Still Life

Today ended up being a crazy day. This evening I had a some time to create a still life with a Steller's Jay feather and some Tan Oak leaves from the yard. I love the serene feel of this image after a long day. God gives us little gifts of joy if we take the time to listen and look for them. God bless, chris Image created with a Canon 7D mkII on a tripod with a 100mm macro lens. AV mode,ISO 400, F 11.0 at 1/4sec

Touch of Color

We are in for another hot day ahead. I was really surprised to see a touch of color in this mornings sunrise when I got up this morning. There wasn't any time to travel anywhere as the sun was already rising so I made a few quick images from the corner of our deck. Enjoy the view and your day as well. God bless, chris Images created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600 and also a 100 macro lens.

Hot and Dry

I went for a short hike early this morning to beat out the heat. As I was walking my thoughts rambled back to last night. Because we haven't had any fog the forest floor is really dry and we can hear the local creatures at night on their forays as the leaves underfoot are rather noisy. Sometime during the night Lenore woke me up. "Did you hear that?", She asked of me. I mumbled an incoherent sleepy response in reply. Then she commented,"Something really big just ran by!". At that I was fully awake and listening and I didn't hear a thing. So as I was walking today my thoughts turned to the resident predators. It must be really hard to hunt your prey when the dry leaves give you away. It made me wonder if they still hunt and just wait for their prey to pass by and then leap out upon them. Just a curious passing thought.God's blessings upon you, chris Image created with a Canon 7D mkII and a 100mm macro lens. AV mode, ISO 400, F 13.0 for 1 sec. Camera was supported by a Manfrooot 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen heavy duty ballhead.

Dog Days

This morning it was 85 degrees Fahrenheit by ten o'clock. I managed to get a little vacuuming done before it started getting too hot. All the pets are lolling about in the coolest places they can find. Outside the mercury is starting the slow climb to somewhere over a 100. There is just a touch of a breeze coming n from the coast. I set Badger the Wonder Dog up on a white sweep to photograph him. He was glad to pose for a dog biscuit and then go lay down again under the living room fan. Stay Cool and God bless, chris Image created with a Canon 7D mkII and a EF-S 17-85mm lens handheld.

Aaargh Mosquitoes!

Yesterday morning I set out bright and early to do some hummingbird photography in our backyard. Our fuschia is blooming like crazy and I couldn't think of a better combination than fuschias and hummingbirds. The first sign of trouble became clear to me when I started setting up my first flash. Mosquitoes started swarming around me. They drove me to escape to a sunny patch in the backyard to escape them. Armed with this knowledge I put up the next three flashes by escaping after putting each one up to the sunny area to get away from them. My thought was I that once I was all set up I could hide in the photoblind and photograph away from the blood sucking little beasts. Oh how wrong I was! After climbing into the blind I made a few images before they found me. I beat a hasty retreat back into the house to look for some Skin so Soft or some mosquito repellent. Once inside I remembered that I had given it to Annika who was away on a camping trip. Oh rats! I went on a mad cupboard search enlisting Lenore to help me. Eventually I found some old spray under the sink. I sprayed some on the outside of the blind and some on my clothing and the little monsters left me in peace. I had a wonderful time photographing the hummingbirds and below is my favorite image. It is of an Anna's Hummingbird trying to scare off a Rufous Hummingbird from the fuschia blossoms. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris This image was created with a canon 7D mkII and a canon 100-400IS V! lens. Tripod used was a Manfrotto 190 XPROB woth a Bogen 3055 Heavy Duty ballhead. Camera was set to Manual mode, ISO 100, F 20.0 at 1/200th of a sec. Lighting was provided by (4) Canon 540 EZ flashes set to 1/16th power. #TeamCanon

Summer's Day

There is nothing like eating lunch under the umbrella on a warm, beautiful summer's day. Yesterday we bought some sandwiches and some clam chowder for lunch. We didn't even bother with the table cloth, we just sat down for an enjoyable meal in the backyard. Afterwards when we were cleaning up I noticed the reflection of the umbrella in the spoon and thought it was worthy of a photograph. God's love and blessings upon your weekend, chris Image created with a handheld canon 7D mkII and a EF-S17-85mm lens at 68mm. AV mode, ISO 400, F 20.0 at 1/25th of a sec.

Couple of Hummingbirds From this Morning

I was at it with the hummingbirds again this morning. My exposures using flash with the eneloop batteries were all over the map. So if there is anyone out there using them for photographing hummingbirds with flash and they have a solution please let me know. The hummingbirds were really active this morning so I put up a lichen covered perch up above the feeder and quite a few of them used it. It's so much fun photographing from the photoblind and being up close and personal with the birds. Blessings upon your upcoming weekend, chris Both images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens with an extension tube for close focusing.

Setting Out the Breakfast Buffet

This morning I was up early restocking the bird feeder on our back patio. It didn't take very long before the first gray squirrel arrived to start feeding on the black sunflower seeds and hen scratch that I had set out. I photographed the the squirrel and then went back outside and shooed it away because what I really wanted to photograph was a Steller's Jay giving me that over the shoulder look. I was quite surprised to see four other squirrels around the base of the feeder waiting their turn! Next to arrive were the Band-tailed Pigeons. None of them obliged me by landing on the perch I had set up so I went in for a portrait. After that I had a bit of a wait going back and forth scaring away the squirrels. Next time I really need to set them up their own feeder around the corner. Eventually the Steller's Jays arrived and I was able to create two very nice images. The last one was a great over the shoulder look from a young Jay. I really like how it shows off the birds plumage. You can tell it is a young bird from this year by the light, fleshy, almost pinkish coloring at the base of its bill. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris

Pulling My Hair Out

i am currently pulling my hair out trying to solve the battery issues I am having with the flashes for my hummingbird photography. Which isn't very good because I don't have very much hair. I purchased some eneloop rechargeable batteries hoping I could save some money over the long term. So far what I have found is that the eneloop batteries initially put out too much power to the flash on the first burst and then drop too low and underexpose on the next discharge of the flash if I'm doing a sequence of images. Eventually as the batteries start to wear down it gets a little more consistent. So far I'm leaning towards going back to just paying for regular AA batteries even though it may be more expensive in the long run. Here are a few hummingbird images from the backyard this afternoon. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens on a Manfrotto tripod with a Bogen ballhead. Manual mode, ISO 100, F 22.0 at 1/200th of a sec. Four Canon 540EZ flashes set to 1/14th power were used for lighting.

Stand and Wait

This morning was perfect for bird photography. It was nice and foggy. During the night the fog came rolling in from the coast and covered our house in a nice blanket of fog. Fog is really nice for hummingbird photography because their gorget doesn't overexpose so easily as it does in bright light. I set myself up as close as I possibly could to the hummingbirds favorite perch. I raised my tripod up as far as I possibly could to get closer to the level of the perch. Then I stood motionless with my eye to the viewfinder of the camera. I waited and waited. But not for very long at all. The hummingbirds were really active trying to keep themselves warm. They were buzzing all around me and fighting for possession of the perch. They were landing one after the other on the perch. One male Anna's landed there and I gave my best raspy imitation call of a male Anna's. He immediately perked up and flashed his gorget to the imaginary rival. I got some great images but this one was my favorite. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris Image created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens at 600mm. A Canon 550 EX was used for fill flash. It was set to -2. The camera was supported on a Manfortto 190 XPROB tripod.#TeamCanon

Sun Tea Kind of Day

Lenore and I ran some errands downtown in the morning and it was already in the low 90s. On the trip home our car started acting up and began overheating not a good sign for the future! After we arrived home it got a little warmer. Luckily a breeze sprang up off the coast keeping things to a comfortable level. It ended up being an inside sun tea kind of a day. Perfect for sorting paperwork and doing housework. May you have a blessed weekend, chris Image created with a Canon 7D mkII and a 100mm macro lens. AV mode, ISO 400, F11.0ay 1/60th of a sec. Handheld and braced. #TeamCanon

Doesn't Everyone Love a Dust Bath on a Hot Day?

I tried a little hummingbird photography this morning but I was having a problem with two of my flashes not working properly. I ended up with all of my images being underexposed. While I was sitting there pondering the solution to the problem, "The Blasted Cat", Papaya dropped by for a visit and a dust bath. She was really enjoying herself rolling about in the dirt. She finished with a big fanged yawn. God's love to all, chris All images were created with a handheld Canon 7D mkII with a Canon 100-400IS v1 lens. #TeamCanon

Buzzing About

This morning I started with some domestic chores around the house. Then I headed downtown to get my lovely locks shorn (Nice job, Beth!) and drop off the recycling at the recycling center. My last stop was to buy some flowers for some hummingbird photography at San Hedrin Nursery. While I was looking at the flowers I spotted a number of wasps landing in the aquatic plant barrels to get water. I plopped my self down next to the barrels and got some nice wasp images before heading home with my flowers. I'm looking forward to some hummingbird photography tomorrow. God's love and blessings to all, chris. Both images created with a Canon7D mkII and a 100mm macro lens. #TeamCanon

Small Beauty

My family is so blessed to live in an area where there is so much natural beauty right at our doorstep. This morning I took a lovely hike on a very popular local trail the PAR Course trail. What is normally a quick twenty minute walk took me close to an hour due to the fact that I kept finding things to photograph along the way. I'm always amazed at how much beauty there is all around us. Especially when I slow down and take a good look around me. There is so much we miss when we hurry through life. God wants us to enjoy the world he has given us.We need to slow down and take a break. I'm really glad that I did. I found a lot of small beautiful flowers and a bunches of berries. OH my! It is looking to be a tremendous year for blackberries as I manages to find a nice plump sweet ripe one to eat. In a couple of weeks I think we will be making blackberry pies! Enjoy the images and have a great week. God 's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII with a 100mm macro lens. Exposures and settings varied. #TeamCanon

Giving the Hummingbirds a Go

Yesterday afternoon when I was checking out our garden arch I spotted a Wilson's Warbler darting in and out it going to our garden pond. I grabbed my camera and plunked myself down on a chair on the back patio and waited. I waited and waited some more. Suddenly it darted out and disappeared into the trees. I never saw it again. I did however see a lot of hummingbirds going back and forth from the arch to the feeders. I thought I might as well give the hummingbirds a go. I was really happy how quickly and easily the new camera locked onto focus in a quick and crisp manner. The additional focus points made composing a breeze. Here are some of my favorite hummingbird images from the afternoon. May you have a happy and joyous week, chris All images created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens at a variety of settings. The camera was supported on a Manfrotto tripod.#TeamCanon

Out for a Spin

After several years of waiting I got a new camera a couple days ago. Yesterday I gave it a go and took it out for a spin. I really liked all the extra focus points and how quickly it focused. It has a few slight differences in the controls but that shouldn't take me too long to learn. Here are some images of urban decay taken while I as getting our car repaired, a few from the Humane Society (Go adopt a pet!) and a few close ups from Montgomery Woods. God's blessings upon the rest of your weekend. all images created with a Canon 7D MKII and a Canon EF-S17-85mm lens. settings varied. #Team Canon