Ethan Whitecotton Photography

Golden light illuminates the leaves of this majestically reaching tree.

An image of a piece of starsand from a beach in Okinawa. This hand-colored image of the piece of sand was taken at a magnification of x40.

On my birthday, I was snorkeling at Kaneohe Bay.There were a lot of turtles at the reef. Unfortunately, my camera was on my boat. I swam back to my boat to get my camera.

When I got back to the reef, I searched for the turtle for a few minutes. After a few minutes of unsuccessful searching, I turned back. As I turned around, I looked down at the reef. I just barely saw a turtle resting below some coral. It was around twenty feet deep.

I took a deep breath. I swam under as quickly as I could. As my ears popped, I took pictures. The turtle decided to come up to breath. As it approached the surface, I took this picture of the turtle looking at me.

This experience was one of the best parts of my birthday.

A frog is all but invisible, only its eyes revealing its presence to me in the Wildlife Prairie Park, in Peoria, Illinois.

I met this man as I was delivering solar lights at a tent city in Honolulu. I was struck by his smile, so I asked if I could take his picture. Despite his living conditions, I see hope and happiness in his eyes.

Hidden behind a bush in Ka’ena Point, Hawaii, a female Laysan Albatross provides the gift of life to her baby. The Laysan albatross was previously considered vulnerable, but because of methods of predator control, these birds are now considered not threatened. The breeding grounds at Ka’ena Point are surrounded by a gate to prevent invasive mammals from preying on the albatross population.

Manoa Falls is one of the most popular waterfalls on Oahu, with a vertical drop of about 150 feet. I created this image despite more than a hundred tourists who visited the falls while I was there. This photo reveals a perspective of the waterfall that is rarely seen, as the water falling down the cliff glows with an etheric light.

A male albatross comes in to land at the nest after finding dinner at Ka'ena Point, Hawaii.

While exploring by bike, I rode to the dog beach where I took pictures of animals playing.

When I was leaving, I looked back at the sky. The clouds were exploding with color. I started to take panoramic pictures while I was standing up, but that was not working.

I decided to try something different. I got down on the sand. I took a panorama of the sky to ensure that the whole sunset was included in the frame.

The result was this timeless panorama of oranges, pinks, and reds reflecting on the still waters of the beach.

This Japanese White-eye is pulling at the string wrapped around the trunk of the tree. The Japanese White-eye was introduced to Hawaii in the 1930s. It lives on all of the islands.

White fluffy clouds float above Freedom Tower on Hickam Air Force Base.

On a recent trip to the Big Island, I really looked forward to going up the mountain of Mauna Kea to see the vibrant stars. This view from the Mauna Kea on the the Big Island shows the plants growing on the sparse land. The mountain in the top left is Mauna Loa, the tallest mountain on earth from its base 16,400 ft under the ocean to its summit at 13,678 ft above sea level. Even though the stars were spectacular, this view captivated me the most. I was above the clouds.

The sun's last rays silhouette Freedom tower and the trees surrounding it.

As the setting sun's light makes the clouds orange, a silhouetted bird flies away from a tree.

The red light from sunset creates the illusion that fire is surrounding the plant.

To get this picture, I had to lie on my side with my camera inches from the surface of the water. My tripod would have been too high to get the red glow on the surface of the water.

I wanted to show the movement of the water, which made this picture even harder to take. To show the movement, I had to use a slow shutters speed. I had to try to hold the camera as still as possible.

The expansive Milky Way dwarfs the mountain and electrical pole in the foreground of the photo.

A lone tree growing at the edge of the caldera of Kilauea on the Island of Hawaii is silhouetted by the glowing smoke rising from the crater.

As it makes is was toward the horizon, the moon works with the stars and sky to create a masterpiece. The colors of the moon, stars, and sky beautifully align to create the silent song of the universe.