanksville, in central Utah, USA. The Goblin rocks eroded from Entrada Sandstone, which is comprised of alternating layers of sandstone (cross-bedded by former tides), siltstone, and shale debris which were eroded from former highlands and redeposited in beds on a former tidal flat.
    06UT_1011-Goblin-Valley.jpg
  • Sedum is the stonecrop genus of the Crassulaceae or orpine family. This bloom is on Big Quilcene Trail #833.1, near Marmot Pass in Buckhorn Wilderness, Olympic National Forest, Washington, USA.
    0807MAR-047.jpg
  • A clay hen decorates a row of lavender (flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae). Grown at Jardin du Soleil Lavender Farm at the Sequim Lavender Festival held mid July in Washington, USA.
    0607LAV_0083-Jardin-Du-Soleil.jpg
  • False Lily-of-the-Valley (Maianthemum, in the Lily Family) bloom from heart-shaped leaves in the verdant Central Cascades of Washington, USA. Hike to Lake 22 on .the Mountain Loop Highway near Verlot Visitor Center, in Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest.
    05L22_069-False-Lily-Maianthemum.jpg
  • The town of Leavenworth brightens winter with colorful electric lights. A good time to visit is during the fun family events of Leavenworth Bavarian Ice Fest in January, Washington, USA.
    0912LEA-074_Leavenworth.jpg
  • The bracket fungi (or shelf fungi) comprise numerous species of the Polypore Family (Polyporaceae), in the class basidiomycete. Technically, these are not plants, gaining energy through the decomposition of dead and dying plant matter. The visible portion of a bracket fungus consists of the fruiting, or reproductive, body. Such structures may be an extremely long-lived and woody, adding a new layer of living fungal matter at the base of the structure each year. The vegetative portion of the fungus resides within the body of the tree (or dead stump), where it consists of an extensive network of filamentous fungal threads. Western Washington.
    0708DEF-026-fungi.jpg
  • The bracket fungi (or shelf fungi) comprise numerous species of the Polypore Family (Polyporaceae), in the class basidiomycete. Technically, these are not plants, gaining energy through the decomposition of dead and dying plant matter. The visible portion of a bracket fungus consists of the fruiting, or reproductive, body. Such structures may be an extremely long-lived and woody, adding a new layer of living fungal matter at the base of the structure each year. The vegetative portion of the fungus resides within the body of the tree (or dead stump), where it consists of an extensive network of filamentous fungal threads. Western Washington.
    0708DEF-020-fungi.jpg
  • Pine-drops, growing here about two feet high (scientific name: Pterospora, in the Heath Family) are a saprophytic plant that doesn't use chlorophyll. Pratt Lake Trail, Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Washington, USA.
    05PRA_39-Pine-drops_Pterospora.jpg
  • Meeting a friendly Turkish family in Amasya, Central Turkey. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. For licensing options, please inquire.
    99TUR-33-34-Friendly-Turks-Carol.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. Photographed on Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip's Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    09ECU-3202.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Photo is from Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip’s Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    09ECU-3202_Galapagos.jpg
  • The vetch flower is in the pea family. Goblin Valley State Park, in Emery County between the towns of Green River and Hanksville, in central Utah, USA.
    06UT_1067-Goblin-Valley.jpg
  • Swallowtail butterfly, family Papilionidae on Mount Dickerman, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington, USA.
    05DIC_31-Swallowtail-Butterfly.jpg
  • Ranunculus lyallii, also known as the Mount Cook Lily, is a flower in the Buttercup family. A steep, rooty, scenic hike ascends Crucible Stream Valley through forest wilderness to alpine Crucible Lake in the Southern Alps, South Island, New Zealand. In 1990, UNESCO honored Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand as a World Heritage Area.
    07NZ_0253-Ranunculus-lyallii_Butterc...jpg
  • A family on bicycles explores Harpers Ferry, a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, one of the few towns directly traversed by the Appalachian Trail. The town contains both Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and the populated Harpers Ferry Historic District (higher above the flood plain), at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers where the US states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. Historically, Harpers Ferry is best known for John Brown's raid on the Armory in 1859 and its role in the American Civil War.
