Adding to the Thrifty Fifty Challenge

Yesterday morning I worked on creating some more images for the Thrifty Fifty Challenge. The challenge is to create an uncropped image of a sparrow sized bird with minimal processing photographed with a 50mm lens or wider preferably a thrifty fifty. When Canon introduced the 50mm f1.8 lens photographers called it the "Thrifty Fifty", other names used were the "Nifty Fifty and the "Plastic Fantastic". This is the lens I used yesterday to photograph some Chestnut Backed Chickadee at a set up I created in the backyard. It's fun to challenge myself to photograph small birds from such a small distance. Here are a couple of images photographed with the Thrifty Fifty from yesterday.God's blessings upon your day, chris Both images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon 50mm F 1.8 lens. #TeamCanon I'm looking forward to seeing some other photographers adding to the Thrifty Fifty Challenge of FB.

Stellers' Portrait

Yesterday when I was photographing chickadees a Steller's Jay landed on the perch I was using for my set up. Because I was zoomed all the way out for small birds the jay wouldn't fit in the frame. I just went with it and did a portrait instead. I really like the contrast of the orange and yellow against the blues. God's love and blessings to all, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400 IS v.1 lens on a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with a Bogen ballhead. Fill flash was provided with a Canon 550 EX flash set to -2 and 1/3 stops. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, f 8.0 at 1/60th of a sec. #TeamCanon

My Best Side

This morning I got up a little after sunrise and worked quickly on a new set up for birds in the backyard. I placed a lichen covered branch vertically next to the bird feeder for the birds to land on. I settled into the photoblind and it didn't take the birds very long at all to find the new spot to feed. I photographed birds for about a half an hour before I got what I was looking for. Here is a chickadee giving me my favorite pose the over the shoulder look. This pose accents the field markings and plumage of the Chestnut Backed Chickadee just perfectly! May you have a blessed day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550EX flash set to -2 and 1/3 stops. the camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/80th of a sec. Thecamera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod. #TeamCanon, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography

Sunflowers and Dancers

On Saturday Lenore and I drove down to Martinez, Ca in the San Francisco Bay Area. We went to the Polish Festival. On the way we stopped at winery near Hopland and photographed the Sunflowers. There is this immense gorgeous Sunflower field right next to Highway 101. We were among many, many people stopping to photograph the beautiful flowers. Upon arrival in Martinez I was surprised at how quaint it is. This was my first visit to the city and my only view of it over the years has been driving by it on the freeway and seeing all the refineries. This city itself is very welcoming with its rolling hills covered with many beautiful homes and nicely landscaped yards. It is such a contrast to what you see from the highway. The Polish Festival was rather small but what it lacked in size it made up for it with delicious Polish food and a stage that was filled dancers that followed one group after another for the two hours or so that we were there. It was also really, really hot. I don't know how many dancers were even able to finish their routines. I loved photographing the event and I came away with a full belly and a happy expression upon my face. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris All of theimages were created with my Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 18-200mm lens handheld. The camera settings varied. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Let the Sunshine In

Yesterday morning I was up and out into the backyard as the sun was coming up. I was looking forward to creating some images with some sunflowers. I picked them up from the grocery store when I was shopping earlier this week and I wanted to use them before they got too droopy and dried out. With a little bit of fussing about I got everything set up and I settled myself into the photoblind or at least that's what I thought. I ended up making four or five more trips outside the blind to get everything looking the way that I wanted. After that the Red Breasted Nuthatchs and Chestnut Backed Chickadees started dropping in like crazy. They were hungry for little black sunflower seeds from the bird feeder. I had a really good time photographing them and they had a good time eating. Here are four of my favorite images from about an hour of photography. God's love and blessings to all, chrisAll of these images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens supported by a Manfrotto 055 XPROB pro tripod with a Bogen ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0, shutter speeds varied. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography

Jays and a Nuthatch From Yesterday Morning

As I stated in yesterday's photoblog the birds coming into the bird feeder were non stop. After that most of my morning was spent editing images from an hour of photography which ended up being just under four hundred images which were fairly quickly edited down to about thirty images to go through with a little more intensity. They were mostly Chestnut Backed Chickadees, Steller's Jays and a couple of Red Breasted Nuthatches. Here are some of the Steller's Jays and one Nuthatch.All images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

One Little Chickadee

I started off my day slowly with a leisurely breakfast. Then I went out into the backyard and created a new bird photography set up. I used a lichen covered broken off oak branch I picked up from a fallen tree when Lenore and I were out shopping. After finishing the set up I climbed into my photoblind and waited. There was the thrum of the hummingbirds going back and forth to the nectar feeders and the occasional thunk of an acorn hitting the forest floor. At first there was very little activity. Then the birds found the spot of where the bird feeder had been moved to. After that the action was non stop with one bird after another coming into feed. I photographed birds for about n hour before the light started to get too bright. Here is my favorite Chestnut Backed Chickadee image from the morning. God's precious love to all, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens at 500mm. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB Pro tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F8.0 at 1/100th of a sec.#TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography

More Chickadees

I just love the Chestnut Backed Chickadees in my backyard. They are so curious, gregarious and so much fun to watch. They are also really quick so you have to be ready to press the shutter when they come in to feed. Typically I prefocus and frame where I think that they are going to land in preparation for the image. This works for some birds and not others as they each have their own way of approaching the bird feeder. I just have to have patience and wait. I got two pretty nice images this morning of the Chicka dee dee dees. I hope that my North American viewers got some good looks at the eclipse yesterday. God's blessings upon your day, chrisCanon 7DMkII and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Common Beauty

Here are a few more images from the old stump feeder in my backyard. They are of the most common beautiful bird to visit my backyard the Steller's Jay. They have prettiest blue plumage. God's blessings upon your week, chris All of these images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600, F 8.0, shutter speeds varied. The camera was supported with Manfrotto 055 XPROB pro tripod. The techniques used in creating these images were from the boook, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography, available from Amazon and many, many other fine book sellers.#TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Black Headed Grosbeak

Every summer we seem to get at least one pair of Grosbeaks that nest somewhere in our backyard or very close to it. Here is one of them visiting the old stump feeder.God's blessings upon your day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens at 375mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600, f 8.0 at 1/160th of a sec. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB Pro tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. #TemCanon, #WithMyTamron

Ah My sweet Little Chickadee

Yesterday morning I spent about twenty minutes creating a new bird photography set up with an old stump and a new background of fall like colors. Luckily I found a can of yellow spray paint to touch up the background because the backdrop was starting to look a little dingy. I was surprised that with a new set up the action was pretty close to non stop with the Chestnut Backed Chickadees being the first visitors within minutes of me settling into the photoblind. The blind has seen better days and will be retired soon. The door zipper is broken and there are quite a few holes in the sides and roof. Luckily the birds don't seem to mind or care. They had a great time and so did I. Here is my favorite chickadee image from the morning. God's precious light and love to you, chrs This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600 G2 lens. The camerawas on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB pro tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600, F 8.0 at 1/250th of a sec.#TeamCanon,#WithMyTamron

Tequila Sunrise Hummingbirds

Yesterday evening I photographed the hummingbirds using a new perch and a bright, colorful gradient background. My favorite drink is a Tequila Sunrise. The background of the hummingbird images in this blog are the same colors as are in the drink. Enjoy and God's blessings upon your day, chris Both of these images will be included on my Facebook group "The Thrifty Fifty Challenge". They were created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Canon 50mm f 1.8 lens. #TeamCanon

Lovely Layers

Forest fire smoke from the north of us has made for some beautiful layered pastel sunrises for the past couple of weeks. This is the one from this morning looking east over the Mendocino mountain Range. This image was aptured with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 18-200mm lens from our bedroom widow. Blessings upon your day, chris #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Vertical Hummingbirds for the Thrifty Fifty

I spent this evening photographing hummingbirds in my backyard. i wanted some images for the Thrifty Fifty group in the the portrait or vertical format. Here are my three favorites. All images were created and photographed with a Canon 7D MkII and a Canon 50mm f 1.8 lens.ISO 1600, AVmode, Exposures varied. God's blessings upon your evening, chris

Some More Images for the Thrifty Fifty Challenge

I have a very small Facebook group called the "Thrifty Fifty Challenge". The whole purpose of the group is to show that photography isn't all about the fanciest equipment but the skill and craft that you approach it with. I got this idea for this group when one of my clients told me that I got the bird images that I create because of the big telephoto lenses that I use. While there is some truth to this statement it ignores the skill and craft that I have learned over the years to create beautiful images. In response I challenged myself and other photographers to photograph small birds with a 50mm lens. The purpose of the group is to showcase uncropped images of small sparrow sized birds made with 50mm or wider lenses. Here are three images that I created this afternoon with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 50mm f 1.8 lens. God's blessings upon your week, chris Canon 7D mkII, Canon 50mm F 1.8, AV mode, ISO 800 and 1600, F 8.0 shutter speeds varied.Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod #TeamCanon

Saturday Morning

I woke up early to catch the sunrise this morning. The earth has finally tilted far enough that I can once again watch the sun come up over the Mendocino Range. In a few months as it moves farther south the trees on that end will block my view of it through the winter. I can enjoy it for now. God bless your day, chris All of these images were created with a Canon 7D mkII camera and a Tamron 150-600 G2 lens. the camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen heavy duty ballhead. #TeamCanon, #withmytamron

Hummingbird Heaven

When we got back from vacation we only had two hummingbirds left in our backyard. I immediately cleaned and restocked all of the feeders in the first week we were back. At the end of last week I replaced the pump for the hummingbird bath that had died during the heat wave that we have been having. Slowly the hummingbirds have been making a comeback. Thirsty little sugar vampires! This morning I counted over twenty. Pretty exciting to see. They really love our yard and so do we. Here are some images from yesterday afternoon from their favorite perch. It's in the oak tree arch that overlooks our backyard. The images were taken by using the progressive approximation approach. I slowly worked my way forward closer and closer to the perch. I would stop and take images and then stand motionless with my face pressed to the camera. I would then move forward and repeat the process all over again until I couldn't go forward any further closer to the perch.The hummingbirds gradually got used to me being there with the camera and tripod. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. A Canon 550 EX flash set to -2 stops was used for fill flash on a Manfrotto flash bracket. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen heavy duty ballhead.ISO 800, AV mode, F 8.0 shutter speeds varied.#TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron