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 #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.

Powwow Nos. 3 and 4

POWWOW, LAC VIEUX DESERT BAND OF THE OJIBWA NATION RESERVATION, WATERSMEET, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 12, 2012


Top: Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 138mm
1/350 sec. f9
ISO 400


Bottom: Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 138mm
1/1000 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott took these two photographs of Rosie Sanpaw, a Lac du Flambeau Ojibwa, who was the chief female dancer at the powwow south of Watersmeet, Michigan, yesterday. The seven-year-old 6-megapixel *ist DS and 50-200 kit lens still perform well and give excellent image quality in good lighting.

Powwow No. 2

DANCER, LAC VIEUX DESERT OJIBWA RESERVATION, WATERSMEET, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 12, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 135mm
1/1250 sec. f8
ISO 800

In my opinion, this is one of the few shots at the powwow in which the background added to rather than distracted from the subject, partly because both the dancer in the foreground and the one in the background were leaning in the same direction, giving the composition some movement.

Horse and rider

HORSE AND RIDER, ONTONAGON COUNTY FAIR, GREENLAND, MICHIGAN, JULY 29, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 135mm
1/1600 sec. f9
ISO 1600

This young lady, 17-year-old Darien Steiner, was a contestant at the Ontonagon County Fair yesterday. Of all the photographs I took of the events, this one seems to be the most insteresting, for it captures the horse's dynamic effort at the instant it changes direction, rounding the barrel perfectly and heading for the next—much to the obvious delight of its rider.

Carving a tree

FINNISH WOOD CARVER, ONTONAGON COUNTY FAIR, GREENLAND, MICHIGAN, JULY 28, 2012

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 50mm
1/15 sec. f9.5
ISO 800

Deborah Abbott captured this artisan of Finnish extraction carving a little wooden tree at the annual Ontonagon County Fair in Greenland.

Weevil Knievel

MOTOCROSS CONTESTANT, ONTONAGON COUNTY FAIR, GREENLAND, MICHIGAN, JULY 28, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 at 135mm
1/800 sec. f8
ISO 400

This bepadded and behelmeted rider is about six years old. This part of the country goes in for reciprocating engine sports in a big way—motorbikes, cycles and ATVs in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter—and the enthusiasm starts young.

Art and the Garden

ARTIST AT THE CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 18mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 400


ARTIST'S SUBJECT AT THE CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, SEPTEMBER 10. 2008

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 43mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

Lifeguard Lit

READER ATOP A LIFEGUARD TOWER, LIGHTHOUSE BEACH,
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS,
APRIL 6, 2008

Pentax K10D
Sigma APO 135-400 DG at 135mm
1/4000 sec. f8
ISO 800