    08WV-1158_Harpers-Ferry-Historic-Dis...jpg
  • Shirley Plantation, settled in 1613, is the oldest active plantation in Virginia and said to be the oldest family-owned business in North America, dating back to 1638. Shirley Plantation, a National Historic Landmark, is an estate located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia, USA, on State Route 5, a scenic byway which runs between the independent cities of Richmond and Williamsburg (neither is part of a county). Shirley Plantation has been occupied by the Hill family and their descendants since 1738. The mother of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Anne Hill Carter, was born at Shirley; and in 1793, she married Light Horse Harry Lee in the mansion's parlor. Construction of the present mansion began in 1723 when Elizabeth Hill, great-granddaughter of the first Hill, married John Carter, eldest son of Robert "King" Carter. Completed in 1738, the mansion, referred to as the "Great House," is largely in its original state and is owned, operated, and lived in by direct descendants of Edward Hill. The Carter family has lived in the house for ten generations, with the eleventh generation currently occupying the house. It is normally open for tours 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. The house is the Carter family's only place of residence and therefore, only the bottom floor is open to tours.
    08VA-1236_Shirley-Plantation-VA.jpg
  • Bricks wedge a tree cavity. Shirley Plantation, settled in 1613, is the oldest active plantation in Virginia and said to be the oldest family-owned business in North America, dating back to 1638. Shirley Plantation, a National Historic Landmark, is an estate located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia, USA, on State Route 5, a scenic byway which runs between the independent cities of Richmond and Williamsburg (neither is part of a county). Shirley Plantation has been occupied by the Hill family and their descendants since 1738. The mother of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Anne Hill Carter, was born at Shirley; and in 1793, she married Light Horse Harry Lee in the mansion's parlor. Construction of the present mansion began in 1723 when Elizabeth Hill, great-granddaughter of the first Hill, married John Carter, eldest son of Robert "King" Carter. Completed in 1738, the mansion, referred to as the "Great House," is largely in its original state and is owned, operated, and lived in by direct descendants of Edward Hill. The Carter family has lived in the house for ten generations, with the eleventh generation currently occupying the house. It is normally open for tours 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. The house is the Carter family's only place of residence and therefore, only the bottom floor is open to tours.
    08VA-1234.jpg
  • Ruins of a blackhouse at Arnol. Across the street from the ruins, built around 1880, Arnol Blackhouse is a fully furnished traditional Lewis thatched dwelling, which sheltered a family and its animals under the same chimneyless roof. Warmed by a peat fire in a central open hearth with the smoke filtering out through the thatched straw roof, this blackhouse was home to a Hebridean crofting family and their animals, until they moved out in 1966. Today Arnol Blackhouse is insightfully preserved like the family left it. Evolving health regulations in the early 1900s demanded that livestock be housed separately, so "whitehouses" were built with several chimneys, single-thickness walls cemented with lime mortar, wallpaper, lino floors, and separate barn and byre (cowshed). Across the street from Arnol Blackhouse you can visit a furnished 1920s whitehouse. These new crofthouses were so different and bright inside that they were nicknamed "whitehouses," which led to the nickname "blackhouses" for the older antiquated structures. Visit Arnol village on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe.
    17SC1-31507_Scotland.jpg
  • The byre or cowshed in the 1880 Arnol Blackhouse, in Arnol village, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK, Europe. Built around 1880, Arnol Blackhouse is a fully furnished traditional Lewis thatched dwelling, which sheltered a family and its animals under the same chimneyless roof. Warmed by a peat fire in a central open hearth with the smoke filtering out through the thatched straw roof, this blackhouse was home to a Hebridean crofting family and their animals, until they moved out in 1966. Today Arnol Blackhouse is insightfully preserved like the family left it. Evolving health regulations in the early 1900s demanded that livestock be housed separately, so "whitehouses" were built with several chimneys, single-thickness walls cemented with lime mortar, wallpaper, lino floors, and separate barn and byre (cowshed). Across the street from Arnol Blackhouse you can visit a furnished 1920s whitehouse. These new crofthouses were so different and bright inside that they were nicknamed "whitehouses," which led to the nickname "blackhouses" for the older antiquated structures.
    17SC1-31495_Scotland.jpg
  • A blue Indian Camas (Camassia quamash) flower blooms on Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. The Indian Camas (or Indian hyacinth or Wild hyacinth, Camassia quamash) is native to western North America and blooms in various shades of blue. DNA and biochemical studies by  the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have reassigned Camassia from the Lily family to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. The scientific species name "quamash" is from a Nez Perce term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest. On the San Juan Islands, native tribes burned forest to maintain sunny fields for growing this plant. The red flower is Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or Prairie-fire, a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, plus northeast Asia. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea. Published 2012 by the San Juan Preservation Trust (www.sjpt.org) for the Campaign to Save Vendovi Island.
    1205VE2-008_Vendovi-Island.jpg
  • Indian Camas (Camassia quamash) blooms with a blue flower on Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. The Indian Camas (or Indian hyacinth or Wild hyacinth, Camassia quamash) is native to western North America. Its flowers bloom in various shades of blue. DNA and biochemical studies by  the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have reassigned Camassia from the Lily family to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. The scientific species name "quamash" is from a Nez Perce term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest. On the San Juan Islands, native tribes burned forest to maintain sunny fields for growing this plant. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea.
    1205VE2-006_Vendovi-Island.jpg
  • Indian Camas (Camassia quamash) blooms with a blue flower on Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. A black ant forages on a colorful petal. The Indian Camas (or Indian hyacinth or Wild hyacinth, Camassia quamash) is native to western North America. Its flowers bloom in various shades of blue. DNA and biochemical studies by  the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have reassigned Camassia from the Lily family to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. The scientific species name "quamash" is from a Nez Perce term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest. On the San Juan Islands, native tribes burned forest to maintain sunny fields for growing this plant. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr.
    1205VE2-001_Vendovi-Island.jpg
  • Bromeliads grow in cloud forest above Black Sheep Inn, Chugchilan, Ecuador, South America on the Lago Quilotoa driving loop. Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) is a family of monocot flowering plants of around 2,400 species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa. The family includes both epiphytes, such as Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), and terrestrial species, such as the pineapple (Ananas comosus). Many bromeliads are able to store water in a "tank" formed by their tightly-overlapping leaf bases. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphytic Tillandsia species that gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes, and a large number of desert-dwelling succulents.
    09ECU-2433_Ecuador.jpg
  • Purple-blue lupine and red-salmon colored Indian paintbrush flowers bloom on Apikuni Falls Trail in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Lupinus is a genus in the pea family (also called the legume, bean, or pulse family, Latin name Fabaceae or Leguminosae). Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or Prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, as well as northeast Asia. Castilleja is classified in the family Orobanchaceae, and is hemiparasitic on the roots of grasses and forbs.
    10GLA-2580.jpg
  • Ruins of a blackhouse at Arnol. Across the street from the ruins, built around 1880, Arnol Blackhouse is a fully furnished traditional Lewis thatched dwelling, which sheltered a family and its animals under the same chimneyless roof. Warmed by a peat fire in a central open hearth with the smoke filtering out through the thatched straw roof, this blackhouse was home to a Hebridean crofting family and their animals, until they moved out in 1966. Today Arnol Blackhouse is insightfully preserved like the family left it. Evolving health regulations in the early 1900s demanded that livestock be housed separately, so "whitehouses" were built with several chimneys, single-thickness walls cemented with lime mortar, wallpaper, lino floors, and separate barn and byre (cowshed). Across the street from Arnol Blackhouse you can visit a furnished 1920s whitehouse. These new crofthouses were so different and bright inside that they were nicknamed "whitehouses," which led to the nickname "blackhouses" for the older antiquated structures. Visit Arnol village on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe. This image was stitched from 2 overlapping photos.
    17SC1-31503-04-Pano_Scotland.jpg
  • Built around 1880, Arnol Blackhouse is a fully furnished traditional Lewis thatched dwelling, which sheltered a family and its animals under the same chimneyless roof. Warmed by a peat fire in a central open hearth with the smoke filtering out through the thatched straw roof, this blackhouse was home to a Hebridean crofting family and their animals, until they moved out in 1966. Today Arnol Blackhouse is insightfully preserved like the family left it. Evolving health regulations in the early 1900s demanded that livestock be housed separately, so "whitehouses" were built with several chimneys, single-thickness walls cemented with lime mortar, wallpaper, lino floors, and separate barn and byre (cowshed). Across the street from Arnol Blackhouse you can visit a furnished 1920s whitehouse. These new crofthouses were so different and bright inside that they were nicknamed "whitehouses," which led to the nickname "blackhouses" for the older antiquated structures. Visit Arnol village on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe.
    17SC1-31469_Scotland.jpg
  • Peat wheelbarrow. Built around 1880, Arnol Blackhouse is a fully furnished traditional Lewis thatched dwelling, which sheltered a family and its animals under the same chimneyless roof. Warmed by a peat fire in a central open hearth with the smoke filtering out through the thatched straw roof, this blackhouse was home to a Hebridean crofting family and their animals, until they moved out in 1966. Today Arnol Blackhouse is insightfully preserved like the family left it. Evolving health regulations in the early 1900s demanded that livestock be housed separately, so "whitehouses" were built with several chimneys, single-thickness walls cemented with lime mortar, wallpaper, lino floors, and separate barn and byre (cowshed). Across the street from Arnol Blackhouse you can visit a furnished 1920s whitehouse. These new crofthouses were so different and bright inside that they were nicknamed "whitehouses," which led to the nickname "blackhouses" for the older antiquated structures. Visit Arnol village on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe.
    17SC1-31471_Scotland.jpg
  • Peat fire, teakettle, open hearth. Built around 1880, Arnol Blackhouse is a fully furnished traditional Lewis thatched dwelling, which sheltered a family and its animals under the same chimneyless roof. Warmed by a peat fire in a central open hearth with the smoke filtering out through the thatched straw roof, this blackhouse was home to a Hebridean crofting family and their animals, until they moved out in 1966. Today Arnol Blackhouse is insightfully preserved like the family left it. Evolving health regulations in the early 1900s demanded that livestock be housed separately, so "whitehouses" were built with several chimneys, single-thickness walls cemented with lime mortar, wallpaper, lino floors, and separate barn and byre (cowshed). Across the street from Arnol Blackhouse you can visit a furnished 1920s whitehouse. These new crofthouses were so different and bright inside that they were nicknamed "whitehouses," which led to the nickname "blackhouses" for the older antiquated structures. Visit Arnol village on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe.
    17SC1-31490_Scotland.jpg
  • A blue Indian Camas (Camassia quamash) flower blooms on Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. The Indian Camas (or Indian hyacinth or Wild hyacinth, Camassia quamash) is native to western North America and blooms in various shades of blue. DNA and biochemical studies by  the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have reassigned Camassia from the Lily family to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. The scientific species name "quamash" is from a Nez Perce term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest. On the San Juan Islands, native tribes burned forest to maintain sunny fields for growing this plant. The red flower is Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or Prairie-fire, a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, plus northeast Asia. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea.
    1205VEN-024_Vendovi-Island.jpg
  • A blue Indian Camas (Camassia quamash) flower blooms on Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. The Indian Camas (or Indian hyacinth or Wild hyacinth, Camassia quamash) is native to western North America and blooms in various shades of blue. DNA and biochemical studies by  the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have reassigned Camassia from the Lily family to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. The scientific species name "quamash" is from a Nez Perce term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest. On the San Juan Islands, native tribes burned forest to maintain sunny fields for growing this plant. The red flower is Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or Prairie-fire, a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, plus northeast Asia. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea.
    1205VE2-015_Vendovi-Island.jpg
  • Indian Camas (Camassia quamash) blooms with a blue flower on Vendovi Island, Washington, USA. A hiker walks in the sunny background. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea. The Indian Camas (or Indian hyacinth or Wild hyacinth, Camassia quamash) is native to western North America. Its flowers bloom in various shades of blue. DNA and biochemical studies by  the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have reassigned Camassia from the Lily family to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. The scientific species name "quamash" is from a Nez Perce term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest. On the San Juan Islands, native tribes burned forest to maintain sunny fields for growing this plant. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr.
