High Key and Low Key

A couple of days ago I walked past the Gladiolas blooming in the garden and I thought to myself. I 'd really like to photograph them. Early this evening Lenore and I went to harvest some greens for breakfast tomorrow. AsI walked past the glads I noticed that they are already starting to wilt. I knew it was now or never1 I clipped the freshest looking pink one that I could find. Tonight at home I set up a piece of white foamcore with the Gladiola directly in front of it. I placed an AlienBees 1600 Studio light with a small soft box right behind everything. I hand held another Alien Bee 1600 from slightly above and to the right from the front. I tried several exposure settings to get what I was looking for. I uploaded the image and I was blown away by the details of the flower from the light passing through it. then I took Badger the Wonder Dog for a walk. As we walked I thought of a set up to rephotograph the Gladiola on a black background. This time I used a piece of black foamcore with the flower in front of it. I used the same studio lights except I set up the softbox from the right side with a grid to stop any light spilling onto the background. Once again I handheld the other Alien bees light though this time it was from slightly behind and from the left. I was really happy with how the images came out. Both images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Tamron 28-200mm lens. The camera settings used were M mode, ISO 100, F 5.0 and F 9.0 at 1/160th of a sec. lighting was provided by two Alien Bees 1600 Studio lights. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris

Knothole Bird Feeder

I set up a knothole bird feeder in the yard to try and capture some close up images of the Black-headed Grosbeaks. I put it right next to my platform bird feeder . Then I cleared out all of the bird seed from the platform feeder forcing them to look for food close by. After settling into the photoblind the birds started coming in. They were looking all over the place until a Steller's Jay discovered the small hole. It looked at it quizzically for a bit and then dove right in grabbing a few seeds and flying off. The jays really got into it. After they left the grosbeaks gave it a try. They were actually easier to photograph because when one of them would land on the feeder they would park themselves and keep feeding for quite awhile. Here are three of my favorite images. God's blessings upon your weekend. To all of you Americans out there, Happy Fourth of July! All of these images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. #teamcanonusa

More Shelter in Place Photography

I love photographing birds and squirrels in my yard. It's a quiet time to think and see wildlife up close and unobserved. This afternoon I got to watch a deer walk across our driveway all the way up to my blind until she scented me and then made a hasty retreat the way she had come. I watched several squirrels came and go as well as a chipmunk that grabbed a few sunflower seeds and ran off between visits by the much bigger squirrels. The main thing is it gets me out of doors and in a safe place. Here is a sampling of images from the past two and a half days. All these images were photographed using simple set up created by leaning mossy log over some cinder blocks under my bird feeder. From a photoblind in my yard in Mendocino county, Northern California.God's love and blessings to all, chris All of these images were created with a Canon 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400IS V.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX Speedlight. #teamcanonusa

Simple Set Up

Yesterday afternoon I created a very simple set up for photographing birds in the front yard. I took a fairly large tan oak branch and set it up at an angle between two uprights. I fastened it into place with some decking screws. About ten feet behind it I set up a moderately green backdrop. Next I hung a feeder just above the branch so that the birds would have to land on the branch in order to get food from my single spout feeder. I set up my photoblind with a cushy office chair eight feet back from the branch. This morning I waited until both the branch and the background were both in even light. I didn't want any mixed light to have to deal with. I climbed into my photoblind and waited. I was in for a bit of a wait! After roughly a half hour a single Chestnut Backed Chickadee fluttered down to the branch reached up grabbed a seed from the bird feeder and took off. After that it was one bird after another for about forty five minutes. I stopped when the light started getting too harsh to photograph anymore.After uploading the images from my computer this image ended up being my favorite. God's light and love to all, chris This image was created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400 IS V.1 lens at 400mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600, F 5.6 at 1/400th of a sec. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 500 EX Speedlight set to -1 1/3 stops. #teamcanonusa, teamcanon, #secretsofbackyardbirdphotography

More Bird Photography

This afternoon when I got home from running errands from downtown I created a quick set up. I used a fall colored background and a beautiful bright red sunflower. I placed the sunflower next to the bird feeder for the birds to land on. The birds coming into the bird feeder went from zero to sixty as soon as I climbed into the photoblind. There were Steller's Jays mixed with Red Breasted Nuthatches and Chestnut Backed Chickadees. There were a few Dark Eyed Juncos hanging around but they were't coming to the feeder. It was pretty dark in the shade which made for some difficult lighting. I ended up using an ISO of 3200 which is pretty high to bring up the shutter speeds to something fast enough to stop the action. Even so I was still down to some pretty slow shutter speeds. To help with that I set up a fill flash with a Canon 550 EX speedlight at minus 1 1/3rd stops. After uploading the images I found a dozen of them that I really liked. There were two that ended up being my favorites. One of a Red Breasted Nuthatch and one of a Chestnut Backed Chickadee. Not bad for a short afternoon in challenging light.God's love and blessings to all, chris Both of the images were created with a Canon 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400 IS V. 1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550EX Speedlight. #teamcanon, #teamcanonusa

