Debby

DEBORAH ABBOTT KISOR, PEGGYS COVE, NOVA SCOTIA, SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 68mm
1/2000 sec. f9
ISO 800

It's not often that I'm able to take a decent photo of a person—birds, animals and inanimate objects are more my thing—but I can't resist posting this shot of my spouse captured atop a granite outcrop in Peggys Cove on the Atlantic shore of Nova Scotia during a recent tour of the Maritimes.

Ropes and floats

DOCKYARD LINES AND FISHING FLOATS, PEGGYS COVE, NOVA SCOTIA, SEPTEMBER 16,2012

Nikon Coolpix S8200
Nikkor 4.5-63 at 24.2mm
1/1000 sec. f4.9
ISO 800

Deborah Abbott, a photographer with an eye for fine detail, took this shot of a pile of ropes and floats on a fishing dock in the harbor of picturesque Peggys Cove, one of the traditional stations of the tourist cross for any visitor to the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia.

Roofs and chimneys

SKYLINE, FORTRESS OF LOUISBOURG, CAPE BRETON ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 97.5mm
1/4000 sec. f10
ISO 800

The 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg was destroyed by the British in 1760 after the Seven Years War and partly reconstructed beginning in 1961 and using some of the original stone. The project provided jobs for hundreds of unemployed coal miners, and the place is now a Canadian national living-history site.

Heritage Peas

HERITAGE PEAS, FORTRESS OF LOUISBOURG, CAPE BRETON ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

Nikon Coolpix S8200
Nikkor 4.5-63 at 7mm
1/320 sec. f3.8
ISO 800

Deborah Abbott captured this lovely basket of freshly picked purple-podded heritage peas at the working farm in the restored Fortress of Louisbourg. We had them for lunch as pea soup with "soldier bread" in the tavern down the street.

Domestic goat

DOMESTIC GOAT, FORTRESS OF LOUISBOURG, CAPE BRETON ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 77.5mm
1/4000 f10
ISO 1600

What is there to say about a barnyard goat, anyway? Except that this one was photographed at the lovely restored 18th century fortress of Louisbourg, where it is one of several farm animals tended by historical re-enactors in period dress.

Embden Goose

EMBDEN GOOSE, BADDECK, CAPE BRETON ISLAND, SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 150mm
1/2000 sec. f10
ISO 800

I had hoped to capture some wildfowl on the wing during a visit to the waterfront at Baddeck on Cape Breton Island, but the best I could do was this Embden variety of domestic goose. The breed originally came from Holland and Germany and is common in North America.

Bandstand in Halifax Public Gardens

BANDSTAND, PUBLIC GARDENS, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 31mm
1/320 sec. f16
ISO 800

Deborah Abbott captured this view of the colorful bandstand that anchors the historic Public Gardens in Halifax. Established in 1874, the 16-acre gardens still reflect the rich Victorian vision of its designers. Click on the photo to better view the intricate scrollwork of the bandstand.

Mr. and Mrs. Cormorant

CORMORANTS, NORTHUMBERLAND STRAIT, CANADA, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1600 sec. f11
ISO 1600

As the Northumberland Ferry chugged out of Caribou, Nova Scotia, bound for Woods Island on Prince Edward Island, it glided past this matched pair of cormorants perching on a buoy. Thousands of these homely seabirds clotted every horizontal surface around the ferry terminal. They may be ugly, but they are graceful and swift on the wing.

Red Fox

RED FOX (VULPES VULPES), PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA, SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 135mm
1/20 sec. f10
ISO 800

It's somewhat lacking in image quality, but this picture was quickly grabbed through the light-darkening window of a stopped tour bus with its engine running near the northern beaches of Prince Edward Island. A little help with Lightroom and Photoshop Elements improved the IQ to "Barely Usable, but Given the Circumstances . . ."

Lighthouse at Peggys Cove

LIGHTHOUSE, PEGGYS COVE, NOVA SCOTIA, SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 18mm
1/8000 sec. f9
ISO 800

This iconic Nova Scotia lighthouse is usually rendered in a long shot with stones and surf, but here's a different view, taken from directly below its rocky base. Built in 1914 and freshly repainted just before our visit, it lies some 30 miles southwest of Halifax and is a longtime favorite of tourists bearing cameras. By the way, Peggys Cove lost its possessive apostrophe about 1976, for obscure reasons.

Eagle off Baddeck

BALD EAGLE, BADDECK, CAPE BRETON ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1600 sec. f13
ISO 800

This one was captured from a tourist sailboat in Bras d'Or Lake off the town of Baddeck on Cape Breton Island during a tour of Nova Scotia. The boat's captain obligingly tossed dead mackerel into the water to attract the eagle from its aerie on a nearby island.

And one more for the road

EVENING CLOUDS OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 23, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 24mm
1/1250 sec. f11
ISO 400

Found among the summer's archives: A darkling storm rolling over the lake from the west at about 7:45 p.m. EDT. Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.

One for the road

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 2, 2012

Penax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 135mm
1/200 sec. f8
ISO 200

Going through the summer's sunset photos on the computer yielded this interesting shot from early August. Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.