Locals

This morning I went out to the photoblind in the front yard for a little over a half an hour. I photographed the Chestnut Backed Chickadees as they came and went to the feeder. Just as I was about ready to pack it up two Douglas Tree Squirrels showed up and had a very brief battle on the ground for who would have control of the feeder. After the battle the winner quickly took up residence in the feeder and I was able to take numerous images of it. God's love and blessings to all, chris

That's a Fine Kettle O' Vultures

This morning I was quite the busy boy. I worked out,did the recycling, photographed some birds and had lunch with Lenore. All in a mornings work! I went out to the Burris Ranch because I wanted to photograph some birds on a mossy rock. The only birds that came in were Dark Eyed Juncos. It's that season of the year where I'm only getting to see just the local birds as other birds are or have already migrated southward. After getting out of the photoblind a kettle of Turkey Vultures (yes that is what a group of turkey Vultures is called) began forming in the thermals above the pasture next to my blind. I stayed and watched them for about fifteen minutes. A couple of times they broke off into separate groups but then they came back together again. At one point I counted just over forty vultures. I couldn't get the whole kettle in as I had my telephoto lens on.All in all a very nice morning. God's love and blessings to all chris

A Bit of Photographic Fun From This Morning

Every time I finish a project using wood screws I always have a few extras in my pocket. I don't really notice that they are there until I sit down and one of them pokes me in the side of the leg. Usually I'm sitting in my office when this happens. I'll pull them out of my pocket and set them aside until I'm done working. Then I'll take them downstairs and throw them in the hardware drawer in the kitchen. For some reason last week when I set some on my desk and the thought occurred to me that wood screws resembled tree trunks or dead tree snags.I knew I wanted to create an image using the wood screws and needed the time to set it up. Last night I gathered a bunch of wood screws together and set them all on end on a black background sweep. This morning I photographed them and then combined it with an image of this mornings sunrise. Here is the result of "Sunrise Over the Wood Screw Range". God's light and love to all, chris

Simple Beauty of a Rose

This morning I went out to water in the backyard. Supposedly it's fall but my plants don't believe it.The weather has been rather warm and they are still thirsty for water.When I stepped onto the patio my eye was drawn to one particular blossom on Lenore's rosebush.For some reason this rose just seemed to stand out. I went back into the house and grabbed my camera and tripod. I came back out and created numerous exposures of it. This one is my favorite. I love the soft colors and the translucent petals. The dark fir trees in the background really set it off.It's a gift from God and a joy to find simple beauty in your own backyard. Enjoy and God bless, chris

Simple Things

This morning I was at it again with the Douglas Tree Squirrels in the front yard.They were coming to a at a knothole feeder I had set up next to my photoblind.I've stated it before that I'm a sucker for little mammals. Douglas Tree Squirrels have always reminded me of little teddy bears. They are tough little guys that won't take much guff from the larger Western Gray Squirrels that live around here. Apparently there was an earthquake this morning when I was in the photoblind. I didn't feel a thing. God's precious love to all, chris

Flashback

Yesterday I was looking through my folders looking for a Pika image. In the process I went through and almost reedited my whole folder of images from a trip I made in Colorado the previous summer. Being away from the images from such a long period gave me a slightly different feel for what I was looking for in my original edit. I found several powerful landscape style images that I had previously overlooked as well as one rattlesnake image that was pretty strong too. My favorites were still the Pika, Marmot and Chipmunk images because I'm a sucker for small mammals. I can't count the times where I have passed up photographing elk and deer when there are small mammals around. Once camping with my friend Joe he commented. "There goes Chris with those darn squirrels and chipmunks again." Enjoy and God bless, chris

Squirrel Time

Before going off to church this morning I spent some time in my photoblind out in the front yard. In my short time I found out that the Mountain Quail must have had a very successful brood because about eight young ones showed up scratching for seed and having dust baths around the photoblind. Sadly they were too low for me to get any decent photographs of them. Instead I had a wonderful time photographing the little Douglas Tree Squirrels that were coming to the knothole feeder for sunflower seeds. They are such feisty little critters with amazing personalities to match. God's love to all, chris

