Blasted Cat

Papaya the Blasted Cat wanted in to the house really badly the other morning. She just wanted to go up to our bed and snuggle into the covers. As sweet and cute as she is she is also a threat to the wildlife around our home. On Friday afternoon she proudly walked up to me and presented me with a chipmunk she had captured. Luckily when she set it down next to me it promptly ran through the fence and up the nearest tree! I was so happy to see it get away. May you have a blessed day, chris This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D mkII with a 100mm macro lens. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 5.6 at 1/400th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Just Before Sunrise

The view from our house is ever changing. It's usually the first thing I check in the morning when I get up. This morning there was a lot of color in the sky and the valley below was covered in fog. I knew that I needed to photograph it before the sun came up and turned the skies white. So I quickly grabbed my camera and a telephoto lens and had some fun. This was my favorite image from this morning. God's love and blessings to all, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon EF 100-400 F 4.5-5.6L IS USM lens. The camera was supported on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen heavy duty ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 16.0 at 1/125th of a sec.#TeamCanon

Little Hopper

My current list of things to do around the house is to clean all of the moss off of the roof before we put on new gutters. The best access to the roof without using a ladder is to climb out my office window. Yesterday as I was going out the window I noticed this little grasshopper sitting inside on the window ledge. How in the world it got all the way there I have no idea. I popped it into a jar and photographed it on a flower this morning before letting it go. When I tossed it out the door it flew up, up and around the corner heading for the roof! May you have a blessed weekend, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and a 100mm macro lens. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod and a Bogen heavy duty ballhead. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400,

Claws

One for fun. I couldn't resist posting this one. From out of the mists of the deep, dark forest comes claws! I thought the close up the paw of a Western Gray Squirrel looked pretty cool. Canon 7DmkII and a Tamron 150-600 at 600mm. I hope that you are having a great week. God bless, chris It is a great stock image for a biology book showing how well a squirrels paws are set up for climbing trees.

Coastal Trail and a Redwood Sunset

Late this afternoon I was catching up on editing images from earlier this week. We went over to the coast and went bike riding along the new coastal trail in Ft. Bragg. The fog and sun moved in and out trading places along the coastline when we were there. We got home just in time to capture the sunset over where we had just been on the coast. There is a large Redwood tree being silhouetted by the sinking sun. God's blessings upon your days, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a a Canon EF 17-85mm lens handheld.

The Joy of Bay Mud

The California gold rush brought a surge in population to the state and they demanded to be fed. First to go were most of the Tule Elk and many of the deer. When the wild game ran low they turned to raising and importing livestock. This led to a huge market for hay to feed the livestock. What better areas to grow hay than the tidal flats surrounding San Francisco Bay. Many areas around the bay were diked off and put into production for growing hay. Luckily for us today the Tule Elk are on the rebound and there are conservation efforts both underway and many already completed to return many agricultural areas around the bay back to tidal flats that are open to the free flowing waters of the bay. These areas are both rich in marine and bird life and contribute to the overall health of San Francisco Bay. Today on the way back from Oakland we stopped next to one of the recovery projects off of Highway 37 next to the bay. There were literally thousands of shorebirds feeding in the reclaimed tidal flats. I had my camera with me but I had only a short lens with me so the birds were too far away to photograph. I photographed the rich bay mud next to the parking lot instead. Oh the joys of bay mud! God bless, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon EF 17-85mm lens.

Down to the Sea

On Sunday afternoon we went out to he coast for lunch at Sea Pal in the Noyo Harbor and then we went for a bike ride on the new coastal trail. We had a fantastic afternoon even stopping off at the chocolate shop in Fort Bragg. My favorite image from down in the harbor was of an old working fishing boat out of Bodega Bay, This boat really intrigued me. Oh the stories that boat could tell if it could speak. "Those who go down to the sea in ships, who work in the great waters..." Psalm 107:23. May you have a blessed week, Chris. This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D mkII with a Canon EF 17-85 mm lens at 85mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 200, F 16.0 at 1/320th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Sunrise Silhouette and Some Squirrels

