Gorilla

EASTERN LOWLAND GORILLA, AUDUBON ZOO, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, OCTOBER 23, 2014

Pentax K-3
Sigma 18-250 at 155mm
1/20 sec. f9
ISO 400

The primate's bored and lonely expression raised disturbing thoughts about confining such sapient creatures in zoos for the entertainment of spectators. The photograph was shot handheld in deep shade.

Fall colors at the Garden

CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 19, 2014

Pentax K-5
Sigma 18-250 at 18mm
1/800 sec. f8
ISO 800

This was the view east from the bridge to the Japanese Gardens this morning. The fall colors are nearing their peak. This is not a real panoramic shot, just a faux one created by cropping the top and the bottom of a full-sized wide-angle frame. It's best viewed by clicking the photo to a large size.

Chihuly 2

CHIHULY SCULPTURE DETAIL, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, AUGUST 29, 2014

Pentax K-5
Sigma 18-250 at 60mm
1/13 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Another shot from the Chihuly blown glass sculpture exhibition in downtown Seattle. It was taken handheld leaning against a wall; tripods and monopods were forbidden, as they usually are in venues with lots of foot traffic.

First light at Lake of the Clouds

LAKE OF THE CLOUDS, PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS STATE PARK, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

Pentax K-3
Sigma 18-250mm at 18mm
20 secs. f3.5
ISO 400

We got up at oh-dark-thirty to get to the Lake of the Clouds overlook for this one. It was a very dark 20 second time exposure, and to improve the picture quality I slid the Lightroom shadows slider all the way to the right and the highlights slider all the way to the left, then opened up a couple of f-stops. I intensified the blue sky with saturation a little to the right and luminance a little to the left, and finished up with a bit of denoising. If you look closely you can see Jupiter in the top center of the photo.

New Eddystone Rock, revisited

NEW EDDYSTONE ROCK, BEHM CANAL, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 55mm
1/800 sec. f10
ISO 400

This was our second visit to the basalt pillar in the middle of Behm Canal, a long inlet along the Alaskan coast, on a sightseeing boat trip to Misty Fjords from Ketchikan. We'd first been there in 2010. The sight is just as glorious.

Misty Fjords

MISTY FJORDS NATIONAL MONUMENT, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 55mm
1/800 sec. f10
ISO 400

This was our second visit in three years to the cloud-bedecked Misty Fjords National Monument near Ketchikan, Alaska, one of the state's best photo opportunities, and we made the most of it.

Trawler in the fog

FISHING TRAWLER IN JOHNSTONE STRAIT, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AUGUST 31, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/640 sec. f9
ISO 1600

As the M/V Kennicott sailed up the Alaska Marine Highway, this ghostly trawler loomed in the early morning fog of Johnstone Strait between Vancouver and West Cracroft Islands.

Otter

DE HAVILLAND CANADA DHC-3 TURBO OTTER, KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Originally called the "King Beaver," the Otter is a considerably larger bush plane, "the one-ton truck to the Beaver's half-ton truck." This one, captured on landing in Ketchikan Harbor, has been up-engined to turboprop status. I wish I had used a much slower shutter speed to blur the propeller.

Beaver

DE HAVILLAND CANADA DHC-2 BEAVER, KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 400

This particular Beaver was built in 1959 and is the same age—55 years—as my old Cessna 150. She was delivered to the U.S. Army as a L-20A utility aircraft and has had a long career as a civilian bush plane, having been rebuilt regularly. She and dozens of her sisters weave in and out among cruise liners in Ketchikan harbor, carrying sightseers in the summer and supplies all over Alaska in the winter. The actor Harrison Ford owns one and says it's his favorite in his collection of airplanes.

Spawning salmon

SPAWNING SALMON, KETCHIKAN CREEK, KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 18-135 at 135mm
1/125 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Along the creek in the eponymous town of Ketchikan many thousands of salmon struggled upstream to spawn and then die. These exhausted specimens rested briefly in a shallow eddy before resuming the quest.

