Acorn Still Life

This morning I gathered some acorns and created a still life in our studio. It shows a small sampling of the many types of acorns that grow in our area to provide a multitude of species of wildlife with food for fall and winter. Also I ask of you to please pray for the safety of the fire fighters and people affected by the fires raging across Northern California right now. God bless, chris Image made with a canon 7D mkII and a Canon EF-S-60mm macro lens on a Manfrotto tripod.#TeamCanon

Heading Into Fall

This morning we awoke to a very smoky sunrise. There are both air quality and heat alerts for the days ahead. We have numerous fires to the north of us in California, Oregon, Washington and Canada. All of them are sending smoke southward to us. Out in the forest now there is the arrhythmic drop of acorns everywhere. It's hard to put into words to describe the sound of acorns rattling down through the branches and the hitting the leaf covered forest floor. Sitting out listening to the sounds of the forest you begin to think that there are forest creatures all around you. The acorns provide food for many forest creatures that will store them up to eat later or to bulk up on now to make it through the wet winter up ahead. Deer and bears especially put on a lot of weight eating acorns(mast) through out fall. I hope that you are having an enjoyable weekend. God bless, chris The acorn image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF-S60mm F 2.8 Macro USM lens supported on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800 F16.0 at 1/5th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Aw Nuts

It's amazing what you hear in the forest right now outside my house. Tock, tok,twish and Tock, tock and twack. The ripe acorns are falling every few minutes or so and hitting tree trunks and branches as they fall to the leaves or my deck waiting for them below. This is an important event for deer, bears, squirrels and a variety of birds like Band-tailed Pigeons which gorge themselves on acorns. They can fuel up and store up on mast to help them survive the upcoming winter. Mast is the fancy name for the acorns and nuts of forest trees. Some years there can be an abundance of acorns like this year. Some years it can be pretty lean. Many people are of the belief that a heavy fall of acorns indicates a big winter ahead with lots of rain and snow. We shall soon see in the upcoming months if they are correct. May you have a blessed day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 28-105 lens at 105mm set on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen heavy duty ballhead. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/25th of a sec.

When It Rains

We have been praying for rain and out prayers have been answered! The forecast is for rain through next week with a brief break tomorrow. The fungi are loving all this moisture and are popping up everywhere. My photography has been limited to brief dashes outdoors during short breaks in the weather and whatever indoor ideas I can find or create like playing around with some light painting. What I really want is a downpour because I have an idea for an image I have had planned out for sometime now. Hopefully I can roll that image out for you to see really soon. In other news Friday night three bears came for a visit during the heavy rain. The dog started barking and I went to the upstairs deck to find out what was going on. Before I could reach the deck I heard a horrible bawling from outside below the deck. I stepped out and saw a bear running toward the house. I yelled it turned and ran the other way. I went back inside and grabbed my flashlight. When I went back out I spotted two bear cubs in the fir tree out front. Momma was in the background phlumping that she wasn't happy. I'm not sure why the bear was bawling but I'm sure not going out into the pouring rain and dark to find out. On Saturday I walked out and found that they had bent over the metal poles holding up my bird feeders so they could eat the bird seed. We had really small acorn crop in early fall so I think the bears are really hungry with winter coming on. God's love to all, chris Images created with a Canon 7D, Fungi used a Canon 100-400 IS lens. Settings used. ISO 400 F11.0 at 1/250th of a sec. The light painting was done with a Canon EFs-10-22mm lens ISO 400 f 11.0 at a 30 second exposure. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 PROBX tripod and a 3055 heavy duty Bogen ballhead.

Momma's Watching You

Yesterday afternoon on my way home from running errands I ran across this Blacktail doe and her two fawns just as I turned up our road. They were all busy searching the leaf duff for acorns and sprouts. The fawns weren't very nervous at all but the mom was ever on the alert. She lifted up her head quite frequently for a good listen and a a look around. Just as I was getting ready to leave one fawn looked up with a leaf on its nose. That was pretty cute. God's precious love to all, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens. Camera settings used- AV mode, ISO 400,F5.6, shutter speed varied.

Winter Stash

Woodpiles are the source of a lot of my photographic efforts. It's not that I particularly like woodpiles it's just that's where I seem to find a lot of of my subject matter. I find everything from really interesting pieces of wood for perches to salamanders and scorpions. Last week I was putting in some wood for my Mom and when I lifted up a piece of firewood acorns started pouring to the ground. There was a stash of four or five gallons of acorns piled in between the logs. I really felt sorry for the poor creature that put them all there. It's hard to imagine all of the effort and countless hours it took to gather so many acorns into one place. If you look closely at the image you can see where they were gnawing on one of the acorns for a winter's meal. May your day be blessed, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D,100mm Macro Lens. Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. , Camera Settings- AV Mode,ISO 400,F11.0, Shutter speed 1/4 th of a sec.

Black Acorns

Yesterday when I was at my Mom's house I noticed that she had these beautiful black acorns mixed in with the brown ones. Black acorns just look really cool! God's love to you all, chris

Kickin' Back in the Sun

This morning was spent editing images. Too many! Early this afternoon I put up some firewwood for my Mom. In the middle of her wood pile was some poor squirrels winter stash. There was almost two gallons worth of acorns piled up in there between the logs. That's a lot of work for a squirrel! On the ride home up the mountain I spotted this deer just off of the side of the road sunning itself. "Just dying to be photographed." I thought to myself. I drove further up the road turned around and came back. The deer calmly let me photograph it. I don't think it wanted to lose it's warm comfortable spot. God's blessings and love to all, chris