Junco No. 2

DARK-EYED JUNCO, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 28, 2012

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 300mm
1/125 sec. f8
ISO 400

The morning light was better than it was December 25 when our resident junco dropped by three days later, hence this offering. Even clicked on to large size, the bird's plumage is immaculate, as if he had just stepped out of the haberdasher's in black tie and tails.

Wrong turn on the way to Miami

SNOW ON FLAMINGOES, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 28, 2012

Pentax K-5
Pentax-DA 18-135 at 78mm
1/640 sec. f8
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott captured this scene in the neighbors' backyard during her foray into the new-fallen snow the other day. It's a familiar photographic theme, but the composition is arresting.

Tessellation

CHAIN LINK FENCE AFTER SNOWFALL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 28, 2012

Pentax K-5
Pentax-DA 18-135mm at 53mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott went out to the back yard after yesterday's 5-inch snowfall and captured this geometric beauty.

View from my window, 12-28-2012

AFTER THE SNOW, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 28, 2012

Pentax K-5
Pentax-DA 18-135 at 135mm
1/400 sec. f8
ISO 400

An unexpected, heavy and sticky five-inch snow overnight coated the trees outside our bedroom window with a thick white blanket except for a stubborn maple leaf left over from autumn.

Hydrangea "Peppermint Twist"

HYDRANGEA "PEPPERMINT TWIST," EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 25, 2012

Pentax K-01
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro
1/6 sec. f11 with LED ring light
ISO 100

One of Debby's Christmas gifts was a natural subject for the kit of K-01 camera, Tamron lens, LED ring light and lightweight tripod I've put together for macrophotography. This variety of hydrangea indeed looks as pepperminty as its name. Each bloom is about the size of a quarter.

Dark-eyed Junco

DARK-EYED JUNCO, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 25, 2012

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 340mm
1/180 sec. f8 with on-board flash
ISO 400

This little junco always looks as if someone poured dark chocolate syrup over a snowball. This specimen often hangs out with the house sparrows, its cousins, in our back yard, but today braved a Christmas Day snow alone to root through the leftover birdseeed.

White poinsettia

WHITE POINSETTIA, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 24, 2012

Pentax K-01
Tamron 90mm macro with LED ring light
1/100 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Just in time for the holidays, the Botanic Garden put up displays of poinsettias of several kinds, including this curly-leafed white variety, in its tropical greenhouse. A low-powered LED ring light helped the modeling of the white leaves under a dark gray overcast sky.

Backyard cardinal

MALE NORTHERN CARDINAL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 250mm
1/15 sec. f8
ISO 800

It was getting dark when this specimen came to call on our backyard deck, but the tripod-mounted rig caught him sitting sufficiently still for a decent photograph even at a shutter speed so low.

Yooper meerkat

EASTERN CHIPMUNK, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 12, 2012

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 340mm
1/350 sec. f11
ISO 400

Here's an Upper Michigan chipmunk who thinks he's an African meerkat. The photo was found during another sweep of the 2012 picture archives.

Late out of the gate?

AMERICAN ROBIN, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 13, 2012

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 230mm
1/45 sec. f8
ISO 400

It's long past time for robins to head for their winter quarters in Florida, but this one has been hanging around our back yard for several days now. Either his migratory habits have been affected by global warming or he missed his flight out of O'Hare.