Mad for Mushrooms (Fungi)

Today I went mushrooming with some friends. Right now the conditions are perfect for mushrooms and fungi. We have had rain and now that it's clear the fungi are starting to pop up all over the place. I brought my tarp to lay on. My macro lens and some extension tubes and a reflector. I never got gurther than a hundred feet from the car. Every time I would turn around there was some new fungi to photograph. My friends found plenty of chantrelles and I was more thatn happy photographing mushrooms.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Night Time Over the Little Lake Valley

One great advantage to the fog is that it helps blot out the lights from the small city of Willits below where I live. When the fog rolls in from the coast the moist air fills the Little Lake Valley giving me fairly prisitine skies to view the heavens above. Last night I stayed up late and did some star trail photography from my bedroom window. I did some lengthy exposures so the star trails would be long. Today's image from last night is an exposure of just a little over seventeen and a half minutes long.

God's love and blessings to all,
chris

A Bit of a Slow Day

Got off to a late start doing photography as there was so much to do around the house this morning. When I finally managed to get into my photography blind the best lghting was long gone. I photographed an old stand by, a female Douglas Tree Squirrel that comes into the feeders quite often.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Nap Time

I caught Badger sleeping in a patch of sunshine on the carpet. He looked so darn comfortable. I coudn't resist photographing him.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

It Turned Out to be a Mango Day

I started out the day by going out to my photography blind and getting it all set up to photograph Wild Turkeys, Squirrels and Jays. I was in the blind for about ten minutes and I could hear the turkeys working there way up the driveway.Off to my left I heard the scratchings of a squirrel coming down a tree trunk. At that point I saw a yellow blur go by and the turkeys took flight up into the trees and the squirrel scrambled up the tree chattering complaints as it went. Lance the wonder dog had escaped. I decided to pack it in. I went into the living room and photographed Mango Annikas cat.It turned out to be a Mango day.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Random Images From the Same Place

Today we had a good lunch at the City of 10,000 Bhuddas in Talmadge, California. There is an excellent Vegan restaurant onsite.The Bhuddists Dharma Realm Buddhist Association purchased the land and buildings for City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in the 1970s. The City is on a 488 acre site that originally had been the site of a large state mental hospital since the 1930's. It is one of the few Bhuddist cities in the U.S.

Naturally I brought along my camera and took a few images after lunch before we left. I think I'll have to go back at a later date and do some more photography as there were a lot of potential images to be made there.
God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Note: The city is a private place so if you do decide to visit please show respect for the people that live and worship there.

A Few Marbles

Playing with a few marbles this evening. I can't resist how they look.

God bless, chris

Beacon in the Dark

Yesterday night Lenore and I were traveling back back home from Santa Rosa, California in a rainstorm. She was driving and I was asleep in the passenger seat. When we stopped to change driving in Hopland I awoke to see the Hopland Superette shining out of the rainstorm.It was like a welcoming beacon home to Mendocino County. I grabbed my camera and braced it on top of the car for a few images before I hopped in the drivers seat and we sped away on home.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Fall Color

The fall color is in its ending stride right now. A lot of the maple leaves have fallen and many of the others are just past their peak. Her are some leaves from yesterday and this morning.

God bless,

chris

Light and Shadow

Sometimes I love the ethereal light that is present when the fog and rains move in. Little can be seen but the outlines or just the tops of the Redwood Trees in the valley below. It has its own special kind of magical light.

God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris

The image above is of the Redwood Trees pushing up through the fog in the Little Lake Valley near Willits, Ca

Fire in the Sky

With an incoming storm this mornings sunrise was pretty spectaular. We are going to go from fire to ice in a matter of days. Drive safe and stay warm.

God's love and blessings to all,

Trip Report: Albion River Seals and Other Critters

Yesterday I made a short journey up the Albion River in Northen California. The Albion is about an hours drive from where I live. As the crow flies it is only about twenty- five miles or so away. The terrain and some evil road planner make it a beautiful winding drive through the redwoods.

The lower portion of the Albion is a long tidal estuary that stretches inland into the Redwood forest for about six twisting miles. If you plan on paddling it you have to plan for the tides and the onshore breeze (er wind). Luckily for me I timed my trip to catch the ingoing tide and was easily able to paddle along with the current.

Right after I put in I was able to start photographing some of the seals that hunt this part of the river. My favorite was a white Harbor Seal that wrapped itself in Eel Grass and was snoozing away with the grass all over its head. Further along I found a seal that I nicknamed Mr. Ugly. He was really dark in color and had an unfriendly look about him. Can seals look unfriendly? They both just watched me curiously as I kept my distance and floated up the river.






I spotted quite a few shorebirds along the way as well as a few egrets and Great Blue Herons and the usual Cormorants. As I traveled along the were lots of old pilings left over from the temporary dams and wharves that used to be in this area from when they logged it for the redwoods and other timber.





Near an old mill pond there were several really neat floating cottages that people have built to live in. The mill pond’s dam was breached during a storm many years ago. When I paddled in through the opening a mixed flock of several hundred Pintails and Widgeon lifted off the pond in a roar of wings and circled several times before flying off.







The return trip up the river was uneventful until about the last quarter mile when I hit the onshore breeze coming up the river from the ocean. My progress slowed and I took the time to photograph a few more seals. There were two that had hauled out onto a mudbank that were really photogenic.










It was a great trip and I plan on coming back. This time to hopefully photograph some river otters.

God bless,

chris

If you plan on going. The Albion river mouth is right on the California coast at Highway 1 roughly 18 miles south of the town of Ft. Bragg. It is approximately a three and a half hour drive north of San Francsico.There is a five dollar fee to launch your kayak payable at the marina. For dinner The Albion River Restaurant is about a 1/4 mile north on Highway 1. On the pricey side but excellent dining.

For equipment I use a Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 Kayak. it is the most stable Kayak I have ever photographed from. I use a custom camera mount to hold my camera and it can be seen here.
http://diyphotocheapodepot.blogspot.com/2011/04/kayak-camera-support.html

Camera wise I use a Canon50D with a 100-400 IS lens mounted on it.