Bighorn

YOUNG BIGHORN SHEEP, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Pentax K-5
Sigma 18-250 at 88mm
1/60 sec. f8
ISO 1600

While driving along the Bow Valley Parkway, a two-lane road paralleling the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park, we came upon a small herd of bighorns blocking the roadway and made the most of the delay. There was a heavy rain-laden overcast so I used a high ISO.

Ancient raven

RAVEN, JASPER NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 155mm
1/320 sec. f9
ISO 400

This aged and disheveled raven, blind in one eye, hopped about a layby on the highway between Jasper and Lake Louise, hoping for handouts.

Moon Jellyfish

MOON JELLYFISH, KETCHIKAN HARBOR, KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 170mm
1/250 sec. f10
ISO 400

Being a denizen of the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, I'd never before seen a jellyfish in the wild. This species runs 10 to 16 inches in diameter and feeds on plankton, visible as light dots in the harbor waters. Although it does sting, it's harmless to humans. The orange "doughnuts" are the animal's egg-producing gonads.

Eagle 3

BALD EAGLE, ALASKA RAINFOREST SANCTUARY, KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 190mm
1/400 sec. f8
ISO 800

The third portrait posted here of the eagle housed at the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary, this one reminds me of the famous photograph of Winston Churchill glowering into the camera just after Yusuf Karsh snatched the cigar out of his mouth.

Eagle 2

BALD EAGLE, ALASKA RAINFOREST SANCTUARY, KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300 mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 800

This is the same eagle as in yesterday's post, but in a much calmer pose, as if she'd had a relaxing visit to the hairdresser and nail salon.

Eagle 1

BALD EAGLE, ALASKA RAINFOREST SANCTUARY, KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 230mm
1/800 sec. f8
ISO 800

Naturally this eagle, recovering from some kind of accident, was restrained by jesses and handled by a sanctuary worker when it posed for its portrait. This is one of the best profile photos of the species I've ever been able to get. The soft lighting was perfect and so was the dark background.

Scarlett Point Light

LIGHTHOUSE COMPLEX AT SCARLETT POINT,  BALAKLAVA ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AUGUST 31, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 55mm
1/1600 f8
ISO 400

It was morning on the Alaska Marine Highway when the M/V Kennicott passed this light about 40 kilometers northwest of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. The heavy fog blanketing the Inside Passage lifted just enough for a shot through the mist.

Chihuly in Seattle

CHIHULY GLASS SCULPTURE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, AUGUST 29, 2014

Pentax K-5
Sigma 18-250 at 22mm
1/640 sec. f10
ISO 400

This is just one of scores of stunning blown glass sculptures in the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit under the Space Needle in Seattle. This perspective no doubt has been captured by hundreds of thousands of fellow tourists, but still . . .

And it's only August 14

MAPLE LEAF, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 14, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 18-135 at 115mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

The title says it all. For maple leaves to turn this early suggests that the winter ahead will be another harsh one in the Upper Peninsula, with deep snows and unending subzero temperatures the norm from December through April.

Sunset 7/17/14

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 17, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 18-135 at 135mm
1/2000 sec. f5.6
ISO 1600

Using a medium telephoto added visual interest to this shot of Lake Superior at about 9 p.m. The wind was offshore, not ruffling the close-in water but kicking up wavelets farther out that caught the blue in the sky directly overhead.

Musk Mallow

MUSK MALLOW (MALVA MOSCHATA), GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 18, 2014

Pentax K20D
Tamron 90mm macro
1/750 sec. f8
ISO 400

At first I thought this might be a Wild Geranium, but the lobed petals and delicate, lavender-like scent  bespoke Musk Mallow, a wildflower native to Europe, Turkey and southeast Asia and brought to America as an ornamental plant. Several specimens are growing by the side of the driveway to our cabin through the woods.

Merganserlings and mama

COMMON MERGANSERS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 14, 2014

Pentax K-5

Pentax 55-300 at 300mm

All photos 1/400 sec. f8

ISO 1600

It has been a while since I posted a new photo, so here is a threefer. Fortunately I was looking out the window of our cabin when this flotilla of mergansers paddled by, and quickly I sneaked up the beach through the woods and captured them before they sailed out of sight.

Views from our front porch, 9 p.m., June 29, 2014

LOOKING OUT OVER LAKE SUPERIOR AT 9 P.M., GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 29, 2014

Both photographs:
Pentax K-3
Sigma 18-250 at 43mm
1/400 sec. f10
ISO 400

At long last the summer late-evening skies over Lake Superior are becoming photographable. Earlier in the year the sunsets tend to be "barenaked," or without clouds to give them visual interest—or completely overcast.

Lady's Slipper

LADY'S SLIPPER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 22, 2014

Pentax K-3
Sigma 18-250 at 250mm
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

I happened to be glancing out the bedroom window in our cabin when I spotted this specimen just fifteen feet away. Out I went with the K-3 and captured its essence. The Sigma travel lens yields surprisingly sharp results in macro mode. I shot at high ISO because of the deep shade.

Merganser

FEMALE COMMON MERGANSER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 17, 2014

Pentax K-01
Sigma 135-400 at 400mm
1/640 sec. f9
ISO 400

Ordinarily, mergansers are as common as houseflies in this spot on the western shore of Lake Superior, but we've seen no more than four or five in a group all summer. This one was sunning herself on the crib in front of our cabin while I took her portrait.

Peep

SPOTTED SANDPIPER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 16, 2014

Pentax K-01
Sigma 135-400 at 400mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

This "peep"—as people hereabouts call the various sandpipers—stepped onto the crib on Lake Superior in front of our cabin this morning, and stayed although I went out on the beach with camera on tripod. Despite the long lens, I had to crop the photograph hard. That meant the image quality suffers a bit but is still usable on the Internet.

Munk

EASTERN CHIPMUNK, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 24, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f7.1
ISO 400

The summer wouldn't be complete without at least one portrait of Tamias striatus, a species so common hereabouts that most people barely notice them. So far this is the best one I've managed to capture.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

MALE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 6, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/180 sec. f10 with on-board flash
ISO 400

Our cabin is swarmed all day by ruby-throats, male and female, but so far this year I haven't yet been able to capture one in the right light to show the ruby red of the male. In the wrong light they can be mistaken for black-chinned hummers.

Mourning dove

MOURNING DOVE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 5, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/400 sec. at f10
ISO 400

Most of the other birds are nesting and haven't been around our feeders for a while, except for four doves that waddle in every evening to scavenge the seeds scratched out of the feeders by chickadees and goldfinches.

Geese on ice

CANADA GEESE AND ICE FIELD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 28, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Hard to believe, but on Memorial Day leftover winter ice still choked the inshore in front of our cabin on Lake Superior. For a week the doughty geese had picked their way through and around the floes to get from Point A to Point B.

Oriole No. 3

BALTIMORE ORIOLE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 210mm
1/180 sec. f6.3 with on-board flash
ISO 800

Can I help it if I love orioles? Even if they're perching on a hummingbird feeder instead of a twig in the forest?

Oriole No. 2

BALTIMORE ORIOLE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2014

Pentax K-01
Pentax F* 300 f4.5 plus Kenko 1.5x converter (450mm total)
1/200 sec. f8
ISO 400

This one was shot in the late evening through the plate glass window of our cabin's great room. I just wish that twig hadn't got in the way.

Chickadee

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 4, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/500 sec. f7.1
ISO 400

Photographing these quicksilver little birds takes both patience and fast reflexes, but since they hang around the feeders all summer, a little perseverance pays dividends.

Today's jay

BLUE JAY, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 24, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/500 sec. f7.1
ISO 400

The blue suit these birds wear is so natty I often wonder where the phrase "naked as a jaybird" came from. For two weeks they have been bullying the smaller birds in our back yard, but they will move on soon and not come back until late September or early October on their migration south.

Swainson's Thrush

SWAINSON'S THRUSH, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 22, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/320 sec. f8
ISO 200

Also known as the olive-backed thrush, the shy but vocal Swainson's is more often heard than seen while skulking close to the ground in pine forests. It is generally a Western species, the bird books say, but often migrates as far east as Newfoundland in the summer.

