Wilderness Portraits by Lloyd Paul Aiello

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  • Muhlenbergia capillaris, commonly known as Pink Muhly Grass is a perennial warm-season grass that grows to be about 30–90 cm (0.98–2.95 ft) tall and 60–90 cm (2.0–3.0 ft) wide. The plant flower spikes are double layered with green leaf-like structures and purple-pink flowers that outgrow them from the bottom up in the autumn. The flowers are very feathery and add a cloudlike appearance to the top of the grass. During the summer, the leaves stay green, but during the fall they take on a more copper color. It is native to eastern North America.
    _1LA0605-Edit.tif
  • Above the painted desert in Arizona, sheets of heavy rain glow pink at sunset beneath the white clouds of an approaching storm.  The Painted Desert encompasses over 93,500 acres, stretching for over 160 miles, and derives its name for the multitude of colors ranging from lavenders to shades of gray with vibrant reds, oranges and pink.  The area is a long expanse of badland hills and buttes which, although barren and austere, encompass a rainbow of colors due to the colorful sediments of bentonite clay and sandstone. <br />
<br />
The desert is composed of stratified layers of easily erodible siltstone, mudstone, and shale of the Triassic Chinle Formation. These fine-grained rock layers contain abundant iron and manganese compounds which provide the pigments for the various colors of the region.<br />
<br />
The Painted Desert was named by an expedition under Francisco Vázquez de Coronado on his 1540 quest to find the Seven Cities of Cibola, which he located some forty miles east of here. Discovering that the cities were not made of gold, Coronado sent an expedition to find the Colorado River for supplies. The group passed through the colorful landscape and named the area "El Desierto Pintado" - The Painted Desert.
    _LPA0513-Edit-storm-clouds-rain-suns...tif
  • Parrotfish owe their name to the shape of their mouth where instead of teeth they have two beak-like plates.  The Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum) grows to 28 cm (11 in) and is common to a depth of 20 m (66 ft) in Florida, Bahamas and the Caribbean.  Especially during younger stages, the fish’s color is highly variable and they can rapidly fade, intensify or change color and markings. Normally as seen here, an orangish-pink color band is present starting from below the eye and connecting to the corner of the mouth.  Redband parrotfish swim about reefs using their pectoral fins.  The tail is only used for bursts of speed. They use their 'beaks' to scrape algae and polyps from corals and rocks.<br />
<br />
Even though the Parrotfish is colorful, they can still be well camouflaged on the reef as seen here nestled between the rust-colored encrusting sponge and green algae on the rock, and the brown tubulate sponge (Agelas tubulata) above.
    Image 005-Edit-redband-parrotfish.tif
  • A flock of ducks rest on the frozen ocean mudflats at low tide with the ice and puddles reflecting the pinks, blues and mauves of a winter sunset in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
    Scan-101211-0017-Edit-ice-sunset-duc...tif
  • A mini Cattleya Laleliocattleya hybrid orchid bloomed by the photographer.  Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids found from Costa Rica to tropical South America, growing throughout the Amazon region and to the south of Brazil..  The cattleya  is an epiphyte (air plant), which stores water in expanded stems called pseudobulbs. <br />
<br />
The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who was the first to bloom a specimen of Cattleya labiata. William Swainson had discovered the new plant in Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1817 and shipped it to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens for identification.  Later, Swainson requested that a few plants be sent to Cattley who was able to bloom one a full year before the plants in Glasgow. It would be another 70 years before a Cattleya would be rediscovered in the wild because of a mixup in the assumed location of the plants. <br />
<br />
Cattleya are widely known for their large, showy flowers. The flowers of the hybrids can vary in size from 2 - 6 inches (5 -15 cm). They occur in all colors except true blue and black.  Cattleya have been hybridized for more than a century.  Beeding Cattleya with Laelia produces Laleliocattleya  and results in a more elongated closed "cone" that gracefully opens into the full lip of the blossom.  Laelia also contributes to the intense violet shade.
    _LPA7229-mini-cattleya-orchid-bloom-...tif
  • A mini Cattleya Laleliocattleya hybrid orchid bloomed by the photographer.  Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids found from Costa Rica to tropical South America, growing throughout the Amazon region and to the south of Brazil..  The cattleya  is an epiphyte (air plant), which stores water in expanded stems called pseudobulbs. <br />
<br />
The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who was the first to bloom a specimen of Cattleya labiata. William Swainson had discovered the new plant in Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1817 and shipped it to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens for identification.  Later, Swainson requested that a few plants be sent to Cattley who was able to bloom one a full year before the plants in Glasgow. It would be another 70 years before a Cattleya would be rediscovered in the wild because of a mixup in the assumed location of the plants. <br />
<br />
Cattleya are widely known for their large, showy flowers. The flowers of the hybrids can vary in size from 2 - 6 inches (5 -15 cm). They occur in all colors except true blue and black.  Cattleya have been hybridized for more than a century.  Beeding Cattleya with Laelia produces Laleliocattleya  and results in a more elongated closed "cone" that gracefully opens into the full lip of the blossom.  Laelia also contributes to the intense violet shade.