You can sure tell that fall is just around the corner. There was a coolness in the air that we haven't felt for quite awhile. I'm sure there are many more warm days ahead but it was nice to wake up to some cool air this morning. There were also some clouds on the horizon which made for a nice silhouette of one on our favorite trees in the backyard a nice healthy Madrone. I also threw in some squirrels from early Sunday morning. Drive safe out there school is now in session in most parts of the world. God bless, chris

Sol's March South

One of the ways of marking the passage of time is in observing where the sun rises and sets each day. At the end of winter you can watch the slow travel of the sunrise from the south to the north. At the end of spring it begins to work it's way back to the south again. Of course the sun really isn't moving it is just the tilt of the earth as it travels through the seasons. This past week the sun is now rising where I can see it again coming up over the Mendocino Range. I watched it rising this morning and ran back inside to grab my camera. Enjoy the day and God bless, chris Image created with a handheld Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. AV mode, ISO 800, F 6.3 at 1/8,000th of a sec.#TeamCanon

Time of the Bees or Feeding Frenzy

Even if I didn't have a calendar I would be able to tell that it was getting close to the end of August by the Honey Bees. At this time of year there aren't nearly as many flowering plants for them to feed upon so they turn to my hummingbird feeders. What's interesting is that most of the bees seem to prefer just one feeder even though I have quite a few of them hung up for the hummingbirds to use. This morning when I went out to restock the feeders they were literally mobbing the one by the garage. I had to shake the bees off of it in order to refill it. When I checked the same feeder at two this afternoon they had completely sucked it dry! I can't even begin to calculate how many trips the bees had to make to be able to do that. Hopefully the hive is really close by. It looks like i may need to boil up some more nectar.May you have a great weekend and God bless, chrisAll images were created with a Canon 7DmkII with a 100mm macro lens handheld. AV mode, ISO 800, exposures varied.

Quick Trip to the Lake

This morning I took a quick trip to one of my favorite places to photograph from my kayak. I loaded up my Ultimate Kayak yesterday afternoon onto my pick up so that I could get an early start to Clearlake well before sunrise. I was on the water by six thirty and had finished up photographing well before eight thirty. By then it was already getting too warm and the light was starting to go pretty fast as there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Still I managed to capture some great images of Western Grebes nesting and an Osprey that settled into a tree right next to the take out. As I was loading my kayak up I heard some Canadian Geese flying in. I ended up clicking the shutter right as they passed near the sun. The image ended up being way over exposed but I still like the graphic feel to it. May you have a blessed afternoon, chris #TeamCanon All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The camera was supported with a custom designed and fabricated camera support I made to fit my Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 Kayak.

By the Old Garden Gate

I set up my photoblind this morning by the old garden gate in the backyard. With a feeder nearby I didn't have very long to wait before one of the bravest of the Western Gray Squirrels came to check things out. It snacked a little while but took off when I made too much noise with my foot on the flagstone. It went up into the trees chattering its complaints to all within earshot. I hope that you are having a great week. God's love and blessings to all, chris All three images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.0 and F 6.3, at 1/250th and 1/200th of a sec. The camera was supported on a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with a heavy duty Bogen Ballhead. #TeamCanon

Starting Off the Week

I was up at sunrise photographing the squirrels in my backyard. Some people don't like to photograph squirrels. But I find them to be a lot of fun to photograph. That is unless I'm trying to photograph birds then they can be a bit of an annoyance. This last winter a bear made off with one of my knot hole feeders. Recently I found it on the edge of the forest. It had a few bite marks in it but otherwise it was in pretty good shape. I really like this feeder because the opening is big enough to allow small squirrels and birds into it but it is too small for the big Western Gray Squirrels to use. Below is an image of a Douglas Tree Squirrel that was enjoying some black sunflower seeds for breakfast this morning. I really like the intimate feel of this image. This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and Tamron 150-600mm lens at 600mm. Camera settings used were AVmode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/30th of a sec. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod and Bogen heavy duty ballhead. #TeamCanon

