Planning a Portrait of a Chickadee

Driving through the big city of Ukiah (13K people) I noticed that the Mulberry trees were in bloom. They have a gorgeous light pink blossom. Immediately my mind went into photography mode. My next stop was Home Depot where I purchased a four by eight foot sheet of eighth inch pressboard. I had them cut it in half to make two four by four foot sheets. Following that was Dollar Tree where I picked up one tube of red and one tube of white acrylic paint. Red and white mixed together make pink just like the Mulberry blossoms! When I arrived at home I painted one of the pressboards white. The following morning after it had dried I mixed up the red and white acrylic paint and covered the pressboard in pink polka dots. On my next trip to Ukiah I kept my eyes peeled for Mulberry trees. I found one in a vacant lot. I clipped off a sucker twig from the crotch of the tree. Arriving at home I clamped up the twig below a single spout bird feeder six feet from our back bedroom window. I clamped up the the now white and pink background fourteen feet from the window. At that distance it renders the background into a soft pink and white when using an F stop of F 8.0 or larger. This morning the weather was perfect. Soft morning light and the Chestnut backed Chickadees were coming into the feeder. I set up my Canon EOS 7D camera with a 400 mm lend behind a window blind / hide set into the bedroom window. A perfect hiding place! I watched the birds for awhile to see where they were landing. Then I slowly pushed my camera through the lens port and locked it onto a ground pod on the window sill. i photographed birds for about two hours before the lighting got too harsh. Here are some of my favorite images. God's light and love to all. Whoever believes in Jesus repents of their sins and places their faith in him shall have eternal life.

Snowy Days are the Best

I love photographing birds in my backyard in the snow. It's an enjoyable experience to stay dry, warm and be able to see the birds so very close up. I prefer using set ups to get the most success out of my backyard experience. In this set up I started by putting up a four foot by four foot white backdrop sixteen feet from my back bedroom window. Next I stood up two tall uprights four feet apart, eight feet out from the window. Between them I clamped a lichen covered fir branch on an angle. Above the branch I clamped a horizontal support to hang a single port bird feeder filled with black sunflower seed. Off to the side I set up my cork bark bird feeder also filled with sunflower seed. I was almost done. In the bedroom window I propped up a window blind/hide into the window opening. Behind it I placed my ground pod and ballhead onto the window ledge. Now I just needed some snow! Luckily I have been following the weather forecast and a storm was coming in the following morning. When I awoke the following day it was snowing like crazy! I clamped my Canon EOS 7D onto the ground pod and slowly stuck my Canon 100-400mm lens out through the blind opening and waited. About twenty minutes later the Steller's Jays, Dark- eyed Juncos and Chestnut-backed Chickadees started using the feeder. I watched where they were landing for awhile to see where I should prefocus my lens. I chose and F stop of F 8.0 to allow the bird to be in focus and for the background to be blurred out. I had a great time and the birds were happy with the free bird seed. A Steller's Jay was one my favorite images. Canon EOS 7D with a Canon 100-400mm lens at 190mm, AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/50th of a sec. A wonderful snowy day! God's love and blessings to all, chris