Three Chop Ridge and the Fir Tree in My Driveway

There is a Douglas Fir Tree trunk down my driveway that always catches my attention whenever there is a nice sunset. The tree positively glows with red light. I keep trying to capture a photgraph that gives it justice without any effect. I have finally realized after examining tonights efforts that I need to try a different method of photographing it. Stay tuned in a future blog for what I feel will be a image that will do it justice. God's precious light and love to all, chris

Beginning,Ending a No Photography Day

Today was basically a no photgraphy day. I grabbed an image at the beginning of the day of a pot of steaming water that for some reason looked interesting to me. Then I worked most of the day replacing a wooden beam on our second floor deck that was rotten.Just before dinner I grabbed a blossom from one of Lenore's roses to photograph as it was just about to the end of its life. God's love and blessings to all, chris

An Unkind Constable Conspiracy???

The last installment from my trip to the Mendocino Coast on Tuesday. After leaving the Harbor Seals at the Fingers I headed back down the coast to Kabiselah. I wanted to get some flight images of birds going by the cliffs just below there. As it turned out it was pretty tough photography and I was lucky to get any images at all. The sun came out bright and shiny and there wasn't a cloud to be seen in the skies. Not the best of conditions for photography. I didn't bring along a flash something that can really help you in this kind of a situation. Even if the photography wasn't that great I had a blast. A group of six ravens showed up and they landed in a tree at the end of the cliff. For the next half hour they played and played flying along the updraft along the edge of the cliff. They were soaring diving and just plain having fun. I was doing my best to try and track them with my camera as they flew by. Next time I'll remember to bring my flash. Just to let you know a group of Ravens in a group watching out and looking is called a constable. They can also be called an unkindness if they are driving other birds away from a food source. Lastly they may be called a conspiracy if they are working together as a team to capture or gather food.Interesting facts to know and forget!! God's precious love to all, chris

Harbor Seals on the North Coast

As I was editing images this morning the fog kept drifting by my windows through the trees reminding me of my adventure to the Mendocino Coast yesterday. After my breakfast in Fort Bragg I had noseyed up the coast towards the "Fingers". Along the way I stopped off at the Pacific Star Winery where I planned on buying a bottle of wine for one of my good neighbors. For some reason there wasn't anyone in the tasting room. Beautiful place by the way. I lingered there for a few minutes and know one showed up so I left as I was on a mission to do some photography. When I got to the "Fingers" it was foggy with the sun trying to break through. Looking down I could see the fingers of rock reaching out into the Pacific explaining how the area got its name. The ocean was really calm, perfect conditions to do some seal photography. After hiking down the trail to the rocks I immediately spotted a group of harbor seals spy hop fishing. In calmer water seals have adopted a very unique way of looking for fish. The float upright in a spy hop position and tip their heads backwards into the water.This allows them to still breathe while looking downward into the water for fish. After they spot a fish they roll over and dive after it. I carefully made way down closer to the waters edge making sure not to disturb the seals. Once I was close enough I found a comfortable spot and sat down and waited. Several seals came by to check me out. They are quite curious and would stare at me from the water for awhile and then go back to fishing. Meanwhile off shore on their haul out rock the rest of the Harbor Seals snoozed. Once in awhile one would lift up its head to make sure everything was right with the world.There was a little bickering between some seals over spots but otherwise it was really calm. Towards the end of my stay some small waves began coming in. One dark seal had chosen a low spot and it started getting wet. It seemed really unhappy and finally it gave up and went back into the water. Some of the other seals dealt with the incoming water by lifting up their heads and tails to try and keep them warm and dry. By then I had been sitting on the rocks for over an hour and my rear end was getting a bit sore. Next time I need to remember to bring a pad to sit on. Climbing up the hill back to my pick up I stopped and photographed a bumblebee on a thistle. You never know what you will find to photograph when you are out in nature. Speaking of which there is still one more installment of this trip left to cover. God's love and blessings to all, chris Note: Harbor Seals in the United States are protected under the Marine Mammal Act and may not be harrassed or approached under a 100 feet. Please use common sense and good judgement around a seal colony.