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.

Riot of color

HAY FIELD EIGHT MILES EAST OF ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN, JULY 26, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 97.5 mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 200

While driving east along Highway M38 in Upper Michigan yesterday, I plunged into a broad vista of hayfields splashed by a sweeping wash of intense yellow flowers. They reminded me of Vincent van Gogh's watercolors of country landscapes painted during his years at Arles. Click on the photograph for a desktop-sized version.

Black-capped Chickadee

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE (POECILE ATRICAPILLUS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 22, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/180 sec. f5.8
ISO 1600

These little birds seemingly suffer from avian ADD, flitting from tree to feeder for just a second before disappearing back into the forest. This evening, however, one let his curiosity get the better of him long enough for me to get the camera from the cabin and capture a few shots before he got tired of the game and departed.

Sunrise on Lake Superior

SUNRISE ON LAKE SUPERIOR AT GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 21, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/1500 sec. f8
ISO 400

The sunrises at our spot on Lake Superior can be as spectacular as the sunsets, and this morning I got up at 6 a.m. to capture this one. Cloud formations, especially glowering cumulonimbus, usually make a good sunrise or sunset photo, but this was high and thin cumulostratus, harbinger of a lovely day. And so it was.

College Fjord

WELLESLEY GLACIER, COLLEGE FJORD, ALASKA, JUNE 21, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 34mm
1/750 sec. f11
ISO 400

Iceberg-bedecked College Fjord in the northwest corner of Prince William Sound contains five tidewater glaciers -- ice fields that flow into the sea -- named for Ivy League and women's colleges. It's a favorite destination for cruise liners plying Alaska's Inside Passage, and I took this photo from the lower promenade deck of the MS Statendam.

Bush plane

PIPER PA-18-150 SUPER CUB, FAIRBANKS, ALASKA, JUNE 16, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1500 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

As emblematic of Alaska as moose or grizzlies are bush planes, usually on floats. This one, the Piper Super Cub, has been a mainstay of the state's bush flying for 61 years. I captured it from the deck of a stern-wheeler on the Chena River outside Fairbanks as it demonstrated two landings and takeoffs for the cruise-line tourists aboard.

Eagle at takeoff

BALD EAGLE NEAR JUNEAU, ALASKA, JUNE 24, 2010

All photos Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 800

On a dark, foggy morning aboard a rolling and pitching photo safari boat, I boosted the camera sensitivity to an ISO of 800, risking a bit of noise in the result, hoping to capture in sharp relief the flight of an eagle from its perch. A little work with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 reduced the noise to an acceptable level, at least for me.

One-eyed eagle

BALD EAGLE, JUNEAU RAPTOR CENTER, JUNEAU, ALASKA, JUNE 24, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 55mm
1/125 sec. f4.5
ISO 400

This eagle, a rehabilitated resident of the famous eagle rescue center near the top of Mount Roberts overlooking Juneau, looks as if it's having a bad hair day. I captured it through the bars of its enclosure, one of the few times I've photographed a wild bird in captivity. But that allows one to get good close-in shots. The result with a wide-open aperture of f4.5 was acceptably sharp.

Humpback

HUMPBACK WHALE (MEGAPTERA NOVAEANGELICA), JUNEAU, ALASKA, JUNE 24, 2010

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

Talk about dumb luck. Just as the boat reached waters near Juneau popular with whale watching photo safaris, an 80,000-pound, Greyhound bus-sized humpback suddenly broached a few yards astern -- and, for a change I was ready, camera loaded and locked. We had to duck to avoid the spray of the whale's crash, so close was it. Click for larger version.