What to Do on a Rainy Day?

I could be a miser and count all of my money. I'm always trying to think of creative ways to photograph the insects where I live. Last night before I went to sleep I was envisioning a stock image of money and a bark beetle. Something along the lines of it's a struggle to get to the top. What if I were to show a bark beetle on the slow climb to the top up a stack of coins? This morning I set it up and made it happen. I captured a bark beetle from my wood pile where there is usually an abundant supply. Then I set up a studio light with a large soft box on it. Following that I grabbed a bunch of change and started stacking it.From there it was fairly easy to photograph the beetle using a macro lens with my camera on a tripod. One of the biggest problems I have with macro photography at my house is dog hair. After the session I spent a lot of time removing stray dog hairs that I didn't see from my images when I created them! God's light and love to all, chris

Settling Into Fall

The beginning of fall has brought early rains to Northern California. During a short break in the rain today I photographed some fallen leaves and the bounty of a nearby apple tree. God gives us ample subjects to photograph this time of year. God's light and love to all, chris

Afternoon Birdy

Yesterday afternoon I popped into the backyard photoblind for a little bird photography. I had some company. Annika's little monster cat/kitten Papaya followed me into the blind. She wanted to be petted rather badly. She climbed all over me while I was trying to photograph the birds. Several times she wandered out of the blind and scared the birds away. For some reason birds don't like cats. Maybe it has something to do with being eaten by them! Even with the cat I managed to create one really nice image of a Dark Eyed Junco. Next time I'll make sure to lock the cat away while I photograph. God's special light and love to all, chris

Afternoon at the Coast

Wednesday I went with fellow photographer David Smith for an afternoon of photographing waves at the Mendocino Coast. The surf forecast was for ten foot waves at thirteen seconds. As it turns out the forecast was right on and we had a wonderful time both watching and photographing the surf coming in and hitting the rocks. We worked our way up the coast and found some fantastic spots to photograph the surf. It was really windy so there was a lot of spray being blown around. We ended up staying past the sunset which was just fine to me. You could tell winter is on the way because it got chilly pretty quickly once the sun when down. Here is a selection of images from our little coastal tour. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Variations on a Perch

The past few mornings I have been playing around with a perch on one of my bird feeders. I have been trying it out in a couple of different spots in warm early morning light with different backgrounds.I know it's kind of like comparing apples and oranges but which one do you like best? Personally I like the yellowish one with the chipmunk. Though the little Douglas Tree Squirrel isn't bad either! I'd love to hear from you. God bless, chris

Inspiration From Others

Today I photographed a still life of some of Lenore's Grandmother's old sewing spools. Who knows how old those things are? A couple of the spools were priced for thirty -five cents so they could be from the nineteen sixties or possibly even earlier. Mendocino County where I live is an artists mecca. There are just so many talented people here with extraordinary skills from sculpting to painting, watercolors and sewing. My inspiration today came from the banner of zibergirl's website. I saw her banner and I wanted to create something of my own from Grandma's stuff. Zibergirl (Barbara Carlon)is a very talented seamstress. Lenore and I have been following some of her projects and she is very talented. If you like clothing or sewing you can checkout her website at http://zibergirl.com . God's light and love to all, chris

Cookies and an Incredible Sunrise Too!

This morning the dogs awoke me way too early. I dragged myself from my warm cozy bed and left Lenore sleeping to put them out. Standing there in the dark and cold while they went my mind cleared and I was up and alert. I couldn't go back to bed now! When I went back into the house and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Just about the time the cookies needed to come out of the oven a beautiful sunrise appeared that just got better and better. May you have a blessed day, chris

Little Monster is Getting Bigger

Annika's new kitten, Papaya AKA The Little Monster is getting bigger. She has made fast friends with Badger the Wonder Dog and they sometimes chase each other around the house. Lance the Lab ignores her and acts like she doesn't exist. This afternoon she was napping and preening in one of the chairs in the living room. Annika and I descended upon her with our cameras and she modeled away like a true champ. God's love to all, chris

Clouds Came Pouring In

Last night the rain poured down. Considering it was the first rain of the season there was a substantial amount of rainfall. Today it rained off and on with little rain showers. By late afternoon the clouds starting building up and I was looking forward to a beautiful sunset. When the sunset arrived the lighting was just incredible. A light fog came in and everything turned a pale red. Just a gorgeous ending to the day. God's precious love and blessings to all, chris

What's in the Pile This Time?

