2-14-03: For Christmas, Eric got me a new digicam, a Nikon 4500. This started a new era of digital photography for me. The pictures are better and there are more of them, because its more fun to take pictures that are good. Of course, when you take more pictures you get better at them. What the camera is really good at is macro or close-up photography. This is a close up of the leaves of one of my favorite Northwest plants, the Cyclomen. Don't they look like the Mandelbrot set?

2-14-03: Same species, different leaf.

2-14-03: On Valentine's Day that year we were invited to a Valentine's Day party. We were told to bring a box decorated with hearts and stuff, and to bring valentines, like you used to hand out to your class in grade school. I don't think this is what she meant when she said decorate your box with hearts - but its what came to mind for me. I didn't get just tons of valentines in it, though.

5-21-03: Its amazing the difference a new camera can make. This shot simply wouldn't have been possible with the old one. I think its really neat that this spider is so clearly well adapted to life in a dandilion. Yes, this shot is also in with the mushroom photographs. I think its cool enough to warrant a second appearance.

5-21-03: Another thing the new camera is really good for is photographing flowers. I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but its' got a very cool set of stamen and nifty fringes around the petals.

I have since discovered the genus Calochortus, containing flowers variously named lilies, tulips, and mariposa. This one looks much like the Howell's mariposa, but that is an Oregon species rather than an eastern Washington one (this flower was found at Icicle).

5-21-03: I liked this shot of water droplets in the center of the leaves.

5-21-03: A close up of a Trillium. These flowers bloom just a little bit before the morels emerge at any given elevation.

5-21-03: Fireweed

5-21-03: Chocolate lily. These flowers are tricky to photograph due to their dark coloring.