She serves and protects

DEPUTY AND CHILD, ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 31, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 88mm
1/1250 sec. f8
ISO 1250

Yes, the image is marred by the harsh shadow the child's head throws across the deputy's face, but subject and tone largely seem to overcome the flaw. The young woman seems to be the newest hire in the Ontonagon Couty Sheriff's Department.

Overgrown

VACANT HOUSE, ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 18, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 40mm
1/2000 sec. f7.1
ISO 1600

One of many vacant and abandoned houses in the struggling small town of Ontonagon, Michigan, this one has been empty for so many years, perhaps decades, that the yard plantings have all but overwhelmed its front, making it look like a dwelling in a Brothers Grimm tale.

Kitchen corner

KITCHEN CORNER, RESTORED MINER'S HOUSE, OLD VICTORIA NEAR ROCKLAND, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 18, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 24mm
1/200 sec. f7.1
ISO 1600

It took some work with Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 to save this photograph, which was badly underexposed, resulting in almost black interior shadows. First I turned the Highlights slider all the way to the left and the Shadows slider all the way to the right, then opened up the exposure by almost two stops and added zip with the Contrast slider. A little sharpening and denoising, and the picture was done.

Window

WINDOW IN RESTORED MINER'S HOUSE, OLD VICTORIA NEAR ROCKLAND, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 18, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 78mm
1/8000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

This study in colors and textures—vertical cedar shake siding, old horizontal hewn logs, plaster chinking, flat window casings, and a lace curtain—immediately appealed to me when I arrived at the Old Victoria historical site. Although the K-5 yields very good image quality at ISO 1600, if I had remembered to do so I would have dialed the ISO down to 200 or 400 to get even better IQ.

Curtain

LACE CURTAIN IN WINDOW, OLD VICTORIA HISTORICAL SITE NEAR ROCKLAND, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 18, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 78mm
1/2000 sec. f11
ISO 1600

The sunlight through the window struck the simple but intricate lace of the curtain in the old miner's shack just right, giving it an interesting texture against the out-of-focus grass outside. Click on the photo for a larger version that gives the best texture.

Copper teapot

TEAPOT, OLD VICTORIA HISTORIC SITE NEAR ROCKLAND, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 18, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 31mm
1/100 sec. f11
ISO 1600

Old copper utensils and ancient wood stoves are a magnet for still-life photographers, and this tableau in one of the restored miner's houses at the Old Victoria historic site called to me as a study in color, light and shadow.

Caught on the downstroke

FEMALE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 16, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/6400 sec. f8
ISO 1600

The shutter speed of 1/6400 second was not quite fast enough to stop the tip of the wing on the downstroke, as 1/8000 was for the upstroke in the previous photo, but it came close anyway.

Caught on the upstroke

FEMALE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 16, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/8000 sec. f7.1
ISO 1600

It's not easy to stop a hummingbird's wings in a photograph, but I set the aperture at f7.1 and put the ISO on 1600 so that the camera would take a properly exposed picture at its maximum shutter speed, 1/8000th of a second. The picture was snapped just as the bird's wings stopped on the upstroke.

Powwow #6

TURTLE SHIELD, LAC VIEUX DESERT, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 10, 2013

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

Deborah Abbott snapped this photo of a ceremonial shield made of a snapping turtle shell and wild turkey feathers at the annual powwow of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.

Powwow #5

CHIPPEWA DANCER, LAC VIEUX DESERT, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 10, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 55-300 at 210mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 800

To me this photo is less interesting for its composition than it is for its subject: a young Native American dancer whose headgear is a "NY" ball cap. It's a fresh example of the meaning of the term "cross-cultural."

Powwow #4

CHIPPEWA DANCER, LAC VIEUX DESERT, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 10, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 40mm
1/2500 sec. f7
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott captured this closeup of a braided-and-coontailed Ojibwe dancer at the powwow held at the Indian village on Lac Vieux Desert near Watersmeet, Michigan. Click on and enlarge the photo to see the detail of the braids.

Powwow #3

CHIPPEWA DANCER, LAC VIEUX DESERT, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 10, 2013

Pentax K-01
Pentax 18-135 at 135mm
1/2000 f6.7
ISO 800

It's hard to say which is the more striking, the physical beauty and grace of the powwow dancer or the intricate embroidery of her costume. Deborah Abbott took the photograph.

Powwow #2

YOUNG CHIPPEWA DANCER, LAC VIEUX DESERT, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 10, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 55-300 at 97.5mm
1/800 sec. f8
ISO 400

This boy, 11 or 12 years old, was one of the most skillful and energetic as well as colorful dancers at the annual powwow of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians near Watersmeet, Michigan, the other day.

Powwow #1

CHIPPEWA DANCER, LAC VIEUX DESERT,  MICHIGAN, AUGUST 10, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 55-300 at 260mm
1/800 sec. f8
ISO 800

Photographing busy and colorful dancers at the annual traditional powwow of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians is always difficult because of the equally busy and colorful backgrounds. Opening up the lens to the biggest f-stop to blur the background more would have helped some. All the same, the beatific expression of the dancer, in my opinion, makes the picture.

Brown Chinese

BROWN CHINESE GOOSE, LAONA, WISCONSIN, JULY 29, 2013

Pentax K-01
Pentax 18-135 at 135mm
1/1500 f9.5
ISO 1600

This homely specimen was captured at the Camp 5 Logging Museum in Laona, Wis. It may look exotic but it is a common and popular farm pond goose all over the United States. I really should have spent a couple of hours with Photoshop Elements' spot healing tool to get rid of all the detritus on the water, but the prospect just seems too daunting.

Hogger

ENGINEER, LAONA & NORTHERN RAILWAY, LAONA, MICHIGAN, JULY 29, 2013

Pentax K-01
Pentax 18-135 at 135mm
1/30 sec. f11
ISO 800

This steam locomotive "hogger" engineers the 2-6-2 Prairie in the photograph below.

4 Spot

LAONA & NORTHERN 2-6-2 PRAIRIE NO. 4, LAONA, WISCONSIN, JULY 29, 2013

Pentax K-01
Pentax 18-135 at 31mm
1/180 sec. f13
ISO 800

No. 4, a rare operating coal-fired Prairie-type steam locomotive, hauls the Laona & Northern's quaint "Lumberjack Express" two miles north from Laona, Wisconsin, to Camp 5, a former logging camp now a living-history museum. It's on U.S. 8 about 30 miles east of Rhinelander.

Sandhill Crane

YOUNG SANDHILL CRANE NEAR BRUCE CROSSING, MICHIGAN, JULY 30, 2013

Pentax K-01
Pentax 18-135 at 135mm
1/125 sec. f11
ISO 400

Driving up U.S. 45 the other day, I spotted this young crane feeding close to the roadside. Quickly I turned 180 degrees and drove up a few feet away from him, keeping the car moving slowly as the bird proceeded to look for lunch, oblivious to my presence.