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.