The spectacular fronds of the Traveller's Tree come together in a tight weave that catches water (from which the tree gets its name). Rich tropical colors line the fronds- brilliant reds and oranges, dusky olive yellows and greens and deep emerald hues. (287K JPEG)

Deep hues of viridian, emerald, yellow, and jade pattern the leaves of the taro plant, providing a brilliant contrast with the scarlet stalks that carry them. (254K JPEG)

New plant life springs from the desolate landscape left by an eruption. Amid gray-brown cinders and dead fallen tree trunks, grasses, ferns, and polygonium come to life in yellows, greens, and brilliant reds. (291K JPEG)

Huge hapu'u fronds display their intense greens, yellows, and browns in the tropical rainforest, accented by one pink wild rose. (459K JPEG)

Ferns are among the first plants to colonize fresh pahoehoe, drawing nutrients from the air and the minerals in the lava and breaking it down into soil that other plants can root in. A lone hapu'u fern spreads its vivid red and green fronds in a crevice in the striped and patterned yellow and charcoal-gray lava sheets, under a dusky blue tropical sky. (360K JPEG)

Looking up through the fronds of the Talipot Palm, one sees brilliant blue-white sunlight reflecting off of the glossy sea-green and emerald foliage, set against a clear cyan sky. (242K JPEG)

A fast-moving forest fire destroyed the grasses and sedges that hid this subterranean lava tube, now revealed in shades of charcoal brown against a stark black and white landscape. (340K JPEG)

The short-lived forest fire burnt quickly and hot, reducing the landscape to monochrome ash while leaving the dead trees standing with their leaves intact. There were just a few hints of color, patches of browns and greens, left in this desolate scene. (229K JPEG)

Forest fire converted the verdant ground cover to charcoal-black and snow-white ash, the delicate shapes of stems and leaves preserved in carbonized form. Pale brown leaves falling from the dead trees dapple a monochrome scene. (369K JPEG)

Forest fire cleared away the ground cover leaving behind only charcoal blacks and stark whites, spotted with brown leaves. The large sand-colored underlying slabs of pahoehoe are evidence of the volcanic origins of this tropical isle.(406K JPEG)

Autumnal colors appear to dominate the tree's foliage, but in fact they are the browns and reds of seared leaves. They stand out against the blackened tree trunks and intense black and pale tans of the scarred landscape, under a gloomy sky. (393K JPEG)

The fire-engine red leaves and hot pink blossoms of the Polygonium are beginning to cover the ghostly gray skeleton of trees felled by an eruption. (406K JPEG)

Late afternoon tropical light casts a clear and deceptively cool blueness over Puhi Bay. The icy violets and blues of this photograph bely the tropical clime. (254K JPEG)

A dense grove of Ohi'a trees becomes an intricate interwoven pattern of yellows, tans, and pale greens in this highly textured composition.(438K JPEG)

Pale golden lichens help repopulate a textured, barren landscape of dark gray-brown tree trunks and ocher and black folds and pillows of pahoehoe. (340K JPEG)

The spatter cone, built up from blobs of molten lava, still glows like an incandescent artist's paint pot in rich and rusty reds, oranges, yellows, and slates. New, verdant life provides a contrast with the somber brown landscape. (328K JPEG)

Hapu'u ferns populate the tropical rainforest, displaying their massive fronds in dark browns and oranges and incandescent sunit yellows and greens. (389K JPEG)

The skeletal remnants of an incinerated tree are embedded in the pahoehoe in this nearly-monochrome composition in blue-blacks, grays, and soft browns. (360K JPEG)

The view across the caldera of Kilauea is portrayed in soft tropical light of pale yellows, dusky blues, soft grays and brick-red browns. (324 K JPEG)

A lovely tropical rainbow spreads its low-set arms under a blue sky, over the charcoal blacks of the Mauna Ulu lava flows. (209K JPEG)

Burnt Ohi'a trees are left standing in the aftermath of a forest fire, rendered in tans and browns against a charcoal land. (459K JPEG)

Plant life eventually overwhelms lava as grasses and ground cover establish themselves in intense reds, golden yellows, tans and deep blue-greens. (SIZEK JPEG)

The ferns and trees of the tropical rainforest glow in shades of line, emerald, and deep, cool, greens under a delicate mist.(SIZEK JPEG)

Volcanic vapors waft off the steaming bluffs of Kilauea, resembling wisps of smoky fog. This soft and peaceful composition is painted in subtle turquoises, blues, cyans, purples and myriad shades of forest green. (233K JPEG)

Looking upward from the base of the infrared telescope on Mauna Kea, one sees the nearly fluorescent orange paintwork of the telescope's supports mirrored as yellows and browns in the observatory's dome. (201K JPEG)

The dome of the InfraRed Telescope Facility is lined with foil to suppress radiation that would blind this heat-sensitive telescope. It catches the daylight in wonderfully textured shades of steel grays and blues and subtle delicate browns. (205K JPEG)

Ash-colored gray-white sandstone slabs tumble across the eroded landscape like foam tossed on the waves, under a dusky deep blue desert sky. (340K JPEG)

A thin sheen of rain dissolves the surface of the salt flats into a mirrorlike plane that reflects the dawn sun and clouds in delicate detail. A rendering in slate blues and grays, yellows, and deep oranges and subtle browns. (180K JPEG)

Electric-green algae takes hold on iron-bearing cliffs, eroded into streaks of brilliant orange, persimmon, and yellow. (426K JPEG)

Nasturtiums bloom in all their incandescent glory of fire-engine reds and oranges striped with yellow, amid their yellow and deep green leaves against a dark blue-gray weathered fence. (426K JPEG)

Cool-hued purplish strata give the Blue Mesa region of the Painted Desert its name. Ashy grays and tans define the rest of the landscape under a dark blue and dusty desert sky. (369K JPEG)

This impressionistic view of a kelp forest is awash with light in pale yellows and greens, delicate powder blues, and sheer whites. The water filtering the columns of warm sunlight lends dark jade hues to the shaded kelp. (389K JPEG)

Sodium vapor lamps illuminate this distant chemical plant and give the sky a sulfurous yellow glow, accented by hot-red safety lights atop the plant's structures. (172K JPEG)

Complex patterns of erosion, cracking, and bedding produce the hard, deep shadows that give these cliffs the look of some ancient, intricately-scribed manuscript. Delicate desert tones of brown gray, and soft muted green color the landscape.(422K JPEG)

A delicate brown, green-leafed pear sapling is staked out for growth, tied to a brick red lattice with dark cyan ties, all set against the blue grey wall. (319K JPEG)

The Empire State Building looms in this street-level view looking straight up the sides. At night, the building takes on soft olive hues from the surrounding streetlights, while the sky glows a dark and subtle blue. In stark contrast, the upper stories of the building are hotly decorated by cherry red-white floodlights. (243K JPEG)

Illuminated by contrasting mercury streetlights and incandescent decorative lamps, the normally white Beckman Auditorium glowed with flaming oranges and reds and icy steel blues and cyans.(209K JPEG)

Nighttime over Oakland, a cityscape portrayed in the darkest greens and browns and most brilliant cyans, oranges, and reds. A lone plane streaks the sky with a thin brushstroke of light. (193K JPEG)

This formal composition contrasts an almost ethereal dusky blue-white Chicago skyline against the earthly tans, slate blues, and blacks of the rail system. (274K JPEG)

Two neighboring redwoods produce an interlocking pattern of branches and shadows resembling lines of magnetic force. Tree trunks are rendered in deep forest greens and brilliant warm browns. They stand supporting and surrounded by hot yellow and green, and cool azure and blue foliage. (332K JPEG)

A massive block of malachite and azurite looks like a false-color reconnaissance photograph from space, with its intricate folded whorls and patterns in white, green, turquoise, lapis-blue, and rusty orange. (311K JPEG)

The blue-black neck vertebrae of the Barosaurus are in organic concert with the accompanying columns but distinct contrast with the coldly geometric coppery tones of the vaulted ceiling of the museum's great hall. (270K JPEG)

This is no trick of the lens nor Photoshop. The form of the strangely curved and soaring tower of the Olympic Stadium is entirely real. A futuristic scene in dark, ruddy browns, icy blue-whites, and pale turquoise. (172K JPEG)

The Cubist-inspired facets of the Weismann Museum break up reflections of the sunset-lit clouds and sky into dappled panels of pale blues, dusky purples, burnt oranges and near-blacks. (381K JPEG)

As a front moves towards Provincetown, it splits the sky and the sea into intense blues and soft whites in a complementary pattern, the yin and yang of Cape weather. (283K JPEG)

At dusk, the San Rafael Swell takes on delicate shades of pinks, browns, and salmons. A complementary sky in shades of dusky rose and powder blue hangs low with layered clouds in a peaceful and serene composition. (324K JPEG)

A “snowy” scene without the snow. White trim paint and a white stone garden, accented by soft brick-red stonework and the delicate greens of the rose bushes and house paint create a true holiday atmosphere. The pale blues, greens, reds, and whites sparkle with yellow white lights. (344K JPEG)

Deep, brilliant colors adorn this California garden, with plants highlighted in intense blues, electric yellow-greens, and incandescent reds and yellows. It's about splashes of luminescent color set against the dark, soft hues of night. (332K JPEG)

Light dominates this composition,as festoons of yellow-white lights make the pale pinks and delicate greens on this house glow with an internal luminescence. Fiery red lights and intense red and forest green wreaths create colorful counterpoints to the pastel paint. (393K JPEG)

An adobe style home has an almost ghostly presence, with doors and windows rimmed by intense blue white lights, subtly picked up in icy blue shadows. A little warmth shows through the windows in contrast to the chill exterior. (217K JPEG)

These decorations seemed to glow with an internal heat, an impression created by rich crimson, orange, and yellow lighting. Accents of deep green and blue lights make the furnace-like ruddiness seem all the more intense. (389K JPEG)

Rosy-white lights in icicle strings and light sculptures delineate this scene. Accents of festive rainbow-hued lights splash color across the tree and doorway. (373K JPEG)

Each apartment has its own color scheme of pale blue, warm soft orange, hot and pale yellow, bombastic red. Dark and saturated red, green, and blue lights tie the composition together with bold diagonal strokes. (373K JPEG)

A tricolor design in icy blue, brilliant white, and saturated magenta lighting decorates this olive green house. Luminous accents in yellows and red draw the eyes into the curtained windows. (328K JPEG)

An old oak is suffused by warm tans and browns, wrapped in light, backed by classic Christmas lights in alternating reds, yellows, greens, and blues. The illumination is warmly inviting under a midnight-blue sky. (377K JPEG)

Hints of Mondrian come to mind in the richly colored rectilinear forms of this Daly City home. Incandescent, fiery reds compete with brilliant lime greens and deep blues for dominance, casting a delicate and dark mix of greens, browns, and reds over the lawn. (229K JPEG)

Multicolored lights dominate this festive scene, highlighted by a striped metallic candy cane. Lovely warm yellows and whites lend a homey air to the festivity of bright red and green decorations, accented by yellow and dark turquoise lamps, all set on a typically Californian dark green lawn. (258K JPEG)

Delicate curtains of rose, salmon, and powder blue lights hang from the windows while yellow-white icicle lights softly illuminate the dusky blue exterior of this home. A soft, cool feeling suffuses the composition, with a few spots of eye-popping red to liven up the night. (205K JPEG)

An untraditional Christmas in a xericulture landscape of stone and cacti. Dark powder blues and muted greens, subtly and softly rendered, create this setting in which enthusiastically red and white decorations display brilliant strings of white and colored light. (262K JPEG)

Rich dark green foliage gives a forest-like feel to this home's entryway, enhanced by sparkling white light, cool blues reminiscent of the sky, and hot reds that catch the eye. The shadows are filled with a soft green detail, nearly lost in the shadows of night. (291K JPEG)