Starburst

UNIDENTIFIED BLOSSOM, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 30, 2011

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/20 sec. f32
ISO 1600

I have no idea what species this gorgeous quarter-sized flower is; I'm calling it "Starburst" only because it reminds me of Fourth of July sky fireworks. (Many of the blooms in the Botanic Garden's winter greenhouses are difficult to identify, because the labels are either overgrown by foliage or missing.) If you know what this plant is, pray let me know, too.

Baby calamondin

CALAMONDIN ORANGE BLOSSOM, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 25, 2011

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/45 sec. f16
ISO 1600

It's hard to believe, but that tiny nubbin in the center, somewhere between 1/32 and 1/16 of an inch in diameter, will grow into a 1 3/4-inch calamondin orange (see last Wednesday's effort). Little by little, I'm getting closer to my subjects in the sometimes vexing macrophotography class at the Botanic Garden. When things are that small, holding the camera rig steady, even on a solid tripod, isn't easy.

"White Candles" leaf

WHITFIELDIA ELONGATA "WHITE CANDLES" LEAF, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 27, 2011

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/4 sec. f32
ISO 400

Another image captured for the macrophotography class I'm taking at the Chicago Botanic Garden, this one is of the leaf of the Whitfieldia shrub whose bud was on display yesterday. This time I stopped way down, to the smallest aperture of the macro lens, and used a slower ISO speed to maximize image quality. A little tweaking in Lightroom 3 intensified the veins and the colors.

White Candles

WHITFIELDIA ELONGATA "WHITE CANDLES," CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 26, 2011

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/60 sec. f22
ISO 1600

Another in my efforts for a class in macrophotography at the Botanic Garden, this specimen of buds on the cusp of blooming belongs to a tender flowering shrub that is part of the acanthus family. "White Candles" bushes come from semitropical Ethiopia and are slowly becoming popular in American greenhouse gardens.

Calamondin orange

CALAMONDIN ORANGE (CITRUS MICROCARPIA or MITIS), CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 23, 2011

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/60 f16
ISO 1600

The calamondin is a sour, lime-like miniature orange grown as food in Southeast Asia and used as an ornamental shrub in the United States. These two examples are both 3/8 inch in diameter and will grow to 1 3/4 inches when ripe. The photo was taken in the Chicago Botanic Garden's semitropical greenhouse for a class in macrophotography there.

Spiderweb Houseleek

SPIDERWEB HOUSELEEK, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 20, 2011

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/350 sec. f11
ISO 1600

The Spiderweb Houseleek (Sempervivum arachnoideum) is a ground-hugging succulent native to Europe and North Africa, with fleshy leaves arranged in dense rosettes. At the height of its season it'll be covered with a web of white hairs. When I captured it the other day as part of an assignment for a macrophotography class, a stray ladybug gave the image some colorful interest. If you click on the photo and look closely, you'll also see a host of microscopic black beetles, perhaps aphids of some kind.

Unusual silence

CHARTRES STREET AT JACKSON SQUARE, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 12, 2010

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 18mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

Chartres Street at St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square, the lively heart of the French Quarter, is normally a bustling colony of tourists, artists, jugglers, magicians, fortune tellers and live music from street brass bands. But when Deborah Abbott took this photo, it was utterly deserted at 9 a.m. on an unseasonably wintry day in January, with temperatures in the 30s and winds of 15 knots.

Monument to the Lost Cause

ROBERT E. LEE MONUMENT, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 11, 2011

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-DA 28-90 at 90mm
1/4000 f8
ISO 800

This 16-foot bronze monument to Robert E. Lee, sculpted by Alexander Doyle, was erected atop a 60-foot Doric column of Tennessee marble in 1884 at what is now called Lee Circle on the St. Charles streetcar line in New Orleans. It is naturally a shrine holy to cultists of the Lost Cause, but it is also an important and impressive (not to mention photogenic) relic of American history.

Gun carriage

GUN CARRIAGE, NEW ORLEANS INFORMATION CENTER, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 12, 2011

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 55mm
1/500 sec. f5.6
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott ably captured the rusty detail on the wheel hub of an old artillery piece atop the New Orleans Information Center across Decatur Street from Jackson Square. The radiating spokes suggest the rising sun, don't they? I thought it a nice sharp shot from a six-year-old kit 18-55mm lens.

Art gallery

ART GALLERY ON CHARTRES STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 11, 2011

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-FA 28-90 at 48mm
1/15 sec. f8
ISO 800

Prowling around the French Quarter early in the morning yielded this shot of an art gallery whose lighting seemed to have been designed expressly for photographers who like to go on the prowl shortly after dawn. The Pentax K10D may be three digital camera generations old, but its in-body shake resistance still helps very well with low shutter speeds.