Today I stacked firewood. We leave it on the driveway to dry for a few weeks before we stack it up. During that time you never know what is going to crawl into the pile. We have never had any rattlesnakes crawl in but that's always somewhere in the recesses of your mind when you are stacking it. Today I got down to where there were only about ten pieces left when a big Alligator Lizard crawled out of the pile towards me. Naturally I jumped and I may have said a few things unbecoming of a gentleman. Recovering I captured it. When I was done stacking I photographed it on a white background with Annika's help as lizard wrangler. Afterwards she let it go in the forest. Right now it is starting to rain so I'm glad that I got the wood done. God's precious light and love to all, chris

Going for the Green With a Steller's Jay

I spent a very short time this morning in the backyard photoblind My preparations yesterday for this morning paid off. I was looking to photograph a Steller's Jay on a nice green background.They make a beautiful supplementary color combination.I love how it worked out. These are my favorite images from today. Have a blessed day, chris

Collection from the Backyard

The past few days I have been working on photographing birds and squirrels in the backyard. Here are some of my favorites. Douglas Tree Squirrels, Steller's Jays,and a Dark Eyed Junco. May God give you a blessed day, chris

Bad Hair Day

When I got up this morning I just couldn't do a thing with my hair. What a mess! God bless, chris

My Favorite Squirrel

Yesterday when I was photographing birds one Douglas Tree Squirrel came down a Redwood branch to check out the bird feeder. It was a female that must have had young this year judging by the swelling of the teats on her abdomen. She didn't stay for very long. After a few clicks of the camera's shutter she turned around and ran up the tree. I have always liked the little Douglas Tree Squirrels because as small as they are they are pretty feisty. I have seen them hold the feeder against the big Western Gray Squirrels and not back down. To top it off they sort of look like little bears. They are awfully cute. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Chicka Dee Dee Dee

Last night I went out into the dark and set up my photoblind in the backyard in preparation for doing some bird photography this morning. I went out to the blind today around nine and got set up with my camera. It felt good to be back in the blind. I loved all the sounds coming in around me from the forest. I could hear the Bandtails up in the Redwood Trees trying to determine what this new thing was that had intruded upon their bird feeder. At one point I heard the fast almost whistling sound of a hawk making a fast pass over the blind and the pigeons went silent. I could hear a Pileated Woodpecker hammering away for a brief time down in the forest below me. The hummingbirds were really active hitting the feeders behind the garage. As usual it took a little while for the birds to start coming in. The first birds to come in were the Chestnut Backed Chickadees. They are such a cute, gregarious little bird. They were followed by the Steller's Jays but by then the lighting was too harsh for any good photography. Here is my favorite Chickadee image from the morning. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Foggy Morning Tree

The fog is clearing now leaving traces of its presence with Angel's Breath radiating out from the the sun. Last night the fog was so thick that it was pouring down from the tree tops like rain. I'm sure that the trees are delightfully drinking it up. I walked out into the forest next to my house to compose this image. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Time Travel in My Mind

Today I watched an old episode of "Murder She Wrote". In the introduction it shows the main character Jessica Fletcher typing on an old manual typewriter. It reminded me of when I used to type my papers in high school and the first few years in college on an old manual typewriter. Today I dragged it out of the garage and photographed it. I was amazed to find that it still works! God's love and blessings to all, chris

Macro in the Meadow

This morning I drove down to "Summer Lake". It used to be a lake anyway. Then the department of fish and wildlife ruled it couldn't be filled anymore as it both warmed and blocked the water going downstream harming young Steelhead and Coho Salmon. Since that time the lake bed has gradually progressed into being a meadow. Next a stream restoration project took place and they planted native Redwood Trees. The Redwoods along with natural growing Alders are slowly transitioning it back into a forest. It's starting to look pretty good. My intent was to photograph some spider webs as this traditionally has been a really good spot in the past. I didn't find a one. My camera wasn't lacking for subjects. I found plenty of things to photograph. Thistles,beetles,bees,butterflies,spiders and some of the last blackberries. Naturally I sampled a few and they were sweet and delicious. Probably the last ones I will get until next summer. God's precious love to all, chris