Body Paint

Going Qi Pao : Models display body paint at a live exhibition of the Qi Pao, the classic Chinese Dress, to officially launch Australian Fashion Week in Sydney. (AFP/Greg Wood)

Star Clouds over Arizona
Credit & Copyright: Ulrich Beinert
Click on image to enlarge

The clouds in the foreground are much different than the clouds in the background. In the foreground are a photogenic deck of Earth-based water clouds. The long exposure used to create the above photograph makes the light from the left, reflected from Phoenix, Arizona, USA, appear like a sunset. Far in the distance, however, are star clouds from the disk of our Milky Way Galaxy. Billions of stars like our Sun live there, circling our Galactic center every 200 million years. Contrast between the water clouds and the star clouds has been digitally enhanced. Between the two, visible on the upper right, is the planet Jupiter.

London Eye at night

A view of the London Eye at night on the banks of River Thames, London April 19, 2006. Designed by David Marks and Julia Barfield it is the largest observation wheel ever built. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

Happy Spring!

Moon Rising

A full moon rises over the bowstring bridge at Amnicon Falls State Park, near Superior, Wis., in this image made using a long exposure Thursday night, April 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Jack Rendulich)

Big Bunny!

German rabbit breeder Karl Szmolinsky presents his giant male breeding rabbit 'Robert' in Eberswalde, eastern Germany, February 2006. In a tale reminiscent of the last Wallace and Gromit movie, furious villagers in northeast England have hired armed guards to protect their beloved communal vegetable gardens from a suspected monster rabbit.(AFP/File/Michael Urban)

A person stands on a hilltop during sunset in Tbilisi

Green and Black Aurora Over Norway

Credit & Copyright: Frank Andreassen (nettfoto.no)

Surface of Mars?

Photo by D. Bowden 2001

This is actually Death Valley, California! Jon and I were here in August 2001.
It was a balmy 126 degrees this day. But it was a "dry" heat. (sarcasm)

A three-month-old baby pygmy hippopotamus swims by his grazing mother at Henry Doorly Zoo Friday, March 24, 2006, in Omaha, Neb.

View of Chicago from Adler Planetarium

This is where I want to be right now

My son Jeff's fashion drawing - white conte crayon on black paper

Neuschwanstein Castle in Winter

Neuschwanstein, the (relatively)
modern fairy-tale castle of Bavaria,
inspired the modern fairy-tale castle
at Disneyland, Sleeping Beauty Castle.

For My Dear Sister

Diane and Debbie 1975

I carry your heart
(I carry it in my heart)
by E.E.Cummings

I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my heart
I am never without it, anywhere I go you go, my dear;
and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my
darling
I fear no fate, for you are my fate, my sweet
I want no world, for beautiful you are my world, my
true
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
here is the root of the root
and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart

Chicago River dyed green for St. Paddy's Day

Every year on St. Patrick's Day, the river is dyed green. The Pipefitters Union uses fluorescein dye which can also be used to study moving water. While in 1962, 100 pounds (45 kg) of dye were used, more recently the amount has been decreased to about 40 pounds (18 kg). The tradition of dying the river green for St. Patrick's Day dates back more than 40 years.

My Favorite Wizard of Oz Character

Billie Burke as "Glinda the good witch of the north"
Who is your favorite Wizard of Oz character?

Zion National Park

I took these photos along with many others during our trip out west in 1998. I have never seen such magnificent colors. Oranges, reds, and the green of the foliage...the turquoise skies.
Mother Nature is Awesome.

Mule train down into Grand Canyon

My family and I were here in 1998 and my husband and I want to go back. No photograph can do justice to the magnificence and beauty of this natural wonder.

Albino Peacock

The white color of this albino peacock is due to the missing black melanine pigment. The usual rich colors of the peacock are seen because black pigment which absorbs most of the incident light, allowing us to see only the interference colors. In this peacock, the interference is still happening, but the effect is entirely washed out by the abundance of white light. In this albino, you can see that the "eyes" of the tail feathers are clear, not colored.