Badger the Wonder Dog

Sheltering in place has given some time to work on some personal projects. One of them dear to my heart is creating some portraits of our dog Badger. It's a work in progress as more ideas have been coming to my head. Luckily for me Lenore was able to help me today. The first photoshoot I had with Badger I did on my own and it was pretty tough. Badger handled it like a trooper. The fake red beam I had constructed was wobbly and slippery and he kept sliding down it. I sort of solved it by adding some black pads so he didn't slide down so badly. A couple of times he needed to be rescued as he was headed down like he was on a slide going backwards. This has been a really cool series to create. Hopefully there will be some more images of, Badger the Wonder Dog, to follow in the upcoming weeks. All of these images were created with a Canon EOS 7D or 7D MKII camera with a Canon EF 28-200 mm lens. Lighting was provided by Alien Bees Studio lights. God's love and blessings to one and all, chris #teamcanonusa

One More for the Island Series

You just never know what is going to pop up in our little backyard pond. Yesterday afternoon I was photographing Garter Snakes (photos tomorrow) when I spotted this Rough Skinned Newt swimming about. I grabbed a net and fished it out. I photographed it and less than five minutes later it was back swimming in the pond again. I wonder if it will be there tomorrow? God's love and blessings upon your day, chris This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D MkII and a Canon EF-S17-85mm lens at 30mm. The camera settings used were Manual Mode,ISO 100, f 11.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Lighting was provided by two Alien bee Studio Lights with large 2 foot x 4 foot soft boxes. #TeamCanon

Please Be Safe Out There

This was one that I did for fun last night. I found a bark beetle right next to our gas fire pit and it sparked my my creative juices flowing. But it actually has a serious message behind it. Fire season is almost upon us. The grasses and forests are already drying up. Please be safe with fire,power equipment or vehicles that could cause forest fires. Have a great week and God bless, chris Bark Beetle climbing out of a match box. This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 18-200 mm lens. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee Studio lights with large soft boxes. #TeamCanon, #withmytamron

Island Time

This native Shoulderband Snail is enjoying the slow pace of island life before being safely released back in to the forest. I have been having a great time collecting creatures for the, "Island Series", of images. This one was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF-S17-85mm lens at 41mm. The camera settings used were Manual mode, ISO 100, F 13.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee studio lights outfitted with 2' x 4' soft boxes. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris #TeamCanon

Island Hopping

Here is one more from the island series. A millipede (Paeromopus angusticeps) from the woodpile. Millipedes are a fascinating creature. They are the slow moving garbagemen of the forest. They are detrivores eating decaying leaves and other dead plant matter of of the forest floor. They protect themselves by curling up into a spiral or a ball and emitting a foul smelling chemical. Watching all of their legs moving with such precision is quite fascinating. It's like little waves moving down the sides of their body. Pretty cool. God's love and blessings upon your day, chis This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF-S17-85mm lens at 41mm. The camera settings used were Manual mode,ISO 100, F 13.0 at 1/80th of a sec. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee studio lights fitted with 2' x 4' softboxes.#TeamCanon

My Island

This morning I started cleaning up one of the remains of one of our woodpiles in preparation for bringing in some wood for next winter. Inevitably I found a couple of scorpions. I had a jar along with me for just the occasion. After I finished with the woodpile I took them inside and photographed them before I released them back into the forest away from the house. I hope and pray that your week has started off well, chris This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D with a Canon EF-S17-85mm lens at 30mm. The camera settings used were Manual mode, ISO 100, F 13.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee Studio lights both with 2' x 4' soft boxes. #TeamCanon

Hot Off the Showroom I Mean Pharmacy Floor

Here are a few more images of model cars from Thursday night. I can see why people like to work with scale models. It really gets your creative juices going to create a scene for the model to fit into and then to ligh it properly. It's also very challenging to try and get them to look realistic. All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon EF-S17-85mm lens. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bees with 2' x 4' soft boxes. the camera settings were Manual mode, ISO 100, F stops varied but I was using a shutter speed of 1/160th of a sec. God's love and blessings to all, chris #TeamCanon

