For Halloween, I decided to put together a collection of some orange and black fauna I've photographed over the past two years. At first I thought I'd put together the "creepy" or "scary" things most often associated with the holiday (spiders, bats, etc.), but that is the attitude I am actually trying to avoid.

It's these associations that permeate our collective psyche and guide people's bias and discrimination against anything that's not cute and furry. I may be oversensitive, but bear with me.

I ask you to challenge these prejudices whenever they creep up in your brain. I'm not saying we need to start a movement against spider Halloween decorations. Simply ask yourself about why you fear certain things when that feeling arises. Is it ignorance? Take 2-3 minutes to look it up on the internet. The information is at your fingertips. Spiders do not need to be squashed. Bats do not want to get caught in your hair or suck your blood. Snakes are not going to crawl up your pant leg and bite you.

There is a whole world of wonder we miss out on because of ignorance. Educate yourself. It's so easy nowadays. Things are not creepy... we make them creepy.

With that, I give you a color-themed collection of nature's finest...