The Ministry of Defense building in Paris (La Defense) is surely one of mankind's greatest achievements of architectural artistry. It's difficult not to take an award winning photograph of it, of which this is just one.

The French Composer Jean Michel Jarre installed a fantastic system of computer controlled lighting for his 1996 Bastille Day Concert Pour Tolerance. Over one million people attended this stunning concert of installation art, dance, music and puppetry. This photo here is the Eiffel Tower during a song from his album Les Chants Magnetiques/Magnetic Fields. (The title is a clever translinguistic pun since the English term Magnetic Fields is properly translated Champs Maqnetiques... Les Chants Magnetiques actually means The Magnetic Songs!)

A veil of fire cascades 57,63 metres from the first platform onto the stage. The entire Tower has been wired from top to bottom with rockets and pyrotechnics that blast and roar throughout the concert.

Jarre jams while gigantic Carribbean puppets dance.

Gorgeous Torrey Pines State Park in San Diego, about 1985. It wasn't easy scrambling over there in time before the autotimer went off.

A tea party with friends at my childhood English teacher's home, which she called 'the hovel'. I love the way the dramatic light and colour in this image convey a sense of serenity and peace. About 1985.

Since there are only about 10,000 Palauans living in their country, it is rare to see a crowd this size. The Burial of Pastor Fei, a German missionary who founded schools and churches in Palau was an exception. His final resting place is here at Ngerchelong, Babelthuab, in front of the first church he founded.

Dip these imkurs in a mix of salt, soy sauce and cayenne pepper — yum! Shaped like tiny green eggplants, they are a dozen times more tart than a lemon.

A flower in its natural, wet light.

A Mysterious Island stands alone at sea enshrouded in mist.

The Rock Islands of Palau are beautiful and deadly. On the small uninhabited island pictured I played with a strange lethargic fish that slowly walked about the ocean bottom on four jointed legs. A Chuukese student called it "Nu-nu-biis... we eat this." Later I found it was the rarely seen spiney devil fish, one of the world's most poisonous critters — one prick and you suffocate from instant paralysis. Fortunately, the sharks and jellyfish are friendly and rarely bother anyone.