Fall Migration or Goodbye to the Hummingbirds

We are definitely moving into fall because over the last weekend most of my hummingbirds moved on. Some probably headed over to the coast and others likely moved further south. Migration is on especially for the hummingbirds. This afternoon when I went out into the backyard to do some hummingbird photography there were only three hummingbirds left. As usual Papaya the blasted cat showed up to scare them away. I didn't mind too much because the hummingbirds aren't that afraid of the cat unless she is right next to the feeder. As soon as she had passed by they were right back. I created almost sixty images and after uploading them to the computer I had about eight images that I really liked. Overall this image was my favorite. It symbolizes fall really well. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris This image of an Ann's Hummingbird was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400 IS V.1 lens at 220mm with a 12mm extension tube added to it for close focusing. Lighting was provided by four Canon 540EZ Speedlights set to 1/64th power. The camera settings used were M mode, ISO 400, F 11.0 at 1/160th of a sec. If you want more details of how to photograph hummingbirds please check out chapter six of my book, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography at your local library or on Amazon. It isavailable both in hardbound and a s an Ebook. #teamcanonusa, #teamcanon, #secretsofbackyardbirdphotography

Sometimes It Pays to Chimp

It's always good to look back and learn from your failures. Not to dwell on them but use them as a tool to improve in the future. Today was one of those days. I should have chimped more. A lot more! Chimping is what some photographers do after taking a picture with a digital camera and look at the image on the back of the camera to see the result. It got its name from the sounds they make when looking at the image. "Ooo-oo-oo!", like a Chimpanzee. Chimping has the positive benefit of checking to see that your images are working out. That the composition and exposure are correct. It can be detrimental if you do it too much and basically miss out on photographing anything else and miss a lot of images. This morning I was photographing birds coming into my little waterhole. The lighting was perfect and I thought I was getting a lot of nice images.I should have chimped a few more of them to make sure they were properly composed. All of the images I had created had the tails of the birds cut off. It can pay to chimp. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. Fill light from a Canon 550 EX Speedlight. #teamcanon

Springtime Joy

One of the things I really look forward to in spring is the blooming of the Californian Poppies. Growing up in Colorado I waited for them to them bloom in a rock garden we had in our backyard. My Dad had brought poppy seeds from California so we had a little bit of California with us. Here are two poppies one from the Brooktrails Community Garden and the other from the Little Lake Valley of Northern California. All photographed with my Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF-S60mm macro lens. Happy Easter to all, chris #TeamCanon

Winter Guest

With the warming spring weather we haven't been using our wood stove very much to heat up the house. Yesterday however there was a brisk fog pouring in off the coast and it sure felt like we needed a fire. It was pretty cold by California standards. I grabbed the wheelbarrow and wheeled it out to the woodpile to get some firewood. While grabbing some logs I was startled by an odd shape under one of the logs as I picked it up. It was in the shadows so I couldn't see it very well. There were some short appendages sticking out from it. My first guess was a bat. Pulling away some of the logs around it I was finally able to ascertain that it was a lizard. Further inspection revealed it was a Northern Alligator Lizard. It was all rolled up in a ball overwintering in our woodpile. As chilly out as it was it could barely move. I carried it into the house and placed it into a jar. This morning I photographed it on a mossy piece of bark before releasing it into a sunny spot on top of the woodpile. When I checked on it a little bit ago it was warm enough to crawl away. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF-S60mm F 2.8 USM Macro lens. #TeamCanon

Umbrella Day Gray

The weather has been rather intense. We had winds this last week that blew off part of the shingles and the roofing felt off of a section of our roof. Stuff was hitting the house all night long. In the morning the yard was littered with leaves and small branches. Three Tan Oak Trees blew over not far from our deck. They are currently hung up on some other trees which is good in some ways as if they had fallen all the way they would have taken out our fence. This morning when I woke up it was positively pouring. I decided to try some bird photography anyway. A few birds came but they were way too fast for the shutter speeds that I had available to me. It was pretty dark due to the heavy cloud cover. A couple of Western Gray Squirrels did come into feed at the bird feeder. They were very curious about the sound of the camera shutter and kept looking towards the bedroom window from where I was photographing from. These were some of my favorite images from the morning. God's blessings upon your week, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400IS USM v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550Ex flash.#TeamCanon

Squeaky Clean

I've noticed many macro images of soap bubbles posted on social media sites. Some of them look pretty cool. They are like colorful,miniature planets. Yesterday I thought that I would give it a try.I grabbed my camera with a macro lens and put it up on a tripod. I set up a lens end cap on top of a jar on top of a table to get it to a height where I wouldn't have to bend down too much.I filled up the cap with soap bubble mix.I blew a bubble in the cap with a plastic straw. After many, many attempts I got the technique down to where I could consistently create a bubble. I used a single hand held flash shot through a piece of white foam core to light up the bubble. For a back drop I used a piece of black foam core. It took a number of tries but I finally got one that I really liked. It was actually pretty challenging to accomplish. God's blessings upon your day, chris This image was created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 180mm macro lens. Lighting was provided by a Canon 550EX flash. The camera settings used were Manual Mode, ISO 800, F 11.0 at 1/250th of a sec.#TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Simple Images

