Not According to Plan

Today did not go as planned. I really wanted to create an image of a male American Goldfinch on a purple flower with an olive/yellow background. Yesterday there were small groups of American Goldfinches coming to the feeder like crazy. Today? Not a single one! So I photographed what God sent me. Afterwards on the way home I stopped along Berry Creek and played with the water there for awhile.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Thars Gold in Them Thar Hills

Spent a quick bird session out at the Burris Ranch today. It had to be quick so I could make a Doctors appointment to have him look at my knee. The American Goldfinches were great. A few weeks ago they were rather thin in supply. Today there was more than a dozen. So the birds were good and my knee not so great. Told to keep wearing a knee brace and schedule an MRI. It's possible there is a tear in there somewhere as there is too much liquid in one part of the joint. We shall see. It's all in God's hands anyway.

chris

Past It's Prime

This morning I went to the gym to work out and then I did a short session of bird photography to try and get a few more images. When I arrived back home I made lunch and started to set the kitchen to rights I noticed a bouquet of flowers long forgotten on the back corner of the counter. They would make a cool simple image I thought to myself. So here they are.



God'sblessings, light and love to all,

chris

A No Photography Day

Today is a no photography day. I need to clean my office, work on my book and edit images that are stacking up. Todays image is one set of images from a bird photography session. It looks like a lot of images. But once I go through the editing process it will reduce that amount to just a small percent.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

The New Colt

I spent the morning and most of the afternoon editing images. So when I stumbled out the door to pick up Annika from school I was ready for a break from bird images! After I picked her up we headed out to the Burris' Ranch to restock the bird feeders. When we arrived at the ranch the colt was sleeping close to the fence alongside the road. Annika kept exclaiming that she really wanted to pet it. Eventually it got up and nuzzled mom to feed it. Then it followed her around as she grazed. Pretty cute as its only four days old.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Symbolism

This while waiting for Jay and Annika to get ready for church I photographed some Calla Lilies on a white background and then added a texture over it. Calla Lilies are often used as symbols of rebirth and resurrection. In this case the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Today is Easter. Easter is the biggest day of celebration for Christians all over the world. They are celebrating the resurrection of Christ from the dead three days after his crucifiction on the cross three days before. Christians celebrate because Christ died on the cross as payment on the cross for all of their sins. According to the bible NIV John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

God bless,

chris

My Holy Grail

For the past two years I have been taunted by a pair of birds that I have been unable to photograph. They are a pair of Lazuli Buntings that always just hang around the periphery of the pasture where I have been photographing. I have photographed them numerous times from a distance but nothing ever that makes the bird really stand out in the image. This week they actually started coming to the feeder. The problem was that they would go directly to the feeder and not stop anywhere photogenic along the way. Today was different though. They started stopping on these two rocks for just a second or so before they would go to the feeder. I focused my camera on one rock at a time for a long,long time. My technique worked and I was able to make a few images of them today. They are an incredibly beautiful bird.

God's light and precious love to all,

chris

From Turkeys to Turkey Vultures

Well, my persistence paid off today though apparently I missed most of the fun. Yesterday I created some Wild Turkey images and today I finally got some more Turkey Vulture images after three days of trying. For the past few days I have been working two locations my blind and a dead deer beside the road on the North end of the Little Lake Valley. The Lord does provide. When I noticed the dead deer beside the road. I hopped out of the car to take a look at it. Right next to the deer there was an old wooden fence post lying on the ground. I propped up the post next to the steel one and then fastened it to the fence with a piece of bailing wire. Instant perch! I then found a short fence post top and did the same on the next post down. When you look at the images you can see the difference between the ones on the steel posts vs the wooden ones. I guess it's a matter of taste?


Today I took a short break from the blind and drove into town for lunch According to Ruth the ranch owner I missed all the excitement. Right after I left a bear came barreling up out of the lower pasture and took off up the hill and then over to a neighboring ranch. Not more than two minutes after that one of the mares in the pasture next to my blind gave birth to a colt in less than ten minutes. When I arrived about an hour later it was walking around on wobbly legs. Too cute.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Wild Turkey

Nothing promotes the speed up of the digestive system like something slamming into the photography blind without you expecting it. My photo blind has three portals or openings to photograph out of. I typically use only the one I'm photographing from to keep the interior of the blind dark so I'm not as easily spotted by whatever I'm photographing. Today a turkey came from the side and tried to make a landing on top of the blind. Which of course wasn't as stable as the turkey expected it to be. Badger, the turkey and I all freaked out all at the same time amidst the crashing of wings and the turkey sliding down the side of the blind.
The turkey recovered more quickly than we did and began cautiously eating grain from the ground feeder. It came and went several times after that rather nervous about that black and white thing sticking out from the blind and following it.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Why Don't You Come Over Here and Say That?