    _LPA7239-orchid-flower-cattleya-bloo...tif
  • A bumblebee (genus Bombus) and black beetle gather nectar from amongst the stamens of a hibiscus flower (family Malvaceae) at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Massachusetts.   Like their relatives the honeybees, bumblebees feed on nectar, using their long hairy proboscis which is folded under the head during flight. Numerous grains of pollen can be seen adherent to this bee’s legs, demonstrating why bumblebees are important agricultural pollinators.  Over 250 species of bumblebee are known, being found primarily at higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America.  <br />
<br />
The hibiscus genus is comprised of several hundred species that are native to subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. They are renowned for their large, showy flowers and are commonly known simply as hibiscus, or less commonly as rose mallow.
    _LPA9289-Edit-bumble-bee-beetle-hibi...tif
  • A new moon rises at sunset near an old tree burned during the Steamboat Fire, in Yosemite National Park, California.  The Steamboat fire destroyed 6,106 acres of woodland. Wildfires have historically been considered disasters, but it is now understood that fire is an integral component of forest life.  Naturally occurring fires thin the woodlands, increase sunlight to the forest floor, and allow for recycling of nutrients to the soil.  Thus, wildfires actually encourage the germination and regrowth of the forest plants and trees. Indeed, for over 4,000 years, the American Indians used fire in this area to cultivate the landscape.
    Scan-101211-0014-Edit-sunset-moon-tr...tif
  • A Red Hermit Crab (Petrochirus diogenes) peers out of a Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) submerged 48 feet below Horseshoe North, Turniffe Islands, Belize, Central America. The Red Hermit Crab is the largest hermit crab species found from North Carolina to Brazil. Also known as the Giant Hermit, it tends to preferentially inhabit discarded shells of the Queen Conch as shown here. The Queen Conch shell attains length of over 12 inches, feeding almost exclusively on algae. Its meat is utilized extensively as food and fish bait throughout Puerto Rico and the West Indies. The Red Hermit Crab generally inhabits sand bottoms and seagrass flats to a depth of over 300 feet. While many hermit crab species have their left claw substantially larger than the right, the Giant Hermit possesses a right claw that is slightly more massive than the left. Fertilized eggs are carried attached to the underbody of the female crab before hatching into larva which float has plankton when young. The Giant Hermit derives its Latin genus name from its hard and stony fingertips (petro = stony, chirus = finger).
    P-000170-red-hermit-crab-queen-conch...tif
  • Raised by the photographer in his basement, a total of 14 flower spikes on 11 Phaeanopsis orchids bearing a total of 76 flowers all bloomed at once.  Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    _LPA6323-phaleanopsis-orchid-colorfu...tif
  • The purple blossoms of the fall flowering Stonecrop are highlighted against its green foliage.
    _LPA0214-flower-stonecrop-purple-pla...tif
  • A phaleanopsis orchid grown and bloomed by the photographer.<br />
<br />
Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    _LPA1727-orchid-phaleanopsis-flower-...tif
  • The July 4, 2018 Boston Massachusetts fireworks celebration lights the sky over Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Over 10,000 pyrotechnic explosions initiated by over 4,000 computer comands originate from barges in the Charles River and the Massachusetts Avenue bridge.  The fireworks can soar as high as 1,500 feet into the summer night sky.  This spectacular event has been a tradition in Boston since 1974.
    _1LA0921-Edit-firworks-cambridge.tif
  • The July 4, 2018 Boston Massachusetts fireworks celebration lights the sky over the MIT Dome and campus.  Over 10,000 pyrotechnic explosions initiated by over 4,000 computer comands originate from barges in the Charles River and the Massachusetts Avenue bridge.  The fireworks can soar as high as 1,500 feet into the summer night sky.  This spectacular event has been a tradition in Boston since 1974.
    _1LA1054-Edit-fireworks-Boston-MIT.tif
  • A fully grown checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus) swims 45 feet below the surface of Ras Muhammad National Park, Red Sea, Egypt.  <br />
<br />
Checkerboard wrasse can reach a maximum length of 27 centimetres (11 inches).  They are native to the Indian and central Pacific Oceans, preferring clear lagoons and seaward reefs at depths of up to 30 meters (100 feet).  Checkerboard wrasse feed on small crabs, shrimp, clams and worms.  Like many other wrasses, the checkerboard wrasse starts life as a female and later becomes male, changing sex at maturity when it is about 12.8 cm (5.0 in) long. It's appearance also changes with age, being white with three black and dark red vertical patches when juvenile.
    Scan-101211-0002-Edit-checkerboard-w...tif
  • A cloud bank on the western horizon hides half of the sun while the remainder glows red, lighting the Gulf of Mexico below and the clouds above.
    _LPA5176-sunset-sun-gulf-of-mexico-o...tif
  • A bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) blooms against foliose lichen (Xanthoparmelia sp.) growing on granite.
    _LPA1092-bleeding-heart-lichen-grani...tif
  • A bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) blooms against foliose lichen (Xanthoparmelia sp.) growing on a slab of granite.
