Feeding frenzy

HOUSE SPARROWS ON FEEDER, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 27, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax FA-J 75-300 at 170mm
1/60 sec. f8
ISO 800

It took more than a week, but the cloud of sparrows that inhabits the bush behind my backyard deck finally discovered the feeder scarcely six feet above their heads and invited themselves to supper. Their combined weight couldn't trigger the "squirrel twirler" that spins marauding tree rats off the feeder.

A bushful of sparrows

HOUSE SPARROWS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 22, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-FA J 75-300 at 158mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 800

All winter a flock of a dozen or so hardy house sparrows flits madly between a bush in my back yard and one in the neighbors'. I brought out a old cheapie zoom lens just to see how it did shooting through the back window, and discovered it does OK so long as it is stopped down and not racked out to the full 300 mm, where it becomes rather soft.

Squirrel No. 12

GRAY SQUIRREL IN THE SNOW, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 22, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 200mm
1/125 sec. f8
ISO 800

I've started baiting our backyard deck railing every day with a small pile of birdseed about eight feet away from the back room window, and the scheme is working. Every day a squirrel (I think it's the same one) arrives, chases away the sparrows, and feasts on the bribe while I snap his photo from inside the window. The inexpensive Pentax kit short telephoto zoom lens does a fine job if stopped down sufficiently.

Tiny light

HOLIDAY TREE MINIATURE LAMP, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 20, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Tamron 90mm f2.8 DI macro
1/45 sec. f5.6
ISO 1600

Looks like an artillery shell or space vehicle, doesn't it? I put the camera and lens on a tripod, boosted the ISO, got real close to the tree in our living room, and pressed the shutter. If I had managed a smaller f-stop (at f16, there was just too much shake at 1/8 second, even with the tripod) the image would have been sharper throughout the range.

His Eminence

NORTHERN CARDINAL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 17, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/90 sec. f6.7
ISO 400

Gray and gloomy the day might have been, but this cardinal dropped by to inject a little color into it. They are gorgeous birds, but I find them difficult to photograph because they don't drop by very often, and when they do, they don't hang around long. Fortunately I had my rig ready, aiming to capture a few squirrels, when he landed.

Gingerbread scene

DETAIL OF GINGERBREAD SCENE, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 6, 2009

Pentax K20D
Tamron 90mm f2.8 DI macro
1/750 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Stopping by Tag's Bakery on Central Street on a wintry day yielded this photograph of the baker's art. Having to shoot hand-held through a shopfront window on an overcast day forced me to kick up the ISO to 1600, which introduced considerable noise into the image, but I was able to smooth out most of it in post processing with Noise Ninja.

Totem

DETAIL OF TOTEM POLE, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 6, 2009

Pentax K20D
Tamron 90mm f2.8 DI
1/1000 f8
ISO 1600

Outside a folk art shop on Central Street in Evanston called The Urban Totem sits a ten-foot eponymous example, carved from cedar and well weathered. I'd passed it many times and never noticed until today, when I took the camera on an outing hoping for interesting holiday shots. This fellow doesn't look like Santa, but he'll do.

Squirrel-proof, huh?

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 29, 2009

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 160mm
1/30 sec. f6.7
ISO 1600

"No such thing as a squirrel-proof feeder, Henry," said my neighbor with that infuriating tone born of superior knowledge as I hoisted the new bird feeder onto its pole. At least it takes this squirrel a lot of time and work to get each precious seed out through the bars. I'm hoping he'll just get tired of it. The photo was taken near dusk on a rainy day, hence the high ISO.

El Gordo

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 27, 2009

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 190mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and here's a fat boy indeed. He had just spent the previous hour hogging bird seed scattered on the deck railing in the morning in hopes of attracting finches, cardinals and sparrows, none of which deigned to drop by. I shot the photo through a double-pane glass window.

Squirrel from hell

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 26, 2009

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 400mm
1/180 sec. f8 with on-board flash
ISO 400

Of course the red eye is caused by the electronic flash on the camera, and Photoshop Elements has a suitable tool to deal with it, but it gives the squirrel a certain devilish air and so I decided to let it be. This photo would have been most appropriate for posting at Halloween, when the beasts vastly outnumber the trick-or-treaters at my house.

Geep

EMD GP7 (ATLAS N SCALE), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 21, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Tamron 90mm f2.8 DI macro
1/4 sec. f27
ISO 400

Another locomotive from my old N scale model railroad that served as a model for learning tabletop macrophotography, this is a replica of the 1,500 horsepower Electro-Motive Division GP7, a pioneer road switcher built from 1949 to 1954. A few "Geeps" of this vintage, rebuilt many times over the years, still can be seen at work on short lines around the country.

Yard goats

EMD SW900/SW1600 (LIFE-LIKE TRAINS N SCALE), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 21, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Tamron 90mm f2.8 DI macro
Both 1/6 sec. f16
ISO 400

Two more from the tabletop photo studio: A pair of locomotives from my old model railroad, both N scale replicas of Electro-Motive Division 1200 horsepower SW9/SW1200 yard switchers, the first built from 1950 to 1953 and the second 1954 to 1966. As is obvious, I ran out of canned air before blasting the dust off the Burlington engine.

2,000 horses on the hoof

EMD GP20 (LIFE-LIKE TRAINS N SCALE), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 21, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Tamron 90mm f2.8 DI macro
1/10 sec. f16
ISO 400

Another locomotive from my old model railroad brought out of storage for a self-guided course in tabletop photography, this is a 1:160 scale replica of the GP20, a 2,000-horsepower road switcher built between 1959 and 1962 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. It is painted for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (now Burlington Northern Santa Fe).

Red rocket

ALCO RS-3 (LIFE-LIKE TRAINS N SCALE), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 21, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Tamron 90mm f2.8 DI macro
1/6 sec. f16
ISO 400

Here's the first fruit of my new tabletop photography outfit: a 90mm macro lens, a collapsible light tent and two photo lamps to illuminate the subject. That is a 2 3/4-inch-long N scale model of the Alco RS-3, a 1,600-horsepower diesel locomotive built between 1950 and 1956. It's a leftover from a model railroad I built into a coffee table many years ago.

More stitchcraft

QUILT DETAIL, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 8, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 33mm
1/30 sec. f4.5
ISO 800

Another closeup shot of a quilt at the show we visited the other day, this one of a leaf applique. Many if not most of the quilts in the show were hand-designed, then their schematics transferred to a computer program and machine-stitched, a good example of an old art brought up to date with the latest technology. Deborah Abbott took the hand-held photograph.

Stitchcraft

QUILT DETAIL, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 8, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 45mm
1/15 sec. f4.5
ISO 800

One of the unexpected pleasures of our trip to the Botanic Gardens yesterday was the last day of the "Fine Art of Fiber" exhibition of quilting and other needle arts at the gardens' Regenstein Center. Deborah Abbott captured this sharp detail of a colorful quilt at a slow shutter speed with the camera's "kit lens" wide open -- and without a tripod. Now that's a steady hand.

Today's mallards

MALLARDS, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 8, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
Top: 1/350 sec. f8
Bottom: 1/750 sec. f8
Both ISO 400

Today's trip to the Botanic Garden early in the morning, at about 8:30 a.m., resulted in better mallard photos than usual because the sun was low in the hazy sky, yielding gentle illumination, rather than being high at noon and casting a harsh light. The softer light picked up the iridescence in the males without blowing out the highlights.

Squirrel No. 9

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 7, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/350 sec. f4.5
ISO 400

Its detractors may call it a "tree rat," but the American gray squirrel, like the ring-billed gull, is a favorite photographic subject of mine largely because it's so ubiquitous -- all you have to do is sit and wait until it comes within range, and capture its image. One of these days I will get close enough for the perfect head-and-shoulders portrait.

Cat

DOMESTIC TABBY, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 25, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/750 sec. f8
ISO 400

The other day this neighbor cat, the only one I have ever seen that can dominate my big half-Lab, sauntered under my legs and out into the back yard, ignoring my "here kitty kitty" calls except to turn and flash a brief gaze of aloof disdain. The moment made a pretty fair feline portrait. (Nov. 7: I am told the cat is not a tabby, but an American Bicolored Longhair. I guess that means a house cat that has been to college.)

Smuggler

EASTERN CHIPMUNK (TAMIAS STRIATUS), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 25, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/125 sec. f8
ISO 400

Not much goes on in my back yard at this time of year, except for chipmunks cleaning up leftovers under the bird feeder for winter storage. In the space of half an hour this one stuffed his face, scampered away to stash the swag, then returned for more no fewer than eight times. Now that's diligence.

Hogwarts Midwest

CHIMNEY, EVANSTON ART CENTER, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 21, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/750 sec. f8
ISO 400

Looking for all the world like a brooding battlement suitable for a game of quidditch, this ivy-bedecked chimney atop an art center in the American Midwest offered an interesting range of textures for a long lens.

Driving to the lake

CHILD'S PLAYGROUND AUTOMOBILE, LAWSON PARK, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 21, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 50mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott captured this toddler's-eye view from a playground car in a lakefront park. The out-of-focus background and foreground set off the steering wheel and dashboard in striking fashion.

Indian summer on the beach

LIGHTHOUSE BEACH, LAKE MICHIGAN, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 21, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Yesterday, as the afternoon temperature approached 70, these women set up their chairs right at water's edge to capture the season's last warm sunshine and get a bit of reading done as well.

