Storm over Lake Superior

ONCOMING STORM, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 27, 2013

Pentax K20D
Pentax 18-135 at 27mm
1/250 f9.5
ISO 200

It's a week past the solstice, and dramatic cloud formations are now building almost every evening over Lake Superior. This one was shot on the dot at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Best viewed by clicking on large version.

Chilly hummer

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 13, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5
1/400 sec. f8
ISO 800

This is the first time I've been able to capture a hummer with its long tongue so visible. It was a cold and rainy morning, and the bird fluffed its feathers for warmth.

Pink Lady's Slipper

PINK LADY'S SLIPPER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 25, 2013

Pentax K20D
Pentax 18-135 at 135mm
1/45 sec. f8
ISO 400

Early this morning the Lady Friend spotted this fine specimen of Cypripedium acaule, a kind of orchid, just outside our bedroom window on the shore of Lake Superior and I hastened outdoors to capture it.

Redwing

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, JUNE 16, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5
1/800 sec. f8
ISO 400

I visited the Botanic Garden one morning during a short trip back to the Chicago area in mid-June and got this one.

More fuzzballs

CANADA GOOSE AND GOSLINGS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 12, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/1600 sec. f8
ISO 400

Two families of geese live in the creek just to the west of us. One contains three goslings and the other boasts five. When the sun is right they are the most photogenic subjects on this stretch of Lake Superior. This clutch of goslings is about four weeks old.

Bold little fellow

EASTERN CHIPMUNK, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 11, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5
1/640 sec. f8
ISO 3200

I'd forgotten to reset the camera after taking interior photographs, hence the ridiculous ISO number for outdoors shade in the evening. But the result after denoising in Lightroom is not bad at all, I think, for a closeup portrait of a brassy little chipmunk that sat on a log just a few feet away from my perch, waiting for me to feed it for the third time that day.

Red-breasted Merganser

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 10, 2013

Pentax K20D
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/1500 sec f8
ISO 800

The image quality of this photograph isn't what I'd like—the lighting wasn't good enough to get the bird's striking red eyes—but it's the first red-breasted merganser I've seen off our beach. Most mergansers in these parts are the ubiquitous common variety. This one is a male.

Slug

FOREST SLUG, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 9, 2013

Pentax K-5
Tamron 90mm macro
1/160 sec. f8
ISO 1600

A photographer finds his subjects wherever he can, and this one was crawling ever so slowly up our front window this morning. Exactly what species this mollusk is I have no idea, but it's probably the commonest.

Fuzzballs

CANADA GOOSE AND GOSLINGS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 6, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

I had to sneak through the woods, keeping out of sight behind trees, until getting close enough for this portrait of a parent and three offspring on our Lake Superior beach. The goslings are about three weeks old and were getting some rough-surf training.

Goldfinches II

AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 27, 2013

Pentax K20D
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

It waa nice to capture this view of the colorful birds with a forest background rather than the ubiquitous feeder shot. The K20D is ancient (2008) for a digital SLR, but its image quality with a supersharp lens in good light can still compete with the latest high-end prosumer models.

Chickadee

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 31, 2013

Pentax K20D
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/750 sec. f4.5
ISO 800

This snatch-and-grab artist stayed just long enough at the feeder for his portrait to be taken. I shot wide open at a high ISO to overcome the deep shade, and smoothed out the noise with Lightroom.

Gray tree frog

GRAY TREE FROG, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 1, 2013

Pentax K-01
Tamron 90mm macro
1/750 f6.7
ISO 1600

It's rare that I ever encounter a Hyla versicolor even though they're common in this neck of the woods. This two-inch-long specimen evidently fell out of a pine tree and onto a bench on our deck during a windy night. With a cigar in his mouth and ash on his necktie, he'd be a ringer for a night copy desk chief I used to work for.

Ms. and Mrs. Merganser

COMMON MERGANSERS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 25, 2013

Pentax K20D
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

It's breeding season for waterfowl on Lake Superior, and we often see this pair just off the shore of our cabin, sometimes in company with other mergansers of both sexes. Soon the mother will hide up the nearby creek to sit on her eggs. The inshore water is still red with silt, thanks to the heavy spring runoff from streams in these parts.