text: A single bikini-clad woman silhouetted against a spectacular sunset, a tiny figure facing a swirl of stars, a hot spring whose improbably lurid hues seem like something from another planet - these stunning images combine colour and light to capture the wonders of the natural world. Last year Hawaiian-born photographer Dustin Wong, 31, abandoned his job as an engineer to travel the world with only his camera for company. Inspired by ancient Hawaiian beliefs in the sacredness of the landscape, Dustin Wong, 31, has journeyed from the Arctic Circle to Australia, capturing moments where men and women are alone with the power and splendour of the natural world. This single bikini-clad woman stretches her curvaceous body while silhouetted against a spectacular Hawaiian sunset . Faced with the rapid destruction of habitats through pollution and overpopulation, the photographer hopes his images will inspire the viewer with awe at the intricate and diverse world we live in and encourage them to protect the planet. He writes on his website: 'I have a desire to experience the natural world and to let those feelings inspire me. Life on this planet is older than any of us can comprehend, and there is a beauty in that history and power. However, these days our natural spaces are being encroached upon by human development. A man gazes upon a whirl of stars in the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where the salt-covered land cracks into spectacular patterns . Last year Hawiian-born photographer Dustin Wong, 31, abandoned his job as an engineer to travel the world with only his camera for company . 'Through my images I try to convey a sense of awe of the incredibly intricate and diverse world we share. I want to encourage people to interact and experience nature for themselves. I think this way more people will care about protecting and preserving natural environments.' He started taking photographs 15 years ago before taking it up full time last year. He traveled all over the west coast of the US living out of a van for five months and visited as many national parks as he could. In Queensland Australia, he follows a woman as she ventures into the dark depths of a natural cavern . His journeying in America took in the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where the land cracks into spectacular patterns, the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the third largest hot spring in the world whose bright colours are caused by bacteria, to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada, which culminates in the burning of a wooden effigy. Other pictures show a spectacular Hawaiian sunset reflected in the sand in improbable bright oranges and reds, or a single solitary figure dwarfed by the waterfall surging above him at at Latourell Falls in Oregan. Revellers climb on top of a massive sculpture of the words 'Believe' at the Burning Man Festival in Nevada . For these photographs he also ventured to Australia, following a woman as she explores a cavern in Queensland, and to Norway, where he captures the stunning greens of the Northern Lights, or a firework exploding against a frosty night-time pine forest. Mr Wong takes his photographs using a DSLR camera before transforming them into High Dynamic Range to bring out colour and detail. He then blends the HDR image with the original exposures, creating an image that is 'slightly fantastical yet still rooted in reality'. The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, is the third largest hot spring in the world. Its bright colours are caused by pigmented bacteria . His images depict people interacting with the environment and enjoying themselves in the outdoors. At first he shunned using people in his images, which he wanted to capture nature at its pristine best, but he later realised a single figure - either a stranger or himself - provides a sense of scale and helps viewers relate more viscerally to the image in front of them. Although he now lives in Seattle in the USA, he credits his Hawaiian upbringing as the driving force behind his vision of the world. A single figure on a Norwegian beach is bathed in green light as he admires the spectacular Northern Light . He adds: 'Born and raised in Hawaii, I learned about the Hawaiian culture, specifically the way the Ancient Hawaiians held the land in reverence. Those teachings instilled in me an understanding that human beings have an intrinsic relationship with the land that should be held in high respect. 'I aim to create a sense of wonder in each of my pieces. I want to recapture the sense of awe and childhood imagination that often gets abandoned along the way to adulthood. I create art where the viewer is free to wallow in the mysteries and unknown of a beautiful landscape.' Standing in the middle of a snow-covered Norwegian pine forest, a couple release a firework, sending orange blazing into the sky . He uses a single figure like this man dwarfed by the water at Latourell Falls, Oregan, USA, to engourage a visceral response in viewers .
target: Photographer Dustin Wong, 31, travels the world with no company but his camera .
  The Hawaiian-born photographer .
  His images are inspired by ancient Hawaiian beliefs in the sacredness of nature .
  He aims to encourage viewers to interact with nature and help save the planet .
  Images range from the National Parks of the USA to the snow of Norway and Australian caves .