Last touch of summer

MONARCH AMONG WILDFLOWERS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 4, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Tramping through the meadows with a long telephoto lens and happening upon a scene that demands a short one can be frustrating, but a 300mm still can do double duty as a semi-macro when focused as close as it'll go and with a little cropping of the resultant image afterward. I was happy with this result.

Let there be light

STORMY MIDAFTERNOON ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 8, 2008

Pentax K10D
Sigma 135-400 at 135mm
1/750 sec. f8
ISO 400

Searching for overlooked shots from last year's photo archive yielded a brooding photograph that brought to mind two lines from one of the Western world's great early works of literature: "And the earth was without form, and void; darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters./ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

Fading in the fall

RUBY BALL CABBAGE, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 18, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma 17-70 at 28mm
1/60 sec. f8
ISO 400

This late in October most of the displays at the Chicago Botanic Garden have been faded by frost, but even in the winter of their lives some of them still look striking. This is a ruby ball cabbage, an edible species planted at the Garden chiefly for decoration, on the roof courtyard atop the Garden's new Science Center. Deborah Abbott took the photograph.

Painted pumpkin

PAINTED PUMPKIN, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 18, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

On the first sunny day in more than a week, we visited the Chicago Botanic Garden, where the best photographic possibilities this late in October were at the weekly Sunday vegetable sale, where Deborah Abbott photographed this colorful pumpkin -- glazed and painted in childlike fashion rather than carved into a jack o' lantern.

Smithy

BLACKSMITH SHED, HANKA FINNISH HOMESTEAD MUSEUM NEAR BARAGA, MICHIGAN, JULY 21, 2009

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 at 58mm
1/90 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Conventional wisdom is that it's not good to photograph a house full on, but at an angle instead, the better to get an interplay of light and shadow. Still it seemed worth breaking the rule to capture the astonishing texture of the logs and remnants of cedar-shake siding on this century-old building in Upper Michigan. Click the photo for more detail.

Grosbeak on the roof

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, MAY 10, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f11
ISO 400

Another shot from the "backyard bird" archives, this one was captured with the then recently acquired 20-year-old 300 mm lens that has turned out to be the sharpest in my kitbag of more than a dozen Pentax-mount lenses, most of them dating back to the 1980s when a ME Super was my workaday 35mm film camera. Being able to use this beautiful old glass on new digital Pentaxes is the reason I stuck with the brand rather than going to the ubiquitous Canons or Nikons.

Gargle

COMMON GRACKLE, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, MAY 3, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma 135-400 at 400mm
1/350 sec. f11
ISO 800

I found this one while rummaging through this year's earlier backyard bird shots. Shooting at a high ISO of 800 risked an overly noisy background, but allowed a small aperture and reasonable shutter speed for a hand-held photograph with a long lens. The five-year-old 6-megapixel *ist DS often yields smoother backgrounds at high ISO than its newer 10- and 14.5-megapixel brothers in the Pentax line.

Tongue 'n ears

PUG AND CHIHUAHUA, DOG BEACH, EVANSTON ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

Pugs and chihuahuas are two of the most endearingly comical breeds of dogs, and it was amusing to watch a bluff and stout example of the former and a delicate, radar-eared instance of the latter circle and sniff each other on the beach yesterday. Eventually porky Pugsley made wee Wawa roll over on his back and cry uncle, but no harm was done.

Dog beach

GERMAN SHORT-HAIRED POINTER ON DOG BEACH, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/750 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

This handsome example of his breed pranced alone along the shore, tug toy in his jaws, haughtily ignoring the crowd yapping, sniffing and chasing each other in gouts of sand. The sights on Evanston's dog beach on the edge of Lake Michigan are always ripe, low-hanging fruit for an ambling photographer.

Joy on the beach

GIRL AND FATHER ON CLARK STREET BEACH, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/1500 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

On an almost balmy day in October, this young lady dashed gleefully toward her brothers (out of camera range) as her father trudged up the sand, perhaps in Talmudic contemplation. It was my first visit to the Lake Michigan shore with the camera in more than a year, and the sight made me smile.

Hummer No. 3

FEMALE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 21, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f11 with on-board flash
ISO 400

A sweep through the archive of photos taken last summer yielded this hummingbird at the feeder in front of our cabin on Lake Superior. It was shot (at an angle) through freshly polished window glass during the evening and illuminated with the help of the camera's built-in flash.

Trumpeter swans

TRUMPETER SWANS, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 70mm
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 400

Photographing white birds in bright sunlight can be difficult -- the camera tends to blow out the white highlights. A little work with Adobe Lightroom restored many of the details in the feathers of these molting trumpeter swans, although the best solution probably would be to recapture the image early in the morning when the sun is low-lying and not so strong.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DEBORAH ABBOTT

Wedding photographer at work

WEDDING COUPLE AND PHOTOGRAPHER, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 68mm
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 100

Every weekend at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, lone couples and entire wedding parties stop by to have the happy day captured with the chrysanthemum-bedecked Esplanade as a background. In this one the Bolivian bridegroom appears hugely delighted, but his bride seems to want the photographer to hurry up and get on with it.

Waterlily

TROPICAL DAY-BLOOMING WATERLILY "MRS. MARTIN E. RANDIG," CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, SEPT. 24, 2009

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/350 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

The waterlilies in the artificial ponds surrounding the walkway from the Esplanade to the arts center are always good for striking photographs at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I wish I'd had a 50-200mm zoom rather than a 17-70mm for this shot, though -- the photo is heavily cropped, and its detail and sharpness suffer a little.

Rose

ROSE, "RAINBOW SORBET," CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/250 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

The flat lighting of an overcast day actually seems better for photographing roses, whose vivid colors -- especially those in the red spectrum -- often become so saturated under bright sunlight that the highlights are blown. I was delighted with this freshly watered specimen of the Rainbow Sorbet variety, which has won many international gardening prizes in the last couple of years.

Dahlia

DAHLIA, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 63mm
1/350 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Many thousands of this dahlia (I never discovered its variety) greeted me today on my first outing to the Botanic Garden this year. The gray overcast couldn't dull the intense colors of this gorgeous specimen. Satisfying photography at the Garden is always possible even when the weather doesn't cooperate.

Susan Dacy and her Stearman

BOEING STEARMAN (PT-17), OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/1500 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Rummaging through the photos taken last July at the big Oshkosh air fest, I found this overlooked shot of aerobatic performer Susan Dacy and her colorful 1940 Stearman, a much-beloved type that trained many thousands of Army Air Corps and Navy pilots during World War II. Hundreds of the 70-year-old airplanes are still in flying condition and appear at air shows every summer.

Nyaaaah!

SQUIRREL ON POWER POLE, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 200mm
1/500 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Veteran squirrel hunters will tell you that the animal's intense curiosity always compels it to stop in mid-flight and peek around a barrier to see what you're up to, and issue a thorough taunting as well. That's when the hunter fires -- and that's when the photographer trips the shutter.

Awwwwwww

WILD RABBIT YOUNG, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/60 sec. f13
ISO 200

On my first photo foray into the neighborhood since the cardiac event of a couple of weeks ago, we spotted this nest of wild bunnies, perhaps four days old, in a neighbor's parkway, close to the sidewalk and utterly out in the open. The neighbor covered the buns with a lawn chair and towel and put up a sign asking passersby to keep their dogs away -- and hoped Mama would return soon to feed her offspring. Click on the photo for a good look at their noses.

On hiatus

This blog is temporarily suspended (with pay) while its proprietor recovers from heart surgery. Look for it to resume later in September.

Hummer No. 2

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 20, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f8 with on-board flash
ISO 400

It's back to photographing feathered birds, this time through the front plate-glass window of the Writer's Lair. The on-board flash brightened the scene on a rainy day and also highlighted the iridescence in this female hummer's back feathers. Sometimes flash gives a better image than sunlight, but not often.

Sea Fury

HAWKER SEA FURY, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2009

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 at 34mm
1/750 sec. f11
ISO 400

This airplane caught my attention on the World War II warbird line at Oskosh not because it's rare (quite a few are still flying) but because of its history. The Sea Fury was the British Royal Navy's last propeller-driven carrier-borne fighter, one of the fastest ever (480 mph), and shot down a MiG-15 jet during the Korean War. It still is a favorite at the Reno air races. (This is the final photo in my Oshkosh series.)

DC-3

DOUGLAS DC-3, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2009

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/1000 f13
ISO 400

The last time I flew in this classic airliner of the 1940s and 1950s was as a passenger at an air show in Upland, California, in 1998. I sat in a rearmost seat and felt every touch of rudder input by the pilot, especially on takeoff. Many scores of the type survive, and I counted five of them -- one in olive drab U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 dress -- at the big Oshkosh fly-in this summer.

Wingwalker

GENE SOUCY AND TERESA STOKES, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2009

All photos:
Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/1000 or 1/2000 sec. f9.5 or f11
ISO 400

Gene Soucy and his wingwalker Teresa Stokes awed the audience, especially the photographers, at last week's big Oshkosh fly-in. They used Soucy's much-modified Grumman Ag Cat cropduster and made sure to do low passes for the shutterbugs. The photos are my favorites from the event not least because the sun came out from under the clouds during their gig and lit up the airplane's bright colors.