These Steller's Jay images were created using a simple set up in my front yard yesterday in Mendocino County, Northern California. The set up consisted of a moss and lichen covered oak branch clamped above a platform feeder. The background used was a 4 foot square of Masonite hardboard painted green supported by a background stand. The photography was little slow because it was late afternoon and the wind was blowing. Birds really hate that because it's harder to spot predators with all the branches moving. They were photographed with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens set to 275mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.6 at 1/80th of a sec. I was using a tripod.#TeamCanon God's love and blessings to everyone, chris

City Boy

In my college years I spent some time living in the city of Sacramento. Luckily I lived in an apartment right next to the levee of the American River. I spent a lot of time kayaking, fishing and swimming in the river. It was my saving grace as it helped my sanity by having nature just over the top of the levee. Over the weekend I visited relatives in the Sacramento area. I made it a point to visit where I used to live. I found that the apartments had been converted to high end senior condos for 55 and up. Just down the street in Campus Commons I found some Wild Turkeys strutting in front of an office complex. Judging by how fat this on was they weren't lacking for food! This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash, #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Wee One From the Woodpile

Spring is the perfect time for me to find salamanders in the woodpile. I'm usually getting down to the bottom of the pile and salamanders are getting active because it is still moist and getting warm. Yesterday I uncovered this slender salamander under one of the last logs in the pile. At first glance I thought it was a worm until I noticed the tiny little legs sprouting out from the body. I carefully placed it in a glass container. This morning I photographed it before setting it free. Compare the salamander to some of the fir needles in the images and you can get an idea of how small they are. God's blessings upon your week, chris All of these images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF-S 60mm USM macro lens on a tripod. #TeamCanon

Watching and Waiting for the Long Distance Voyager

I have been watching and waiting for the Rufous Hummingbirds to appear. I always have a few resident Anna's Hummingbirds that hang around all winter. But the Rufous Hummingbirds are special because they travel so far. Rufous hummingbirds are known for having the longest migration, as measured by body length, of any bird in the world! They travel close to four thousand miles making the one way trip from Mexico to Alaska. That is pretty amazing for a three inch long hummer that weighs about the same as a copper penny. The Rufous breeds farther north than any other hummingbird in North America, traveling all the way up to Alaska in the summer breeding season. Truly an amazing migration. This afternoon I watched them for about five minutes before I grabbed my tripod camera and flash. I watched them to figure out the best possible perches they were using before I photographed them. I was looking for perches that were clutter free and had a pleasing background behind them. I photographed them for about half an hour. They were happy and so was I. Here are three of my favorite images. God's love and blessings to all, chris #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Simple Lichen Perch

I'm always searching for new perches to use for my bird photography. The best ones are usually found when I'm either driving or walking to our gate and back after a windy night. Saturday I found a really nice lichen covered one on a walk with Lenore and Badger to the gate. After our walk I set it aside for future use. I ended up using it yesterday afternoon and early this morning by clamping it up next to the bird feeder for the birds to land on when they came to feed. There was a mix of Chestnut Backed Chickadees and Red Breasted Nuthatches coming in with the stray Gray Squirrel or two that I yelled at to go away whenever they tried to climb up to the bird feeder. Here are three of my favorite images after editing this morning. God's blessings upon you, chris All of the images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

What is This Thing?

I find some strange things when I'm sorting and cleaning things up. I'm not the neatest of people and periodically I have to clean up and purge all of the detritus that surrounds me from my creative efforts. In cleaning out the cubbies in the closet I found a roll Kodak 35mm print film still in the box. It was a roll of 24 exposure Kodak Gold. I was really surprised to find that you can still buy it on Amazon though in the comments someone noted that the film was outdated. For the younger crowd out there this is what we used to have to put into cameras to create photographs. You had to load it into the camera take your pictures and then drop it off at the drug store or supermarket and they would send it out to a lab to be developed and then send your pictures and negatives back to you.In some places they had a lab in the store and they would develop it right there for you to pick up later. There are places actually still have these! I'm guessing that the box I found was most likely Lenores because I usually photographed with 35mm transparency or slide film. Although I sometimes would use a slide duplicator to make print using print film. On the box it was dated to develop by June of 2001 so that ship has long sailed. Amazing how much photography has changed since that time. Many people wouldn't have a clue as to how to even load a camera with print film today. We are too accustomed to the ease of photographing with our cell phones! God's precious light and love to all, chris This image was photographed on a white sweep with two L.E.D light panels using a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF-S60mm macro USM lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 125, F 20.0 at 1/6th of a sec. #TeamCanon