Lily

LILY, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 24, 2008

Pentax *ist DS
Pentax 50-200 at 150mm
1/500 sec. f9.5
ISO 800

Still another find in the archive, this was taken with the first digital SLR I owned, a 6 megapixel Pentax *ist DS. I still have it and even put it to use once in a while, mostly in situations dangerous to cameras, such as tippy canoes and kayaks. The background was darkened and the colors intensified in Lightroom in order to add drama.

Cactus dahlia

CACTUS DAHLIA, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 24, 2008

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 63mm
1/350 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Still another treasure from the vaults. The K20D/17-70 camera-and-lens combination was a very good go-to kit for the time, and I am sure would still be today.

Rainbow sorbet rose

ROSE "RAINBOW SORBET," CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/250 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

I really should go up to the Garden to get some new photographs, but in the meantime I'm having a great time rummaging through the archives in search of overlooked or forgotten shots.

Tulip

TULIP, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 28, 2010

Pentax K20D
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

Here's another overlooked keeper from rummaging through old photo files. That old K20D is still a competent camera.

Red-tail

RED-TAILED HAWK, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 1, 2010

Pentax K20D
Pentax 55-300 at 120mm
1/90 sec. f11
ISO 400

While going through old Botanic Garden images today, I discovered that somehow I had overlooked this shot of a juvenile red-tailed hawk taken almost four years ago. It reminded me that the image quality of the Pentax K20D, a camera three generations older than the K-3 I use today, is still very good.

White Phalaenopsis

WHITE PHALAENOPSIS ORCHID, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 17, 2013

Pentax K-3
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro
1/800 sec. f9
ISO 1600

This beauty also was among the few orchids blooming in the Garden's tropical greenhouse the other day. There was no identifying plaque so I had to Google the bloom and quickly discovered its name—it is one of the most popular orchids to be found at florists.

Satin Doll

BRASSOLAELIA SEA URCHIN "SATIN DOLL," CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 17, 2013

Pentax K-3
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro
1/160 sec. f9
ISO 1600

This species was one of the few orchids actually blooming at this time of year in the Botanic Garden's semitropical greenhouse.

Amaryllis

AMALFI AMARYLLIS, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 17, 2013

Both photographs:
Pentax K-3
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro

1/200 sec. f5.6, ISO 800

1/125 sec. f9, ISO 1600

For the second one, I reduced the aperture by 1 1/2 stops to gain a little more depth of field, and boosted the ISO for an adequate shutter speed holding the camera with the assistance of a monopod. There was no sun, so I saturated the colors a little in Lightroom to give the photos more "pop."

Purple Phalaenopsis

PURPLE PHALAENOPSIS ORCHID, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

Pentax K-3
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro
1/320 sec. f6.3
ISO 1600

Another run through the recent archives yielded this pretty orchid from the tropical greenhouse at the Botanic Garden. I darkened the background in Lightroom to make the color pop a bit more.