The name of this photograph comes from the nature of this waterfall. Phantom Falls (in North Table Mountain Ecological Preserve, in the Chico/Oroville area, California) is so named because sometimes you see it, and sometimes you don't. It only appears after prolonged rain, towards the end of the wet season. And it can dry up rather quickly, too, with the hot sun as well as very absorbent volcanic ground. This photo was taken in mid to late spring, with probably only a few weeks of water flow left. But the grass was green and lush, and still hid a few poppy blossoms. The place truly came to life at sunset, when the shadows cast by the dramatic rock formations began to play games with the landscape.

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These Sally Lightfoot crabs are everywhere in the Galapagos Islands! They're not found only on these islands -- they are pretty much ubiquitous across the New World tropics. However, whenever I'd see them in the past, it was a cool and noteworthy sighting. In the Galapagos, you quickly tire of them, because they are literally everywhere you look. I took this photo when I was still intrigued by the crabs, before I got bored of them. But nevertheless, the photo has had staying power for me. It's not so much about the crab as a neat wildlife finding, but rather as a beautiful color contrast against the green algae on the rocks. Not so much a study in zoology, but rather a study in color.

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The Galapagos Islands are overrun with wildlife in general, but especially one creature in particular: the Sally Lightfoot crab. These crabs are everywhere. And they are very pretty, too -- a bright vibrant orange. When keywording a photograph of wildlife, I always look up the scientific name, if I don't already know it. When I found out the scientific name of the Sally-Lightfoot crab, I chuckled a bit. Graspus graspus. What a fitting name for a crab, grasping at everything with its claws. Especially these crabs, that constantly walk around picking at algae on the rocks. It seems like an almost comical scientific name to me!

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Florida's Gulf Coast sunsets are my favorite anywhere. They never disappoint me. I'm sure there are plenty of duds, but I've never witnessed them. I thought this night was going to be my first dud, because as I was getting my camera gear together, it was still completely overcast. But as I was driving down Captiva Island to the public Blind Pass Beach, conditions started to improve. The storm seemed to rush offshore, as if it knew it was time to assume it's "sunset position." And as I sat on the beach, watching the clouds shift through the color spectrum as the sun disappeared further and further below the horizon, life was good. It was about to get a little worse though, as unbeknownst to me my car's battery had decided to die, keeping me at the beach for two hours longer than intended.

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This is the kind of scene that if it were in the Appalachian Mountains, it would not be the same. (Or so I imagine.) Every waterfall I know on the East Coast that looks like this is overrun with tourists. Kids just can't seem to help themselves from sliding down the rocks and busting their bums. But here at Golden Cascade, deep in California's Santa Cruz Mountains, I was practically by myself. But maybe it's not an East Coast vs West Coast thing. Could be the fact that it's a six mile, semi-strenuous hike to get here. Could also be that for several months out of the year, these mountains don't get much rain, and this waterfall wouldn't be "slide-able." In fact, maybe it would never really be slideable, because there's not much of a pool at the bottom. But something tells me that they'd have built a road anyways, and at the very least it'd be a tourist trap.

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Most of the time, Sunsets are usually judged by their explosiveness and drama. Towering clouds, for instance, or bright rays, a full spectrum of vivid colors... those are the things that usually make a memorable sunset. However, that type of sunset can be hard to come by in California. The atmosphere there is much drier than in my previous homes, which means fewer cumulus clouds, and very empty skies. But they can also be very beautiful in their own way. They draw your attention more towards the shape of the land. And in California, the land can take some pretty cool shapes. This panorama I took from Windy Hill Open Space is a prime example. The blanket of fog above the Pacific Ocean turned the sky above into a totally blank slate. When the sun dipped under the horizon, the sky turned a more uniform shade of orange than I think I've ever seen before (in a sky). This drew my eye away from the sky and towards the beautiful curves of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The gentle slopes of the hills have an almost sensual beauty about them. In fact, even the power line pylons, which I usually consider a huge distraction, seemed helpful by adding another unique shape into the scene.

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Borel Hill is a small peak in Russian Ridge Open Space, and the highest (named) point in San Mateo County. It's not much itself, but it offers great views in every direction. To the east is the San Francisco Bay and the Diablo Range beyond. But to the west, that's the view that steals my heart. The Santa Cruz Mountains fade into the ocean, in a way that seems overly painterly. Some hills are topped with lovely chaparral that lights up gold in the sunset, while others are covered with remote redwood forests that provide shadowy silhouettes. And the sunset itself was quite a sight for my eyes, too. They are often inverted compared to what I'm used to. Instead of lighting up the clouds from below, the sun lights them up from above!

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In this photograph, I attempted to capture the intense spirituality of Antelope Canyon. The native Navajo have considered this a location of utmost spiritual importance for generations, and it's easy to see why. In person, you cannot help but be struck by the immense power of nature. But conversely, just as striking are the minute intricate details which emerge from the power. And the fact that even though it is ancient, it has been constantly changing, and is still doing so visibly right before your very eyes, like an open book of the continuity of time. It represents the big and the small, the old and the new, the fast and the slow. To try to capture all of this in a photograph is a feeble endeavor, but nonetheless I do feel that this image conveys some of what makes Antelope Canyon so special.

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