Surprise Visit

Yesterday morning I pulled out my photo blind from next to the house. I wanted to get it ready for some bird photography later this week. When I popped the blind open there were two Pacific Chorus Frogs and one good sized Northern Alligator Lizard inside. Because it was still a little chilly out it wasn't too hard to capture them. I photographed the lizard on a piece of mossy lichen lying on top of a piece of whit tagboard before letting them go out in the forest. I really like the end resulting image. God's precious love to all, chris This image was created with a hand held Canon 7D MkII and a Canon EF-S17-85mm lens at 41mm. The camera settings used were, manual mode, ISO 100 F13.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee studio lights. both were fitted with 2' x 4' soft boxes.#teamcanon

Wyoming Spring Golf

One for fun! This is for my sister Shelley, her husband Steve and the Niobara Country Club. They have had some serious snow this last week. Though in Wyoming that can change to a sunny day with wind in an instant. God bless you all, chris

Last of the Wild Woodpile

I saved the little boldest and brightest critter to be recovered from the wild woodpile for last. Their bright yellow spots send out a clear message that the aren't to be messed with. If that doesn't work they will they will send out a squirt of Hydrogen Cyanide which can be quite harmful any small forest creature dealing with them. For humans it isn't particularly harmful it just doesn't smell that great. It smells to some people like bitter, burnt, almonds. Though I would imagine if you got it in your eyes it might be slightly more annoying. These little detrivores are called the Yellow-spotted Millipede,AKA Almond-scented Millipede or the Cyanide Millipede. Like other millipedes they provide a great service for the forest floor. They estimate that millipedes consume a third of the conifer needles that fall to the forest floor. So they are the many legged little garbage disposals of the forest breaking needles down into duff to create a nutrient rich environment for plants to grow in. Pretty cool little critter. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens. Camera was set to Manual mode, ISO 200, Shutter speed of 1/200th of a sec. F stops varied. Light source used were two Alien Bee 1600 studio flashes.

Pacific Chorus Frogs

With the coming of spring some of the the most common amphibians in our area are making their presence known in our little backyard garden pond. Nightly we get a little concert from the Pacific Chorus Frogs that come there to breed. Right now as I am typing I can hear them out there croaking away. For those of you in the know. Indeed they used to be called Pacific Tree Frogs but then they changed the name on us. Here are a few from the "Woodpile Series". Yes, I found three of them in there as well. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images created with a handheld Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens.Manual mode,exposures varied. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee 1600 Studio lights

Wild, Wild Woodpile Series

Continuing onward with the woodpile series. Brush piles and woodpiles make for a great addition to any habitat as they provide a refuge for many creatures to live. Among these critters I found several North American Millipedes. Millipedes are pretty amazing. With all those legs they are fascinating to watch. If you look closely you can see little waves travel down the lengths of their body on the sets of legs as they travel along. Millipedes are detritivores meaning that the eat the detris or rotting vegetation on the forest floor. Being nocturnal they prefer to stay out of the light and in dark places under logs or leaves. For protection from predators they will roll up into a spiral shape. If that doesn't work they will release a foul and burning chemical that will convince many small creatures not to eat it.Luckily they didn't release it as I handled them rather gently when I was photographing them. I wasn't so lucky with one of the other creatures. God's tender love and mercies to all, chris All images were created with a handheld Canon 7D and a 100mm Macro lens. Manual mode, ISO 200, Exposures varied. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee 1600 Studio lights. #TeamCanon

Nut Crackers

Nut Crackers first came from the Erzgebirge region of Germany. Their popularity surged in the United States when soldiers brought them home at the end of WWII. There is a legend in Germany how the nut cracker came to be. A wealthy farmer offered a reward to anyone that could crack the walnuts on his tree. A carpenter told him cut the nuts in half with a saw. A soldier told him to shoot the nut open. It was a local puppet maker who came up with a beautiful solution. A puppet made of wood and painted in bright colors. It had strong jaws that could be used to crack the walnuts. The farmer rewarded the puppeteer for his ingenuity by giving him his own workshop. In Germany, the nut crackers are said to bring good luck and protect the house. Supposedly they keep evil at bay and protect the people of the home. Merry Christmas, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 85mm F1.8 lens. Camera settings used Manual Mode,ISO 100,F 2.8 at 1/160th of a second. Two Alien Bees studio lights with soft boxes were used to light the nutcracker. A black background with red Christmas lights.