Lonesome

BENCH AT JACKSON SQUARE, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 11, 2011

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-FA 28-90 at 65mm
1/30 sec. f6.7
ISO 800

It's hard to tell which looks lonelier, the man or the bench. This frame was captured early in the morning on a cold and gray January day in New Orleans, and although the camera's autofocus was hurriedly fixed on the fence, not the man or the bench, the foreground seems to have turned out to be sufficiently sharp.

Corridor

CORRIDOR AT THE FRENCH MARKET, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 12, 2011

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 40mm
1/750 sec. f4.5
ISO 400

Another Deborah Abbott photo, this one captures a passerby navigating an outside corridor at the French Market on New Orleans' waterfront. The low early-morning backlighting makes the figure seem almost ominous, but he was just on his way to work somewhere in the French Quarter.

Sousaphone at the Cabildo

SOUSAPHONE AND POSTER AT THE CABILDO, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 11, 2011

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 40mm
1/15 sec. f8
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott captured this early-morning image of a classic New Orleans marching-band instrument briefly resting against a fence at the Louisiana State Museum in the historic Spanish-era government building called the Cabildo just off Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter.

Full service

SHOP ON CHARTRES STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 11, 2011

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-FA 28-90 at 28mm
1/10 sec/ f8
ISO 800

Where else but in New Orleans can one find a store that sells children's books and voodoo dolls for young frenemies to stick it to each other? I happened upon this shop shortly after sunrise while walking down Chartres Street from my hotel to a beignet-and-cafe au lait breakfast at the Cafe du Monde. The built-in shake resistance of the K10D came in very handy with the extremely slow shutter speed.

Lamppost

CORNER OF PIRATE'S ALLEY AND CHARTRES STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 11, 2011

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-FA 28-90 at 34mm
1/15 sec. f8
ISO 800

This famous leaning lamppost is one of the most photographed sights at Jackson Square in the French Quarter, and I did my touristly duty early when the sun was low and the light dim. The slow shutter speed caused the walking man to blur in a manner that gives the impression of movement in the picture. The warm light on the wall of St. Louis Cathedral comes from shop windows across the alley.

Shadow

ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 12, 2011

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 20mm
1/250 sec. f16
ISO 400

Jackson Square in New Orleans is possibly the world's greatest magnet for tourists, especially with the St. Louis Cathedral as backdrop on the northwest side. We were no different during our recent visit, but Deborah Abbott quickly saw that the shadow of the statue of Andrew Jackson behind her fell in a strategic spot at that time of year. She came away with a great shot that symbolizes the town.

Ironwork

BALCONY IRONWORK, VIEUX CARRE, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, JANUARY 11, 2011

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-FA 28-90 at 90mm
1/1000 sec. f9.5
ISO 800

While dining in a bistro on Royal Street in New Orleans, I spotted the sun throwing interesting shadows through ornate ironwork on a second-story balcony, and took this shot through a somewhat grimy window. Though it feels plasticky and cheap, the infamous FA 28-90 kit zoom lens -- I bought it for $60 on eBay five years ago -- still takes sharp and clear photographs when stopped down.

Pool party

HOUSE SPARROWS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 6, 2011

Pentax K20D
Sigma APO 135-400 at 135mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 800

Now I know what our sparrows do when they think I'm not watching. For weeks I'd wondered why the water level in the heated birdbath goes down so rapidly. Aha. They made such a wet splattery mess that the back window through which the long lens peeks (see the blogpost below) had to be washed and dried.

Equipage

BACKYARD DECK PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 3, 2010

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 DC at 17mm
1/20 sec. f9.5
ISO 1600

"So what do you use to get all those squirrel closeups, Henry?" I am sometimes asked. Here's what: 1. A backyard deck with a wide top railing. 2. Lots of bird seed. 3. A heated bird bath. 3. A Pentax K20D. 4. A Sigma APO 135-400mm telephoto lens. 5. A lightweight tripod atop a table. 6. A back window. 7. A bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels to keep the window clean. Now you know.

Squirrel No. 2

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 3, 2011

Pentax K20D
Sigma APO 135-400 at 400mm
1/180 f9.5
ISO 800

The rumors you have heard that I plan to produce an entire book of nothing but squirrel photographs are not true. Still, they are both winsome little creatures and willing portrait models, mainly because I bait the backyard deck railing with birdseed every day. I think I'll name this one Arthur -- or do you think that's over the top, even for an unreconstructed tree rat shooter?

First squirrel of 2011

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 2, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/750 sec. f9.5
ISO 1600

Instead of shooting through a back window with a camera and long lens on a tripod, I got this closeup with my new Pentax K-5 and a vintage 300mm telephoto that I had planned to test together on the backyard deck. As I stepped out the door, this squirrel -- who had been feasting at the bird feeder -- dashed past on a branch ten feet away and stopped just long enough for me to raise the camera and take the shot. Had I been armed with a .22 he'd be in the slow cooker.