Chipmunk

EASTERN CHIPMUNK (TAMIAS STRIATUS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 21, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Common as this rodent may be, it's not all that easy to photograph up close. One creeps up on it and composes the photograph in the viewfinder, and -- where'd it go? This one hangs out under the bird feeders, harvesting seed scattered by chickadees, and is carefully watched by our half-Lab Hogan, who long ago gave up trying to catch it.

Fall colors

LOOKING SOUTH FROM HIGHWAY M26 NEAR WINONA, MICHIGAN,  SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma 10-20 DC EX at 10mm
1/1500 sec. f8
ISO 400

The turning of the autumn leaves in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan typically occurs two to three weeks ahead of most of the rest of the country, thanks to a short growing season and near-freezing nights after Labor Day.  Another week and the colors will be at their height. I stopped on the highway between Houghton and Ontonagon to capture this view.  Click the photo for a larger view.

Sunset No. 6

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/2000 sec. f13
ISO 2200

Sometimes a setting sun captured with a long lens can be as striking as one taken with a wide-angle lens. I mistakenly set the camera's ISO sensitivity to a ridiculously high 2200 instead of the customary 400, resulting in a photograph full of noise. Lightroom 3's noise reducing feature took care of most of the noise, and Photoshop Elements' clone tool removed several orange artifacts in the blue of the lake. The result, I think, is OK.

Sunset No. 5

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 31, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/250 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

I was composing a shot of an oncoming storm in the Lake Superior sky in front of our cabin on a late August evening when a flight of Canada geese suddenly and unexpectedly swept into the frame. Very considerate of them, wouldn't you say? Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.

Young Gull

JUVENILE HERRING GULL, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 19, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

For a little while I thought this specimen, boldly striding up the Lake Superior beach surprisingly close to my perch in front of our cabin, was some kind of shore bird I'd never encountered before. Then I consulted the Sibley bird book, whose detailed drawing of a herring gull in its speckled first year was a dead ringer for this one.

Sunset No. 4

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 7, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Lately the sunsets at the Writer's Lair have been highly photogenic, mainly because of looming storm cloud formations far out over Lake Superior. Rather than the usual wide-angle shot, I chose to capture this one with a zoom telephoto racked out to its maximum 300mm. Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.

Secrets

CHILDREN AT MIDWEST PRIMITIVE RENDEZVOUS, ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 1, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott captured these two little girls at their morning chores during an encampment of "living history" re-enactors of the era of Lewis & Clark (1800-1840) on a bend of the Ontonagon River in upper Michigan earlier this month. It seems to be a perfect moment of childhood, doesn't it?

Sunset No. 3

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR AT GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 25, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/180 sec. f8
ISO 400

On the evening I took this shot, the lowering sun tried hard to punch through both a deep haze and darkening storm clouds in the northwest. Using a long zoom racked out to its furthest point seemed the best way to capture the odd but striking phenomenon.