Going to the Dogs

It's pretty gray outside this morning with some much needed rain. Last night it poured and poured. On rainy days whenever I can't figure out what to photograph there is always the dogs. It's also a great day to clean the office. It's a never ending job because I'm not a particularly neat person. Earlier I got started on cleaning the office but then I got side tracked with an idea to photograph Badger the Wonder Dog with the same out of focus red Christmas lights that I used for photographing the ornaments last night. Here is the result. He looks pretty curious and happy because he knows he is going to get a treat.Have a warm and happy day, chris Image created with a Canon 7D set on manual mode and a Canon 85mm f 1.8 lens.Camera settings used were ISO 100, F2.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Black background with red Christmas lights. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee 1600 Studio lights with l

arge soft boxes.

RED!

As you can see I'm still in flower mode. This morning when I got up I noticed that the flowers Lenore had placed on the table had a beautiful red one mixed in amongst them. It didn't take me long to grab my camera,macro lens, black background, white reflector and a single studio light with a snoot on it. Within a few minutes I had it set up and I was working over that poor little flower. When processing the images just after midnight this one was my favorite of the bunch. May God love and bless you, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D,100 mm macro Lens, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead,Alien Bee 1600 Studio Flash with a snoot. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400, F Stop F13.0.0, Shutter Speed of 1/200th of a second. "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography" by J. Chris Hansen available on Amazon and other fine book sellers.

Lenore's Roses

Lenore's roses in the backyard had a profusion of blossoms this spring. I'm guessing one of the best. This morning I figured I had better create an image of some of them rather quickly as they are past their prime and will soon need to be dead headed. I cut four of the best and put them in a vase on the dining room table with a black background dropped behind the table. I lit them with a single snooted light overhead . I liked the simple elegance of it. God's blessings to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- One snooted Alien Bee 1600, Canon 7D,Canon 28-135 lens at 135mm, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- Manual mode, ISO 100,F16.0, shutter speed 1/200th of a sec. at f16.0

Puttering About

This morning I had no definite plan. I was puttering about the backyard photographing flowers and bees before the mosquitoes drove me indoors. Just a little bit later Lenore asked me about cutting some wood for an art project she had planned. While I was digging the wood out I found a scorpion. Always a fun subject. After cutting the wood I brought the scorpion into the studio and photographed it on a white sweep. I liked powerful sterile look of pure scorpion. Afterwards I took it out to the forest and set it free. I'm still working on the family computer until at least next week when I can take my computer to the big city to be repaired. It takes a bit longer for me to do things on this computer as I'm not always sure where things are. Working with Photoshop Elements is a big change too compared to Photoshop CC as well. God's precious love to all, chris Camera Equipment and settings- Canon 7D and a 100 mm Macro lens. Flowers and bee AV mode ISO 400, F8.0 Shutter speed varied. Scorpion Two Alien Bee 1600 studio flashes with 30 x 60 inch softboxes. 1/2 power, Camera on manual mode, 1/200th of a sec at f22.0

One of the Creatures Among Us

This afternoon I went looking for a salamander to photograph. After about five minutes of looking I found an Ensatina under an old board. I grabbed a piece of moss and spent about five minutes photographing it. Then I carefully put it back where I had originally found it. Ensatinas are pretty cool in that they are a lungless salamander. Which obviously means that they don't have any lungs! They breathe through pores in their skin. Because of that care must be taken not to handle them too much as the oils from your skin can block those pores making it difficult to breathe. AAck! One of the other unusual things about them is that when the female lays her eggs she lays them underground not in the water(usually 9 -16 of them). They then hatch directly into being little salamanders. They don't go through an aquatic stage like most other amphibians. None of that tadpole stuff for Ensatinas. The last unusual thing about these little salamanders is that they have the ability to regenerate lost body parts.When they lose a leg or a tail to a predator it grows back. Such an amazing little creature! God's love to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens, 2 Alien Bee Studio lights with large softboxes, Ishoot wireless flash triggers. Camera setting- Manual mode,ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/200th of a sec. F stop varied.