Up Close and Personal

I've never really like images of hummingbirds on feeders. Seeing the feeder included in the image just makes it seem too unnatural. However I took exception to that this morning when I set my photoblind and tripod right next to the feeder and I do mean right next to it! When I mounted my camera and macro lens onto the tripod the tip of the lens was a little less than a foot away from the feeder. I used some tape to block off all of the feeding ports except for the one on the side. When the hummingbirds started coming I was ready. I let them feed for awhile to get used to it and then I very slowly composed and focused the camera. Between the swinging of the feeder and the low light conditions I ended up with a lot of images that went directly into the trash. Three of them were just superb. I love the intimate look at the Annas' Hummingbirds that this macro lens could give. Hoping that you have a great weekend. God's blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Tamron SP DI 180mm Macro lens. The camera was mounted on a Manfrotto tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy duty ballhead. The camera settings used were manual focus, AV mode, ISO 800, F8.0, the shutter speeds used were 1/30th, 1/80th and 1/60th of a sec. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Marvelous Macro

I enjoy many types of photography. Macro photography being one of them. I really like macro because it opens up these little worlds that you don't often see so close up and in intimate detail. Yesterday I received a new (used) macro lens. It's a lens that I have wanted for many, many years. I purchased a Tamron 180mm macro lens. I have owned several 100mm macro lenses over the years but I have always wanted a 180mm macro lens because it gives you quite a bit more working distance from the camera to the subject than the 100mm macro. For a 100mm macro the working distance is just over 10cm. With the 180mm it jumps all the way up to 25cm. That's a really huge difference if you are trying to photograph nervous insects. This morning was the first time I got to try the lens out and I was very pleased with my purchase. The lens has a good solid feel. It seems really well made and it came with a lens collar and a deep lens shade. It's actually too deep for my big hands as I have to take off the lens shade to get access to the lens cap. This morning I used it to photograph the sunrise through a crystal ball and later in the day I photographed a honeybee and a Skipper butterfly. All of these were handheld and I can see the need for a tripod to make the images sharper. I'm looking forward to putting this lens through its paces in the future. God's blessings upon your upcoming weekend, chris #WithMyTamron All of these images were created with a Canon EOS T1i camera and a Tamron 180mm macro lens handheld and in AV mode. Exposures varied

Mellow Yellow

This last week I was working on set ups in the backyard with the color theme of yellow. I was using a yellow and green back drop with bright yellow and orange sunflowers. It really made the birds especially the Steller's Jays pop in the images. Camera wise I was using my Canon EOS 7D MkII camera body. For my choice of lens I was using both my Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 and my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM v.1 lenses. They are both excellent for this type of photography with the ability to zoom in or out for composing an image in the frame without changing your camera position. This is especially beneficial when working from a photoblind where you can't very easily just pick up and move. I hope that all of you are having a great week. God's love and blessings to all, chris #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron Fill flash was provided in some images by a Canon 550 EX flash set to -1 stops. All images were created on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy duty ballhead.

Roots of Motive Power Steam Up

This last weekend I went to the Roots of Motive Powers annual steam up. Roots is is an all-volunteer organization of roughly 700 members in Willits, Ca. It was founded in 1982 to preserve and restore steam- and diesel-powered equipment that was used in the California north coast logging industry from the 1850s to the present. They have an amazing collection of both working and non working equipment probably one of the best collections in the United States. During the steam up the public was free to walk all over the museum and watch a wide variety of equipment in use. They could also ride aboard one of the steam trains on the circular track that runs around the facility. Roots members were available to answer their questions and demonstrate how the equipment works. I had a marvelous time and a very difficult job in choosing what images to share. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with my little travel camera. It's a Canon EOS T1i camera with a Tamron 18-200mm lens. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Working an Image

Last week I set up a lichen covered fir branch in the backyard. I placed it just above a small platform feeder so that the birds would land on it when they were coming to the feeder. About twelve feet back from the feeder I set up a grayish nondescript hand painted gray background. I photographed the birds landing on the perch like that for awhile and then I added in some ferns to give it a little bit of color.Next I I changed the background to one with an off color yellow so that the Jays would stand out a little more. Following that I draped some fall colored vines over the background to really make the colors pop. With the ferns and the fall colors it looked great. It always pays as a photographer to really work an image. The birds featured are Steller's Jays and Band-tailed Pigeons. God's love and blessings to all, chris All of the above images were created with Canon EOS cameras. The last image was made with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600 mm G2 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash set to -1- 2/3rds stops. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron