Snow sculpture

SNOW ON DECK GLIDER SLATS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 25, 2010

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 DC at 58mm
1/100 f8
ISO 800

On Christmas Eve a heavy wet snow fell overnight, sticking to everything, including the backrest slats of the redwood glider on our backyard deck. It reminds me of something -- I'm not sure what. Maybe icy prison bars. This is one of the first test photos I've taken with a new K-5 Santa brought. Click photo for larger views.

Old Notch Ear

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 3, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma APO 135-400 at 400mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 800

Old Notch Ear, who crankily chases every other creature away from the backyard birdbath whenever he stops for a drink, has to be the toughest squirrel in the neighborhood. I don't know how he got his wound but suspect it was during a rumble with another of his species.

Into the void at warp speed

CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 18, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 10-20 EX DC throughout zoom range
1.5 sec. f11
ISO 200

It's an old photographer's trick -- focusing a zoom lens at full extension on a single Christmas tree light, then quickly zooming backwards to wide angle during the exposure. Makes for a pretty photo that looks as if it was shot from a spaceship entering hyperdrive.

Susan Dacy and her Stearman No. 2

SUSAN DACY IN HER SUPER STEARMAN, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2008

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

Another photo dredged from the 2008 archives, this one shows aerobatic pilot Susan Dacy clawing for altitude in "Big Red," her much-modified Boeing Stearman PT-17, originally a World War II trainer. Another shot of the airplane at the EAA "Airventure" show of 2008 is here.

Serenade in red, white and blue

JULIE CLARK IN HER BEECH T-34A MENTOR, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2008

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

One of my favorite shots from "Airventure 2008," that year's big Experimental Aircraft Association air show at Oshkosh, is this one of veteran aerobatic pilot Julie Clark putting her T-34A, an Air Force and Navy primary trainer of the 1950s, through its paces in a demonstration she calls "Serenade in Red, White and Blue." She retired as a Northwest Airlines Airbus 320 captain two years ago.

Tin Goose

FORD TRI-MOTOR TAXIING DOWNWIND, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2008

FORD TRI-MOTOR COCKPIT, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2008

PRATT & WHITNEY R-985 WASP JUNIOR, 450 HP, ON FORD TRI-MOTOR, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2008

FORD TRI-MOTOR ON TAKEOFF, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2008

FORD TRI-MOTOR CLEARING RUNWAY, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2008

FORD TRI-MOTOR ON DEPARTURE, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, JULY 31, 2008

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
Various exposure settings
ISO 400

One of my favorite old airplanes is the Experimental Aircraft Association's beautifully restored 1929 Ford Tri-Motor, which carries a load of ten passengers at a stately 90 m.p.h. around the circuit all day long at "AirVenture," the EAA's big yearly air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This example originally went to work for Eastern Air Transport, a predecessor of Eastern Air Lines, then became a borate firebomber in the 1950s and carried smokejumpers before starting her career as an antique barnstormer in the 1960s. I caught her in action during the 2008 show.

Think they mean it?

SIGNAGE ON LAKE SUPERIOR BEACH NEAR SILVER CITY, MICHIGAN, MAY 30, 2010

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

Notwithstanding riparian right-of-way laws that permit folks to walk on the beaches of Lake Superior, the owner of this property seems to have his own views. Or maybe his lawyers advised him to CYA for liability reasons. In any event, these stern signs are daily honored in the breach by beach hikers, and the local wolves seem to keep any watchdogs scarce.

Raging robins

AMERICAN ROBINS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 3, 2010

Top photo: Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 260mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 800

Bottom photo: Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 170mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

Robins may be celebrated as the early birds that get the worm, but they can also be loud and unmannerly. A particularly churlish pair visited our backyard bird bath the other day and bickered like fishwives all the while. Like embarrassed dinner guests, the ubiquitous sparrows pretended not to notice but kept well out of the way.

La Sal Mountains No. 2

LA SAL MOUNTAINS FROM ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH, MARCH 4, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 200

The La Sal Mountains rise above the town of Moab in southeastern Utah, and it's easy to get photos of them (as we did last March; see my first shot here) through crystal-clear air from the plateau of Arches National Park. The tallest peak in the range is Mount Peale (second from left) at 12,721 feet. Click on the photo for a large version.

Whatevermore

COMMON RAVEN (CORVUS CORAX), CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK, UTAH, MARCH 6, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/750 f9.5
ISO 800

Massive, fearless and extremely smart, these adaptable big brothers of the crow are even more widespread than the latter. In Upper Michigan we see them cruising down highways searching for roadkill, but in Utah, where this photo was taken, they hang out at tourist vistas hoping for a handout. This one allowed me to get close with the camera before he soared away in disappointment.

Caught in the act

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 24, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f4.5
ISO 1600

Looks guilty as hell, doesn't he? No sooner did I fill the "squirrel-proof" feeder on our backyard deck and return to the house did this young ruffian arrive. He at least had the decency to pose prettily while I trained my favorite lens, aperture set wide open and ISO high against the gray overcast, on him. The depth of field is shallow but the whiskers are sharp.

Still soldiering on

ESCANABA & LAKE SUPERIOR 1221, ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 21mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

A generation ago, railroad photographers raced to document the steam locomotives of America, fast disappearing under an onslaught of modern diesels. Today my age cohort is hustling to capture those first-generation diesels, now working mostly on short lines, before they, too, vanish. I was 16 years old when this classic 1,750-horsepower SD9 emerged from the Electro-Motive Division shops at La Grange, Illinois, in September, 1956, and went to work for Reserve Mining Co. around Duluth, Minnesota. Now Reserve Mining is gone, but wheezy old 1221 still labors for the bankrupt Escanaba & Lake Superior short line in upper Michigan and northern Wisconsin. Click the photo for a large version.

Water landing

JUVENILE RING-BILLED GULL, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 17, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Flaps down, gear down, speed brakes on: a young gull all but halts in mid-air to alight on Lake Superior during a hazy morning last May.

High dudgeon

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 12, 2010

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma 135-400 at 200mm
1/350 f9.5
ISO 400

"He's behind me, isn't he? With that damn camera? He's staring at my ass, isn't he? The creep!" Discovered while searching through last winter's archives for overlooked masterpieces.

Sunset No. 8

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 31, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 48mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 400

Rummaging through the summer's photo archive yielded this shot, which looks more impressive at a large size than it does at a small one. Click on it if you'd like to download it for desktop art.

Paragon of ubiquity

FEMALE HOUSE SPARROW (PASSER DOMESTICUS), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 30, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/250 sec f6.7
ISO 1600

The house sparrow is the world's most widely distributed bird and is still extending its range; it arrived in Iceland during the 1990s. What's more, this gregarious little species leads a life that HBO really ought to film as a reality series. According to Wikipedia, although males and females mate for life, "bigamy occurs, and is mostly limited by aggression between females. Male House Sparrows guard their mates carefully before breeding to avoid being cuckolded."

Thirst

 GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 28, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/90 sec. f8
ISO 1600

I caught this young Sciurus dipping into the new heated bird squirrel bath we installed on the deck railing outside the Lady Friend's office window last week. The idea is that during winter freezes the open water will attract flocks of thirsty birds, hopefully rare and colorful ones. Of course it'll also be a magnet for the neighborhood tree rats.

White-breasted Nuthatch

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH (SITTA CAROLIENSIS), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 31, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/500 sec. f9.5
ISO 1600

Most of the birds that visit my backyard bird squirrel feeder are ordinary sparrows, but once in a while a nuthatch hangs out with them, figuring their presence will help protect it from predators. Nuthatches are active, agile and noisy birds, and typically perch heads down, their long, long claws gripping for dear life.

Zebra plant

ZEBRA PLANT (APHELANDRA SINCLAIRIANA), CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 25, 2010

Pentax K10D
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/125 sec. f8
ISO 400

This familiar house plant, a member of the acanthus family, comes from Brazil and requires high humidity to thrive and bloom. I captured it in the Botanic Garden's tropical greenhouse.

Carolus Linnaeus

SCULPTURE OF CAROLUS LINNAEUS, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 25, 2010

Pentax K10D
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/750 sec. f8
ISO 400

Robert Berks's huge bronze sculpture of the Swedish botanist Linnaeus (1707-1778), done in 1982, famously anchors the northeast corner of the Heritage Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It's always photographable, and in early afternoon a high sun vividly set off the rough planes of the bronze against the sky.

Lantana confetti

LANTANA CONFETTI, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 25, 2010

Pentax K10D
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 400

They look like blooms from three different plants, but this is a single tricolor flower cluster of Lantana confetti, a shrub spotted yesterday in the Botanic Garden's tropical greenhouse. I really should have used a tripod rather than hand-holding the camera at f8 so that the lens could have been stopped down to f16, yielding a greater depth of field.

Red-tailed Hawk

JUVENILE RED-TAILED HAWK (BUTEO JAMAICENSIS), CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILINOIS, APRIL 1, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/125 sec. f8
ISO 400

Going through the year's earlier avian photographs yielded this "formal portrait" of a young red-tailed hawk -- a species I first thought was a juvenile bald eagle -- spotted on two occasions at the Botanic Gardens in the spring. Two other photographs from the encounters can be found here.

Cormorant colony

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS (PHALACROCORAX AURITIUS), APOSTLE ISLANDS NATIONAL LAKESHORE, WISCONSIN, JULY 30, 2010

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/2000 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Often called the "crow duck," the homely and ungainly double-crested cormorant is a diving waterbird once almost exterminated on the Great Lakes by DDT runoff. It has made a roaring comeback in the last couple of decades and now fishers complain that it harms the stock of edible fish on the lakes. Scientists, however, say it dines mostly on trash-fish minnows, not trout or other game fish. This colony shared a navigation islet with a few gulls in the middle of the Apostles off Bayfield, Wisconsin.

First squirrel of the season

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 21, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/125 sec. f4.5
ISO 1600

This first example of Sciurus carolensis, my favorite backyard animal subject (all right, the only backyard animal subject I can easily find down here in Evanston) was taken in low light, lens wide open, at ISO 1600. The original frame is quite noisy, thanks to the high ISO, but the superb de-noise capability of Lightroom 3 smoothed everything out.

Rainbow at the Garden

RAINBOW, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 17, 2010

Pentax K20D
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/1500 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

I had been taking close-up shots of flowers when passersby suddenly congregated and pointed to the fountains out on the Chicago Botanic Garden pond. A lovely rainbow had formed at just the right spot against the sun rising to the east. The Tamron macro lens did a pretty fair job capturing the sight.

Grandiflora Rose 'Love'

GRANDIFLORA ROSE, CULTIVAR 'LOVE,' CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 17, 2010

Pentax K10D
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/180 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

One of the largest and most spectacular red blooms in the Chicago Botanic Garden's Rose Garden, this hybrid boasts 40 or more petals to each blossom, some of which are lined with white when the rose is mature. Coming up with a good shot of a rose like this takes some time in post processing because the intense, saturated red tends to overwhelm detail.

Dahlia 'Bishop of York'

PEONY DAHLIA 'BISHOP OF YORK' VARIETY, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 17, 2010

Pentax K10D
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/180 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Despite its British-sounding name and its place in the Botanic Garden's English Walled Garden, this variety of dahlia is a native of the high plains of Mexico and Central America. The Spanish brought it to Europe in 1784 and cultivated it in the Royal Gardens of Madrid. I photographed it in the early-morning sun, whose low light sculpted the petals against deep shadows.

Sheep's head

TERRA COTTA FLOWER URN, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 17, 2010

Pentax K10D
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI macro
1/60 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

On my first foray to the Botanic Garden since spring, I spotted a sparkling drop of water on the chin of this terra cotta sheep's head and just had to capture the sight. The low morning sun molded the contours and shadows of the sculpture just right.

Nonesuch

NONESUCH GALLERY, ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 31mm
1/350 sec. f11
ISO 400

This store in the town where we spend our summers is a photogenic relic of the early 1900s that has become Ontonagon's best-patronized gift shop. I've long wanted to photograph it, but since there's a popular cafe just across the street, parked cars always block a clear shot. One morning an antique automobile added to, not detracted from, the ambience. If anyone knows what that car is, let me know. (It looks like a 1947 Chevrolet Fleetline Aerosedan, but I'm not sure.)

New Eddystone Rock

NEW EDDYSTONE ROCK, BEHM CANAL, MISTY FJORDS NATIONAL PARK, ALASKA, JUNE 25, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 55mm
1/750 sec. f8
ISO 400

This 237-foot-tall basalt pillar is the remnant of a volcanic plug created by lava 5 million years ago. It was named by Captain George Vancouver when he was blundering about the Alaskan coast near what is now Ketchikan in 1793 while looking for the Northwest Passage. The view was captured during a trip to Alaska earlier this year. Click for larger version.

Sunset No. 7

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma DC 17-70 at 26mm
1/1000 sec. f4.5
ISO 400

This is the last sunset of 2010 at the Writer's Lair I'll take before the Lady Friend and I head into winter exile this weekend. Note that the sun is going down over land while it dipped into the lake in Sunsets No. 1 through 6. The nights are noticeably longer and colder now, often falling below 32 degrees. Click the photo for larger version.

Rainbow

RAINBOW OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma DC 17-70 at 17mm
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 400

The Lady Friend says she's seen lots of rainbows on Lake Superior, but though we've been an item for 43 years, this is the first one I've seen at the Writer's Lair. It appeared about an hour before sunset and hung around for about ten minutes before the angle of the sun diminished and caused it to disappear. Click for a desktop-sized version.

Western sky at morning

MORNING ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 37mm
1/750 sec. f9.5
ISO 1600

It's cold and windy, and the last remnants of an overnight rain are moving out from western Lake Superior at 8 in the morning on the second day of autumn. Following close behind is another storm cell that will hold the area in its wet and gray grip all day. It's almost time to board up the Writer's Lair and go into winter exile in Illinois.

Chickadees

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES (POECILE ATRICAPILLUS), 
GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

All photos Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/350 sec. f6.7
ISO 1600

These acrobatic birds are hit-and-run artists, flocking at our feeders for just a few seconds before flitting for the trees to dine on their swag. People in Upper Michigan tell me they enjoy entire conversations ("Dee-dee?" "Dee!" "Dee?") with these friendly little fellows.

Chipmunk

EASTERN CHIPMUNK (TAMIAS STRIATUS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 21, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Common as this rodent may be, it's not all that easy to photograph up close. One creeps up on it and composes the photograph in the viewfinder, and -- where'd it go? This one hangs out under the bird feeders, harvesting seed scattered by chickadees, and is carefully watched by our half-Lab Hogan, who long ago gave up trying to catch it.

Fall colors

LOOKING SOUTH FROM HIGHWAY M26 NEAR WINONA, MICHIGAN,  SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma 10-20 DC EX at 10mm
1/1500 sec. f8
ISO 400

The turning of the autumn leaves in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan typically occurs two to three weeks ahead of most of the rest of the country, thanks to a short growing season and near-freezing nights after Labor Day.  Another week and the colors will be at their height. I stopped on the highway between Houghton and Ontonagon to capture this view.  Click the photo for a larger view.

Sunset No. 6

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/2000 sec. f13
ISO 2200

Sometimes a setting sun captured with a long lens can be as striking as one taken with a wide-angle lens. I mistakenly set the camera's ISO sensitivity to a ridiculously high 2200 instead of the customary 400, resulting in a photograph full of noise. Lightroom 3's noise reducing feature took care of most of the noise, and Photoshop Elements' clone tool removed several orange artifacts in the blue of the lake. The result, I think, is OK.

Sunset No. 5

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 31, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/250 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

I was composing a shot of an oncoming storm in the Lake Superior sky in front of our cabin on a late August evening when a flight of Canada geese suddenly and unexpectedly swept into the frame. Very considerate of them, wouldn't you say? Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.

Young Gull

JUVENILE HERRING GULL, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 19, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

For a little while I thought this specimen, boldly striding up the Lake Superior beach surprisingly close to my perch in front of our cabin, was some kind of shore bird I'd never encountered before. Then I consulted the Sibley bird book, whose detailed drawing of a herring gull in its speckled first year was a dead ringer for this one.

Sunset No. 4

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 7, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Lately the sunsets at the Writer's Lair have been highly photogenic, mainly because of looming storm cloud formations far out over Lake Superior. Rather than the usual wide-angle shot, I chose to capture this one with a zoom telephoto racked out to its maximum 300mm. Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.

Secrets

CHILDREN AT MIDWEST PRIMITIVE RENDEZVOUS, ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 1, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott captured these two little girls at their morning chores during an encampment of "living history" re-enactors of the era of Lewis & Clark (1800-1840) on a bend of the Ontonagon River in upper Michigan earlier this month. It seems to be a perfect moment of childhood, doesn't it?

Sunset No. 3

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR AT GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 25, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/180 sec. f8
ISO 400

On the evening I took this shot, the lowering sun tried hard to punch through both a deep haze and darkening storm clouds in the northwest. Using a long zoom racked out to its furthest point seemed the best way to capture the odd but striking phenomenon.