    _LPA1090-bleeding-heart-lichen-grani...tif
  • A phaleanopsis orchid grown and bloomed by the photographer.  <br />
<br />
Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    IMG_0222-purple-orchid-pair-phaleano...tif
  • A European (Western) honey bee (Apis mellifera) gathers pollen from stonecrop blooms
    _LPA8084-honey-bee-flower-stonecrop.tif
  • A juvenile basket starfish(Astrophyton muricatum) clings to a sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina) at night 46 feet beneath the “Division” at Lighthouse Reef, Belize, Central America. The Caribbean basket star is primarily a nocturnal creature. During daylight hours, the animal coils itself into a tight mass and seeks shelter amongst coral crevices or within vase sponges. However, at night the basket star sends to the top of sea whips or sea fans and spreads its netlike arms into the current to entrap drifting plankton and other organic particles upon which it feeds. Arm lengths of over 15 inches are often obtained when fully grown. This young individual is in the process of scaling a sea fan at dusk in preparation for an evening of feeding.
    P-000206-juvenile-basket-starfish-se...tif
  • A Yellowtail Damselfish (Microspathodon chrysurus) challenges the photographer 51 feet beneath the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Riviera Maya.  The juveniles, as shown here, are often called "Jewelfish" because of their neon blue spots. When very young, their tails are without any color at all. Adult males will turn yellow during courting. The small neon blue spots never go away but get smaller and fade as the fish gets older. One of the most aggressive of all damselfish, it grows to a size of 8.5 inches (21 cm) in length.  Yellowtail Damselfish are found in the western Atlantic Ocean from northeastern Florida south along the U.S. coast, Bermuda, the Bahamas, throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, and along the Brazilian coast from Manuel Luis Reefs to Abrolhos including Trinidade Island.
    P4100307-2-Edit-juvenile-yellowtail-...tif
  • The sun sets over the Gulf of Mexico behind a mangrove at Rabbit Key in the Everglades as storm clouds approach.
    _LPA5163-sunset-everglades-gulf-of-m...tif
  • A colorful cut flower bouquet adorns a vase atop a marble pedestal at the annual Boston Flower show.
    IMG_0139-flower-bouquet-vase-pedesta...tif
  • A phaleanopsis orchid grown and bloomed by the photographer.<br />
<br />
Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    _LPA1718-orchid-phaleanopsis-flower-...tif
  • A 20-inch terminally differentiated male Stoplight Parrotfish (Sparisoma viride) glides 80 feet below the surface admist red cup corals (Tubastrea coccinea) and grey fire corals (Millepora alcicornis) now adorning the wreckage of the Royal Mail Ship Rhone.  The RMS Rhone sunk in the hurricane of 1867 after missing her mark by less than 30 feet and took her cargo of mail, cotton and supplies to the bottom of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands.
    P-000217-stoplight-parrotfish-shipwr...tif
  • The July 4, 2018 Boston Massachusetts fireworks celebration lights the sky over Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Over 10,000 pyrotechnic explosions initiated by over 4,000 computer comands originate from barges in the Charles River and the Massachusetts Avenue bridge.  The fireworks can soar as high as 1,500 feet into the summer night sky.  This spectacular event has been a tradition in Boston since 1974.
    _1LA0922-Edit.tif
  • The July 4, 2018 Boston Massachusetts fireworks celebration lights the sky over the MIT Dome and campus.  Over 10,000 pyrotechnic explosions initiated by over 4,000 computer comands originate from barges in the Charles River and the Massachusetts Avenue bridge.  The fireworks can soar as high as 1,500 feet into the summer night sky.  This spectacular event has been a tradition in Boston since 1974.
    _1LA0991-Edit-fireworks-Boston-MIT-c...tif
  • A red phaleanopsis orchid grown and bloomed by the photographer.<br />
<br />
Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    _LPA1772-orchid-phaleanopsis-red-whi...tif
  • The horizon is awash in color for but a few minutes after the sun sets in the Painted Desert, Arizona.  The Painted Desert encompasses over 93,500 acres, stretching for over 160 miles, and derives its name for the multitude of colors ranging from lavenders to shades of gray with vibrant reds, oranges and pink – colors observed here in the evening clouds.  The area is a long expanse of badland hills and buttes which, although barren and austere, encompass a rainbow of colors due to the colorful sediments of bentonite clay and sandstone. <br />
<br />
The desert is composed of stratified layers of easily erodible siltstone, mudstone, and shale of the Triassic Chinle Formation. These fine-grained rock layers contain abundant iron and manganese compounds which provide the pigments for the various colors of the region.<br />
<br />
The Painted Desert was named by an expedition under Francisco Vázquez de Coronado on his 1540 quest to find the Seven Cities of Cibola, which he located some forty miles east of here. Discovering that the cities were not made of gold, Coronado sent an expedition to find the Colorado River for supplies. The group passed through the colorful landscape and named the area "El Desierto Pintado" - The Painted Desert.
    _LPA0527-Edit-desert-sunset-purple-o...tif
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