    1205VE2-005_Vendovi-Island.jpg
  • Bromeliads grow in cloud forest above Black Sheep Inn, Chugchilan, Ecuador, South America on the Lago Quilotoa driving loop. Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) is a family of monocot flowering plants of around 2,400 species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa. The family includes both epiphytes, such as Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), and terrestrial species, such as the pineapple (Ananas comosus). Many bromeliads are able to store water in a "tank" formed by their tightly-overlapping leaf bases. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphytic Tillandsia species that gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes, and a large number of desert-dwelling succulents.
    09ECU-2440_Ecuador.jpg
  • Bromeliads grow in cloud forest above Black Sheep Inn, Chugchilan, Ecuador, South America on the Lago Quilotoa driving loop. Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) is a family of monocot flowering plants of around 2,400 species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa. The family includes both epiphytes, such as Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), and terrestrial species, such as the pineapple (Ananas comosus). Many bromeliads are able to store water in a "tank" formed by their tightly-overlapping leaf bases. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphytic Tillandsia species that gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes, and a large number of desert-dwelling succulents.
    09ECU-2439_Ecuador.jpg
  • Chiliotrichum diffusum (commonly known as fachine, fascine, or mata verde) typically grows to a height of four to five feet, topped by hundreds of bright white flowers with yellow stamens. It resembles a rosemary bush with aromatic greyish-green foliage. The white, daisy-like flowers are about 2.5 cm (1 in) in diameter. In southern Chile and Argentina it is the dominant plant on the fringes of the Nothofagus forest. The aster, daisy or sunflower family (Asteraceae or Compositae) is the largest family of vascular plants. Location: Lagunas Altas Trail, in Patagonia National Park, near Cochrane, Chile, South America. Starting from Los West Winds Campground, we hiked the Lagunas Altas Loop Trail (21 km round trip with 1100 m cumulative gain). Intensive ranching on this former estancia caused overgrazing, but through restoration and rewilding, native grasslands have recovered and wildlife has returned. Patagonia National Park consists of the Tompkins Conservation donation in addition to the former national reserves of Jeinimeni and Tamango, plus fiscal land. Parque Patagonia was created by Conservacion Patagonica, a nonprofit incorporated in California and founded in 2000 by Kris Tompkins. On January 29, 2018, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Kris Tompkins signed a decree creating 5 national parks, including Patagonia National Park.
    2002PAT-0852.jpg
  • Dryas octopetala (also known as mountain avens, white dryas, or white dryad) is an Arctic–alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. Photographed in Denali National Park, Alaska, USA. This small prostrate evergreen subshrub forms large colonies. Its name octopetala derives from the Greek octo (eight) and petalon (petal). Its eight petals are an unusual number in the Rosaceae family, where five is normal, though flowers with up to 16 petals also occur naturally.
    1906AK8-087.jpg
  • Art work on large sliding screens. Tamozawa Imperial Villa (Tamozawa Goyotei) blends traditional Edo and early modern Meiji Period architecture throughout its 106 rooms. The villa was erected in Nikko in 1899, using parts of a residence that originally stood in Tokyo, Japan. Before being moved to Nikko, the building served initially as the Tokyo residence of a branch of the Tokugawa family and was later temporarily used as the Imperial Palace. In Nikko, it was enlarged into a summer residence and retreat for the Imperial Family, but suffered neglect after World War II. In 2000, the villa was opened to the public after extensive renovation works. Tamozawa Imperial Villa is one of the largest remaining wooden buildings in Japan. The interior of the villa is a curious mix of Japanese and Western styles: many floors are carpeted and elaborate chandeliers hang from the ceilings, yet Japanese elements include sliding paper doors and tatami flooring. Although still impressive in size and grandeur, Tamozawa Imperial Villa currently occupies only one third of its original area. It now functions as a museum and memorial park.
    1810JPN-3359.jpg
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