Portrait of a Grey Squirrel

It's always interesting to see who has possession of the feeders when I come out into the backyard in the morning. In order to check I have to sneak out there. If the squirrels catch sight of me they run off and jump up into the trees. I check first by opening the door and very slowly creeping across the deck hoping it doesn't make any loud creaking noises. Next I have to duck really low behind the photoblind and travel over the flagstone and very slowly settle into the blind. This morning the Western Gray Squirrels were gathered around the feeder with noother species of squirrel in sight. God's blessings upon your day, chris Canon 7D mkII AV mode, ISO 400, F 8.0 at 1/20th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Crossing the Milky Way

I was up and about attempting to photograph the Perseid Meteor shower at four a.m. this morning. All the meteors that I captured were too faint or centered in the image. The only bright spot was an airliner that passed through the Milky Way. It took a full minute and a half to pass overhead so this image is a composite of three images put together. It flew over so silent and high that its engines could barely be heard. Most likely it was flying into San Francisco or LA as where I live is directly under the flight path of airliners coming from Asia. Happy Friday! Enjoy the upcoming weekend and God bless, chris Image created with a canon 7D mkII and a Canon EFS 10-22 mm lens. Camera settings used were M mode, ISO 3200, F 4.5 at 30 seconds. Camera was on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen ballhead.#TeamCanon

Early Morning Squirrels

Yesterday afternoon after we finished our shift of working on resealing the driveway I dragged out a couple of old knothole feeders. This morning at 7 a.m. I could hear the squirrels chattering away for dominance of the feeders. When I finally got out there with my camera a little Douglas Tree Squiirrel was on on of the feeders successfully defending it from all comers. Eventually it left and the Western Gray Squirrels took over. I spent about an hour watching and photographing them. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The camera was supported on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen ballhead.

Lunch With Lenore and the Gulls

Today was a non photography day. I worked most of the day sealing our driveway for the upcoming winter. Thankfully I had a great crew. Lenore,Jay and Annika pitched in to help. Here are some images from last week. Lenore and I had a great lunch out on the dock next to Sea Pal in the Noyo Harbor in Ft. Bragg on the coast. The gulls wanted to have lunch as well but we didn't share as we were already splitting a delicious order of fish and chips between us. May you have a blessed day, chris All images created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 50 mm F 1.8 lens.

What is it About Boats and Ships?

There is something about ships and boats that make people want to sketch, paint and photograph them. Is there some deep part of us that wants to sail away on an adventure? Is it the risk of adrenaline of man against the sea. Maybe it is just that we find beauty in their lines and shapes against the water and sky or is it something else? I photographed the fishing boat Pacific Hunter coming into Noyo Harbor in Ft. Bragg, Ca last week. It was a plain image that I felt would look better in B+W. Today i decided to add a texture overlay of the side of a building I photographed in Ft. Bragg and then do a beach bypass filter to give it some of the pop that it needed. This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D mkII anda Canon EF 50mm F 1.8 lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, f 11.0 at 1/80th of a sec. I hope your week is going well. God bless, chris#TeamCanon

Rockin' It

Yesterday morning I set up a really nice lichen covered rock next to the bird feeder in the backyard. Before I went out of the house I looked for the "Blasted Cat" but I couldn't find her. After sitting in the photoblind for a bit she showed up wanting to be petted. I picked her up and put her into my lap and she settled in purring contentedly. After about five minutes the Band-tailed Pigeons started coming in. I found that it's really hard to photograph birds with a cat in your lap that wants to get off and go eat the pigeons! I created some pretty nice images before she escaped my grasp and attempted to try and leap up onto the feeder and grab the pigeons. Thankfully she failed. God's blessings upon your week, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy duty ballhead. Camera settings used were Manual mode,ISO 400, F 5.6 at 1/2,000th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Great Guest Photographer

Today's images are provided by Lenore. She has got a great eye for photography. She has the ability to pick out details in a beautiful way. Here are some images from our trip to Mendocino and even one of a guy that looks like he should be working fishing instead of photographing. God bless, chris Images created with a Canon T5i anda Canon 28-135 IS lens. #TeamCanon