Steller's jay on Guitar!

 Steller's Jay on Guitar from the, Music to My Ears Series. I keep a notebook beside my desk in the studio for image ideas. I rough sketch ideas as they come to me and put them in the book for future photoshoots. This image is part of a series I have been working on. The first step was to choose a back drop color. I chose a light brown batik fabric and hung it up roughly twelve feet behind where I was going to set up the perch and feeder. Next I set up a wooden step ladder. I wrapped a small back packing guitar in a towel and clamped it to the ladder. I filled up a single port bird feeder and also clamped it to the ladder so that it would be close to the guitar neck and still out of the frame. I then set up the photoblind eight feet from it. After setting up my tripod and camera I looked through the camera and composed the image as to where I thought the birds would land. The following morning I was up early close to sunrise. The birds started coming into the feeder immediately. I chose an F stop of f 8.0 to allow the background to be out of focus and the bird and guitar to be in focus. I photographed Steller's Jays, Black -headed Grosbeaks and of course some squirrels. My favorite image was of a Steller's Jay. I loved the contrast between the red guitar neck and the bright blues of the jays plumage. God's light and love to all, chris. #shotoncanon

Change of Set Up

This morning I changed the set up for bird photography in my backyard.  I swapped out the the bigger perch for a much smaller lichen covered twig. Then I put up a green fabric background behind it in place of the mustardy brown yellow background that I had been using.  Almost immediately after changing the set up a male Black-headed Grosbeak showed up. I photographed him at the feeder for close to fifteen minutes from behind my window blind/hide. with my Canon EOS 7D camera with a Canon 100-400mm lens.  I created well over a hundred images of which only about five were worth saving. Here is one of my favorites plus some images of the set up. My camera settings were AV mode, ISO 800, f 8.0 at 1/40th of a sec. God's light and love to all of you, chris   #teamcanonusa, #shotoncanon

 Black-headed Grosbeak, Mendocino County, Northern California. This is a basic BOAS (bird on a stick) image. I picked up this lichen covered branch from our road a couple of days ago. Early this morning I clamped it just below a perchless feeder for the birds to land on. Previously I hung a fabric background eight feet behind the perch. My camera was set up on a ground pod behind a window hide/blind in our back bedroom window. It is roughly seven feet from the perch. My camera settings were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/60th of a sec. Image created with a Canon EOS 7D with a Canon 100-400mm lens. #teamcanonusa, #shotoncanon God's light and love to all, chris

Set'em Up

 For those of you that know me well or have followed me for a long time you know that I love to do set up photography. Meaning that I  set up(create) the settings in which to photograph birds. I put up perches, hide birdseed. Hang bird feeders just out of the frame of the image etc. For this Chestnut-backed Chickadee image I set up two upright poles about four feet apart. I clamped up two horizontal crossbars between them.  I then hung a single port bird feeder from the top crossbar and I clamped a Teasel seed head upright and on an angle from the bottom one so it was leading towards the bird feeder.  I hid behind a window hide/blind with my camera on our back bedroom window sill. It's really nice to stay warm and dry when photographing the birds. Here was my favorite image from the session plus the set up. 

God's light and love to all of you, 

chris

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

Squirrely Day

 The first thing to come to my cork bark bird feeder this morning was a Western Gray Squirrel. I typically don't mind squirrels too much because they make great subjects too. This one was photographed with my venerable old Canon EOS 7D with an equally long in the tooth Canon 100-400mm telephoto lens. a very fine camera combination indeed! I took four good shots of the squirrel before it got spooked and took off. After that I focused on Dark-eyed Juncos and Chickadees. A good time was had by all. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Cork Bark Bird Feeder

 The week before Christmas I ordered a  a piece of , "Cork Oak Round Bark", from Amazon. People use it for snakes and other reptiles in terrariums. I have found that they work really well as bird feeders! I just attach one end to a small plank with small wood screws and then fill it up with bird seed. Attach it to an upright pole and voila it becomes a natural looking bird feeder. This last week I finally got some time to put it together and set it up in the backyard. The birds and squirrels loved it. Here are some samples. Enjoy! God's love and blessings to all from Christ our Lord and Saviour.