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

Cloudy Day on the Coast

My brother, Eric visited from Colorado for a week. He is a professional photographer from Estes Park Colorado. He can often be found leading photography tours into Rocky Mountain National Park. While Eric was visiting we photographed a few times in the morning chasing turkeys and deer. One day we headed out to the coast looking for whatever we could photograph. He got some great images of the Black Oyster Catchers. While he was chasing them I focused on some long exposures of the coastline north of fort Bragg, Ca. We both came back happy. God's love and blessings to all, chris #TeamCanon These images were created with a Canon EOS 7D camera and a Canon S- 10-22mm lens. I used a Lee Super Stopper filter and a Lee soft grad filter to enable me to have a 30 second exposure during the middle of the day.

"Cash" Coin

I'm forever working on cleaning things up as I'm not the neatest person in the world. My two most difficult spaces are my office and the garage. In cleaning up the office yesterday I ran across a "cash" coin from China. Cash coins were made in China from 350 BC all the way up until 1912 A.D.. Most likely the coin was from my Grandfather as he traveled as a Merchant Marine to Asia when he was seventeen. In present day these coins are considered to be "good luck coins" and the are often worn as jewelry. The coin is in pretty poor shape and not worth very much. Still it's pretty cool to think of all the places it has been and what it may have been used for.God's love and blessings upon your day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D camera and a 100mm macro lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F13.0 at 1/25th of a sec. Lighting was provided by a desk lamp.#TeamCanon

Fly By

One of my favorite images from the Llano Seco Unit of the Sacramento National Wildlife refuge was of this flock of Pintails that did a fly by. Pintails are such a thing of beauty when they fly. They look like flying torpedoes. I was using my Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS L V.1 lens which is nice and fairly light for photographing flying waterfowl. I was shooting at one stop over the metered exposure so the birds wouldn't be overexposed against the bright blue sky. Normally I would use fill flash as well to bring out the eyes and knock down the shadows but I forgot my batteries in my other back pack. It pays to check twice and pack once which obviously I didn't do! God's love and blessings upon your week, chris #TeamCanon

Pair of Band-tailed Pigeons

I got off to a late start this morning and wasn't into the photoblind until eight o'clock. I also got outsmarted by the squirrels because I had forgotten set out a special feeder for them off to the side. Naturally because of this for the first half hour all I got visiting the bird feeder were squirrels. I climbed out of the blind and set a bowl of seed just for them. By then it was starting to get too bright for photography. Luckily the Band-tailed Pigeons started coming down from the trees and I was able to capture one nice image of a pair of them. May you have a blessed week, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. The camera settings used were Manual Mode, ISO 200, F13.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Lighting was provided by four Canon 540 EZ flashes in 2'x 2' soft boxes. The flashes were set to 1/16th power.The camera was supported with a tripod. #TeamCanon

One Steller's Day

This morning I got off to a late start. By the time I got set up and in the blind it was already eight thirty and the sun was starting to hit the tips of the new perch I put up. While I was working out the fine tuning of how to compose the image and what exposure to use a Steller's Jay flew in and perched. I quickly composed an image and took it. Then the Band-tailed Pigeons started dropping from the trees. That's when the batteries in my camera died. I thought I had just put in a fresh set. Obviously that was not the case. Always check that you have fresh batteries in the camera and a fresh set handy when you go into the blind! I waited and watched the pigeons until something flared them off. Then I climbed out of the blind and went back into the house. The sun was now too bright and I have some editing images to catch up on as well as some domestic chores. Have a blessed day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400IS v. 1 lens at 130mm. The camera settings used were manual mode, ISO 200, F 13.0 at 1/160th of a sec.Lighting was provided by four Canon 540 EZ flashes in 2' x 2' soft boxes. Two were on the perch and two were on the background. #TeamCanon

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

Country Life: Guest Photographer

Mendocino County in Northern California is a beautiful place to live. We have the ocean and its sandy beaches,tall Redwood groves, wild rivers and high mountains. Mixed in we have farms, ranches and wineries. You could do something different every weekend and not get bored. Living here we don't always take full advantage of what we have at our doorstep. Sometimes it's just nice to sit back on the deck and look up at the redwood trees. Saturday we went down to Hopland to Gaston Forge to look at having a gift made for a friend. They do incredibly beautiful metal artwork from signs to wall art and custom fire pits and more. Along the way we stopped and bought some delicious strawberries at Saechao Strawberries. Fresh picked out of the fields they are incredibly sweet! As we were leaving the strawberry stand we noticed all of the mailboxes lined up on the side of the road. We stopped and Lenore created some really nice images of them and this one was my favorite. I think it really captures the rural feel of where we live. She used a handheld Canon 7D and Tamron 18-200mm lens at 87mm. The camera settings were AV mode, ISO 100, F 5.6 at 1/320th of a second. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris #TeamCanon, #withmytamron

Spring Has Sprung

This morning I had an appointment in Ukiah. On the return trip I decided to swing through the Little Lake Valley and check out the wildflowers. This year looks to be a tough one as the grasses are up and are really tall. This makes it much harder to spot the low lying wildflowers. As I drove along I could see beautiful patches of one of the first harbingers of spring the California Poppies. They are so bold and bright. I pulled off into a gate access on the side of the road and walked back to a patch of them. I got down low and framed a scene of the valley with the flowers as a foreground anchor. I was quite pleased with how the image looked when I uploaded it to my computer when I got home. I'd say it's a keeper. God's blessings upon your week, chris This image was created with a hand held Canon 7D and an EF-S17-85mm lens at 26mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 100, F 16.0 at 1/100th of a sec. #teamcanon

4x5 Crown Graphic Press Camera

This is what newspaper photographers used to use up into the 1960s. Now that took some serious knowledge and talent. Back in the 1980s I made my first venture into owning a 4x5 camera when I bought this great 4x5 Crown Graphic press camera from Allen Jablonski a good friend of mine. The camera was originally owned by a professional photographer from Oregon. Sadly I forget the guys name. What was it Allen? In any case I moved on to a 4x5 field camera and created some beautiful images with it. It's been quite awhile since I have put any sheets of film through either one of them. Maybe it's time to break into that box of film in the fridge and do something! God's love and blessings upon your weekend, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EFS 17-85mm lens at 41mm. AV mode, ISO 100, F13.0 at 1/6th of a sec. Subject placed on a black sweep with two LED light panels. One light on each side with blag flagging to keep light off of the background. #teamcanon

Day Late and a Dollar short

Apparently yesterday was the "International Day of Trees and Forests". Obviously I missed it. So in honor of that I am posting an image of the Tan Oak trees and forest next to our house. We live in a mixed coniferous forest with Redwoods, Douglas Fir, Madrones and Tan Oaks. This area was logged in the 1960s and the Tan Oaks being a dominant tree grow much faster than Redwoods or Firs when there is light. So when it was logged it opened up the area to light and there are a lot of Tan Oak trees.The Firs and Redwoods are currently at an age where they slowly seem to be trying to take back over. God's light and love to all, chris This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS v.1 lens at 100mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600, F 11.0 at 1/125th of a sec.#TeamCanon

Some Hummingbirds

I thought that I wasn't going to get many hummingbirds this year. But we have had more hummingbirds this year than we have ever had. In late spring a bear came in and knocked down and chewed up my hummingbird feeders. I thought we wouldn't get too many hummingbirds back. I replaced the feeders and raised them way up high. Last week the bear came back and knocked down one of the lower feeders. Scared the daylights out of the person we had that was house sitting. They looked out the window to see a bear less that two feet away looking back! Both the bear and the house sitter weren't too pleased to see each other. Badger the Wonder Dog slept through almost all of it. Getting back to the hummingbirds. Presently we have been going through over a gallon of nectar per day. Every time I go into the back yard I see a dozen or more hummingbirds. They are mostly Anna's with a few Rufous/Allen's thrown in with many females and immature birds in the mix. Here are a few images from the mornings of July third and very early on the fourth. They just love my Aloe Plant! I hope and pray you are having a great week. God bless, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400IS lens ver.1 on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a bogen 3055 ballhead. Lighting was provided by four Canon 540EZ flashes set to 1/16th power.The camera was set on Manual, ISO 100, f 18.0 at 1/200th of a sec.

Work Your Subject

Late last week I was photographing Bumble Bees in the backyard when I spotted a beautiful red dragonfly hunting near the flower bed. First I took a documentary image of it just to capture an image of it #1. Then I moved closer and took a few more. I stopped and reviewed my images. They were from the side and while they were interesting enough I felt I could do better. The first change I made was to go to a wider F stop to blur out the background a little more #2. Next I positioned myself so that the front of the lens was parallel to the body of the dragonfly #3. This helps to ensure that more of the dragonfly would be in focus at a wider F stop. After that I stated paying attention to the background. I moved around watching the position of the dragonfly in relation to what was behind it. I kept working around until I found a spot where the dragonfly just popped from the image #4. Though I like all of the images especially #3, #4 really shows off the dragonflies wings and there are no distractions in the background. It really helps to work your subject from a variety of spots at different F stops. All images created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens with an extension tube for close focusing. #TeamCanon God's love and blessings to all, chris

Small Town Celebration

The small town of Willits in Northern California where I live celebrates the Fourth of July in a big way with Frontier days starting in mid June and culminating on July 4th with a parade, BBQ and the CCPRA Rodeo finals. During Frontier days there is a wide array of happenings in town with truck pulls, street dances,pancake breakfasts, sweetheart competitions and more. This year Willits celebrated the 90th annual Frontier Days. Each year they pick a theme and this year it was the Roaring Twenties. I just went to the parade this year and I made sure to get there early so that I could spend more time photographing many of the participants before the parade got started. I walked all around the staging area talking to old friends and photographing people and dogs as I went. As I watched and photographed I realized that it is quite and organizational feat to get a parade all lined up and moving. I had a great time and it looked like everyone else did too. God bless, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a canon EF-S17-85 mm lens #TeamCanon