Believe it or not I'm still working on the birds. Today a Lazuli Bunting came into the feeders three times and I couldn't get an image without spooking it. On my way home I spotted this cow and had to stop and take its portrait. It actually seemed pretty nice though I have come across a few cows in the past you wouldn't want to be in the pasture with. Time to run!

God's love and blessings to all,
chris

I'm Actually Getting Tired of the Same Birds

Just as I was getting tired of the Chickadees at my house I'm starting to get tired of the Pine Siskins and Lesser Goldfinches out at the Burris Ranch. I was hoping for something different today. The only thing of note that came to the feeders was an American Goldfinch and I didn't manage to capture any decent images of it. I spent along time in the photoblind today and I did create a lot of great images. I think I need to take a break now from bird photography and do some serious editing.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Guess Who Came for Dinner?

I spent another very productive day in the photo blind photographing birds out at the Burris Ranch today. I photographed House finches, Pine Siskins and Lesser Goldfinches. I had one male American Goldfinch come in about three times but I couldn't capture a decent image of him. There was also a Black headed grosbeak that came a few times too but she avoided the feeders. At one point all the birds scattered like they normally do when a predator like when a hawk is nearby. This time they stayed away for a long time. I kept checking the trees but I couldn't find anything. Finally after about three or four minutes a barn cat walked through the fence into the pasture. She knew what she wanted.She just recently had a litter of kittens in the barn and she was looking for dinner.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Another Day of clouds

The sun sort of rose over the Little Lake Valley this morning. I awoke to a cloud enshrouded sunrise that was an indicator of the day to come. I spent the majority of the day out at the Burris Ranch photographing birds again in my photo blind. The sun briefly made an appearance around noon and then hid away again. I got some superb images even though the birds were really skittish today compared to yesterday. Even the sound of the shutter was sometimes causing them to bolt off into the trees. I had a Hooded Oriole show up next to the blind and pput on a display of calls that was really cool. I put out some orange halves after he left but he never came back. Overall a great day.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Of Days gone By

Today I spent a long day in the photo blind. It was softly raining and I loved it. The birds sometimes were literally mobbing the feeder. There were a couple of time where there were flocks of over thirty Pine Siskins trying to all feed at one time. Birds were fluttering all over the place.It was great.

Due to the rain the lighting was soft and shadowless which was perfect for doing bird photography. So I spent a long time photographing. When I finally let myself out of the blind it was close to two o'clock. Coming out of the blind is a lot like being in the theatre for a long movie. When you come out you have to reorient yourself to the world. One of the first thing I noticed was an old farm implement from bygone years that sits in the pasture next to my blind. Today my thoughts moved back to when it was used probably over a hundred years ago. Now there it sits rusting away in the pasture.

A New Kid in Town

I did some more feeder photography this afternoon out at the Burris ranch. The weather for photography was absolutely perfect. The sun was shining through a high overcast making it just delightful. Normally I can't photograph birds at mid day because the lighting is too harsh and bright. Today the lighting was soft and nice. It was just right.
Today there was the usual cast of characters coming to the feeders until about one thirty or so when a Black Headed Grosbeak showed up giving me several opportunities to take its portrait. It was a great day to be outside with the birds.

God's precious light and love to all,

chris

Mendocino Headlands

Today Jay had a track meet in Ft. Bragg, California which is just thirteen miles up the coast from the scenic Mendocino Headlands. I thought to myself what a perfect opportunity to go out to the coast and do some photography. I try to get out to the coast whenever I can even though the drive is extremely twisty and winding. My house sits on a ridge that is only about sixteen miles or so from the coast. On a clear day I can see the fishing boats out of Ft. Bragg but it takes 45 minutes of driving to get there from here.

The weather for the coast was incredible. The sun was out and there was a light breeze. I parked the car and Badger and I walked a section of the headlands and looked for scenic spots to create some seascapes. When we finished we drove up to Ft. bragg just in time to watch Jay compete in the 100 meter dash. He was in the middle of the pack when I saw a look of anguish cross his face. He suddenly slowed down and finished near the end of the pack still beating a runner. When I talked to him later he said he pulled a muscle and it hurt all the way home.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris