mark laita.

at the moment i'm swooning over these gorgeous images by mark laita, a detroit-born photographer who has been at work for nearly three decades.  no matter his subject, from snakes to sea creatures to birds or flowers, he seems to perfectly capture the inherent beauty and complexity that nature offers up to us.  i honestly can't decide which group i like best, so i'm including a few of my favorites from the amaranthine collection, "a study of the rare concurrence of beauty and death found in ornithological specimens."  and it's not just because i'm a bird myself.  see more of his incredible work here.