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.