Pileated woodpecker

PILEATED WOODPECKER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 29, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/160 sec. f8
ISO 400

This woodpecker lives around our cabin but is more often heard than seen. The odd vertical striations in the background (better seen when the photo is clicked to larger size) apparently come from shooting through a double-pane window at an angle. Though the photo thus is flawed, I'm happy with the result. It was a quick and lucky grabshot without time to think.

Today's Baltimore oriole

FEMALE BALTIMORE ORIOLE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 24, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/640 f8
ISO 800

Halved oranges do work as advertised as attractants for orioles, we discovered when we put these out a few days ago. This female is slimmer than the male and lacks its black head.

Daybreak at McMurdo Sound, Michigan

SUNRISE AT GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 28, 2014

Pentax K-3
Sigma 18-250 at 37mm
1/400 sec. f8
ISO 800

Of course it's not Antarctica, but it sure feels that way along the southern shore of Lake Superior in Upper Michigan with winter's remaining ice floes hanging on almost into June.

Today's goldfinch

MALE GOLDFINCH, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 24, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/500 sec. f7.1
ISO 400

My strategy now is to sit in a lawn chair about 15 feet from the feeders and just hold a motionless pose with the camera and long lens close to my eye. Within five minutes all the spooked birds will return, and if I move the lens ever so slowly I can catch a specimen in a closeup.

Brrgansers

COMMON MERGANSERS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 24, 2014

Pentax K-5
Sigma 18-250 at 105mm
1/80 sec. f8
ISO 400

It was another chilly morning among the inshore ice floes on Lake Superior when this matched pair of mergansers paddled by our cabin.

Wood ducks at dawn

WOOD DUCKS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 24, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 260mm
1/200 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Ice floes are lingering into the Memorial Day weekend all along the southern shore of Lake Superior, and at dawn the other day I captured this pair through the front window of our cabin. Click on the photo for detail, or for a desktop.

Lincoln's Sparrow

LINCOLN'S SPARROW, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 22, 2014

Pentax K-01
Pentax F* 300 f4.5 plus 1.5x Kenko converter (450mm)
1/160 sec. f8
IS0 400

It took some consultation of the bird books and fellow avian enthusiasts to identify this one. At first I thought it was a Chipping Sparrow, very common in the Upper Peninsula, but the divided brown crown and two-tone bill are markers for the Lincoln's Sparrow.

Female purple finch

FEMALE PURPLE FINCH, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 22, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/640 sec. f8
ISO 200

It took a while to find the distinction between the females of the House Finch and Purple Finch species, but the prominent white "eyebrow" bespoke the latter. Her erected crest suggests her mate has done something displeasing.

Crow

AMERICAN CROW, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 21, 2014

Pentax K-01
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5 plus Kenko 1.5x converter (450mm)
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

I shot this one through a window with my trusty 450mm lens-and-converter combination on a tripod. It's a little clumsy to aim and focus but the results are decent.

Female rose-breasted grosbeak

FEMALE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 21, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 260mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

The female of this species is hardly as gaudy as the red-bibbed male, but she nevertheless carries interesting markings.

Indigo bunting

INDIGO BUNTING, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 19, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/320 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Buntings look like goldfinches dipped into a tub of blue ink, and they're the same size and with the same tendency to spook, flit away and return in almost the same instant to the feeders. Three of the merry little birds are on the property at the moment, and we hope they hang around all summer instead of moving on to greener pastures as birds tend to do. This one was captured at dusk.

Baltimore orioles

BALTIMORE ORIOLES, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 19, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 260mm (top) and 300mm (bottom)
Both 1/180 sec at f9, with on-board flash
ISO 400

We'd never seen orioles at our feeders before, but this year a pair seems to have taken up residence, however temporary, at our cabin on Lake Superior. They hang around the hummingbird feeders, even though they're six times the size of the little birds, and are almost comical the way they have to grab one perch and lean across to drink from the neighboring plastic flower.