A Change of Plan

I awoke to a beautiful sunrise today. The first sunrise with clouds in it in a long time. My plan was to photograph turkeys in nice early morning light and then go work out. One family member was running late and as a consequence I had to take them to school this morning. So photographing turkeys was now not part of the mornings plan. I decided to take an early morning tour of the valley and see what I could see. I found some valley oaks standing proud in the early morning light and fog.

God's blessings to all,

chris

On the Hunt for Turkeys

I managed to fit a lot in this morning. I dropped off Jay at school and then I went and worked out with Lenore at the gym. On the way home I went on a hunt for some turkeys and I found several large flocks to photograph. The most difficult part was trying to get a jake out in the open without a whole bunch of turkeys crowded around it blocking the image. With patience I finally perservered. This image looks like one that a turkey hunter would see while on the hunt.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Oh My Deer!

I spent the majority of my day working on a new website for my photography. It can be so diifficult at times trying to decide what images to use to represent the type and style of photography that I do. The web site is going to take a lot of work and possibly some revisions but once the web site is completed I feel that it will be worth it.

This evening on my way home from dropping Annika off at volleyball and picking up Jay from a friends I decided to look for some deer on the way home. We spotted a young deer on a berm beside the road that was looking attentively at us. it made for a delightful, inquisitive image.

God's blessings to all,
chris

Fog,Sun and Moon

Today was pretty much a non photography day except for a few instances when I grabbed my camera and created a few shots of the fog early this morning an then later on at the end of the day when I captured the sun going down. Later still I captured a detailed image of the moon rising.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Splash In

Today we went to the "Splash In" held in Clearlake each fall. Float planes fly in from all over the region for this yearly fly in. We got to see all manner of float planes from small ultra lights to Gruman Albatrosses. The flagship of the all the planes was a 1948 Gruman Albatross owned by Reed Dennis it was flown around the world in 1996 as the chase plane for Linda Finch who was recreating Amelia Earhardts fateful flight. It was really beautiful to see all the different aircraft. Afterwards we went to the Pear Fair in the nearby town of Kelsyville.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Look Ma No spots!

Fall has arrived and with it the fall colors are starting and the deer too are changing their apparel to fit the season. The fawns have just lost their spots and the bucks and does are changing to a darker color to more match their upcoming winter surroundings.




This morning on my taxi run into town I stopped on the return trip to photograph a group of deer that were crossing the road. This cute fawn in the group caught my eye as it turned to look at something across the hillside.

God's blessings to all,

chris

An Image From the Collection

This evening I picked out a negative from my Grandfather's collection to scan. The negative I chose is the same size as the ones the Kodak Autographic 2C Jr. produces. The image shows relatives of mine from when they were really young L-R are my Aunt Butzel a native German holding hands with my mother Betty Hansen. Aunt Mary Anne Reis in the car and , My Aunt Audrey Shea. A pretty sharp image for what would be considered a point and shoot camera during that time period.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Through the Generations

Yesterday I was honored to receive a special gift from my Mom's cousin Marlene. She sent me one of my Grandfathers cameras. Judging from the negatives that I have it looks to be one of the four cameras (possibly more) that he owned in his lifetime. My Grandfather Will Schwerin was a prolific photographer. He took pictures on family camping trips and outings and some of just every day life. I am hoping someday to get his collection of negatives more organized.



The camera is a Kodak Autographic 2C Jr. Doing a little research last night I discovered that the camera was made from 1914
through 1924. It used a roll film 130A that is no longer manufactured. The camera took ten exposures per roll that were just slightly smaller than post card size. Considering its age the camera is in pretty good shape. All three shutter speeds are working and the lens is fairly clear. The only repairs needed are the bellows which are badly cracked.

This morning I set out to get an image of the camera.I set up a black sweep and some studio lights that were heavily diffused.
I wanted an image that drew attention to the camera and I believe I have succeeded. Let me know what you think.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Ode to Poison Oak

Bright red flaming hair.
Caress thee not.
For pain thoust cannot bear.



The fall colors are starting in with the cooler weather starting its approach. On a short country drive this morning I noticed that the poison oak has turned and there are a few big leaf maples just starting to follow. I found one oak tree on the north end of the Little Lake Valley adorned in Poison Oak this morning near the end of my drive.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Life at a Snail's Pace or a Gift From the Woodpile

I'm always finding little creatures in the woodpile anything from scorpions to chipmunks. Today was no exception. I was stacking some wood and I found a snail. One of the native ones (a Shoulderband snail) which made it all the more interesting. So immediately I gathered up my photo gear and realized it was going to be a great opportunity to try out my new light diffuser that I purchased last spring. It was after all getting close to the noon hour and the lighting was pretty harsh. I just made a quick set up on a piece of firewood in the front yard and here is the results. Let me know what you think.



God's blessings to all,

chris

First Rains

This weekend was the first rainstorm of the season. Captured here is the rain falling on the Redwood grove behind my ridgetop home.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Wllits :The Heart of Mendocino County

Today I had to make the grand journey down to the big city of Ukiah again for a minor medical appointment as we don't have many specialists of any kind in Willits. On the return trip I passed this really cool psychedelic bus climbing up the grade to Willits. It was probably on its way to the "Earth Dance" celebration just north of the town of Laytonville. I really wanted to get an image of this bus as it was so symbolic of one of the many cultures that make up Mendocino County and its history. But where could I capture an image of it that could have any sort of symbolism. I racked my brain for possible locations. I stopped on the side of the road near the entrance to town and watched the bus go by me into town. Then it dawned on me, use the "Willits Arch"!



I raced back into traffic and got a few cars ahead of the bus only to have the traffic bogged down near the arch. There is a bottleneck that forms here and today it was bigger than usual due to traffic headed north to the dance. Finally I was able to pull into the Safeway parking lot. I jumped out of my car with my camera at the ready. As luck would have it the bus for some reason slowed down three or four car lengths and it gave me just enough time to help create my symbolic image. Thank you Lord for the help here.

Enjoy and God's blessings to all,

chris

Parent,Taxicab,Harvest Time

This has been a mostly non photography week. The week seemed to have sped by without warning. I have been being the good Dad/parent and playing taxi cab and going to parent meetings and the orthodontist etc. This morning I was determined to go out and create some images. I browbeat the kids out the door this morning and dropped them off at school and headed off to the big city of Ukiah for an appointment of my own at the dermatologist. After the appointment I stopped off at a couple of vineyards on the way home and photographed the grapes that are just waiting to be harvested. Now it's off to do the recycling.

God's blessings to all,

chris

A Lazy Sunday

The weather today is beautiful. I rolled out of bed to be greeted by warm rays of the sunrise just barely creeping over the distant mountains. There was wispy fog in the valley below. I love the fog when it's like that. I grabbed my telephoto and propped it on a pillow of my bedroom windowsill and composed this image.




Afterwards I worked on some of the water images from last night before I went to church. I think this afternoon is going to be a kick back kind of day.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Say When!

Various versions of this image have been tossing themselves around my mind a lot lately. I even went out and bought a champagne bottle a couple of months back to do it with. However, after dinner I had a small glass of Grand Marnier that polished off the bottle. The empty bottle gave me impetus to go ahead and create the image.



So after watching a movie with Jay and Annika I went to work with the bottle, a glass and an aquarium and yes an old catsup bottle. The result is an image called "Say When".

God's blessings to all,

chris

Still Swimming

Still stuck on the water theme. Today I went out and grabbed some fruit to see what I could do with it in the water. It took me awhile to get the horizon figured out. So a few images that I have created are still a work in progress with some room to improve. I played with the backgrounds a little but decided that I like the black the best. I'd like to try white but I'll need to get an aquarium without a plastic black rim to get that to work.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Last in the Series

Today I took some time to photograph the perfume bottle with some colored lighting. I then took three of the better ones and put them together in a tryptich. It's interesting to see how the variety of colors add a different feel to each of the images. What do you think? Add your comments and let me know.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Let's Make it a Series

I was awoken early by Annika needing a ride to school as she was running late and Lenore left without her. Groggily I got out of bed and got dressed only to have Lenore return and pick up Annika. So what to do now that I'm up? I went back to view the perfume bottle images I created last night and I chose one of them to process. This one didn't use red lighting so it has a crisper feel to it.

God's blessings to all,

chris

I Had Fun!

That perfume bottle has been sticking in my head. So tonight I set about to make it happen. I had an idea of an image that I wanted to do with it and here it is after a few rabbit trails to get it to do what I wanted it to do. This is the first image from the set that I have processed so far an there are quite a few more that hold great promise.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Reflections of a Bottle

Annika cleaned her room recently. In the process of cleaning she found some old bottles that she wanted to toss. One of them was a perfume type of bottle that immediately caught my attention. It hit my brain with a "I'd like to photograph that one!" So this morning I did. I like the soft,old look I was able to give it by adding a texture of an old painted wall behind it.

God's blessings and love to all,

chris

A Rose

I'm determined to get a beautiful image of a "California Sister Butterfly" this year. This morning there were three of them cavorting in the backyard. They just wouldn't land where I wanted them to. Needless to say I couldn't create a decent image of them. Sometimes I'll spray water on the flowers and that will entice butterflies to land. No takers. Though I did notice one rose that looked rather gorgeous with the water drops and the sunshine. So I went into the house and grabbed a piece of black foam core to use as a dark back drop and proceeded to create a beautiful image of a rose.

God's love and blessings to all,
chris

Back to Golf

I revisited the golf course as I felt the image needed something more. Even now I have visions of a few more things that I would like to try. Time will tell. "Final Putt" is the result of today's adventure.
God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Midnight Madness

A case of midnight madness struck me tonight. I had an image I just wanted to take. Due to my madness there was a little lack of materials needed to make it work but I made do with what I had and still had fun with it. The Doggie Dinner image is the result.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Domestic Day

I spent today working on domestic chores around the house. There wasn't really any time for camera work though I have a few images planned that I really want to take. I took a little time this evening to work on an image that I took along highway 101 at the end of spring. It's of some wildflowers. Some Farewell to Spring flowers and a couple of Queen Anne's Lace. The results are very pleasing to the eye.

God's blessings to all,

chris

A Country Drive

Before I went and worked out in the morning I had some time on my hands. I decided to go for a country drive and loop through the Little Lake Valley that is home to the small town of Willits where I live. Here are two images that caught my eye as I ambled along on my morning's journey.




God's blessings to all,

chris

Close to the Pin

Morning arrived and we were all tired this morning. We stayed up late and watched one episode from "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet. I read this book when it first came out wayyyyy back in 1989. It is on my list of best books I have ever read. I then went and worked out and Angie the trainer helped me beat my body into hopefully something a little stronger and healthier. I'll pay for that later I'm sure.


So back to photography. Photos can be planned or sometimes where you find them. I stopped off at the golf course to talk to Ron the golf pro about a new camera he is wanting to purchase and there before me was a simple image calling out to be created. So against all golf etiquette I interrupted the private lesson Ron was giving and laid down on the edge of the green and composed this image. Luckily Ron had the good grace to ignore me and just told his client to aim a ball for my elbow.

God's blessings to all,

chris