P.O.A.G.S.

This morning I set up and filled a platform feeder about ten feet away from the photoblind out in the front yard. Next I clamped a lichen covered oak branch above the feeder. I climbed into the blind for a long wait. While waiting I could hear the sound of the squirrels chattering in protest in the trees above me. Four Band-tailed pigeons flew down and landed on top of the blind. While they were walking around on the roof heard the clatter of claws on the redwood tree behind the feeder. A Western Gray Squirrel soon appeared next to the feeder. She climbed up the feeder post and made a short leap onto the oak branch. I created a lot of images of her but this one was my favorite a portrait of a Gray Squirrel(P.O.A.G.S.) This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens at 400mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.6 at 1/80th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Sunflower Kind of Day

Todays' photoblog was created with a nod to Jack Brock. He is one of the most talented and prolific bird photographers that I know. Please check out his bird photography on Facebook. He is always posting something new and creative. He posted some birds with sunflowers recently and I decided to create something of a similar nature. Last night I went out into the backyard and did the preliminary work on the set up. This morning I headed out to the backyard with a sunflower in hand and completed the set up. I photographed the Chestnut Backed Chickadees for about half an hour. After editing these three images were my favorite. Thanks, Jack. God's love and blessings to all, chris All of the images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L is USM v.1 Lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800 and the exposures varied. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 500EX flash set to -2 stops. Please check out the book, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography for more information on how to photograph birds in your backyard. #TeamCanon

Just Perfect!

Yesterday after battling the squirrels I knew I had to do something about it. I fell back on an old trick of giving the squirrels what they wanted. I set up two feeders away from the one I was using and like magic the squirrels left me alone. The squirrels were thinking, "What can be better than free food!" The squirrels were happy and I was happy. I had a great morning of photographing Chestnut Backed Chickadees in my backyard. In the afternoon I edited the images and then photographed them some more. After a final edit I narrowed them down six images that I really like. Of those six the one below is my absolute favorite. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris

This image was created using techniques from the book, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography. It was photographed using a Canon 7D mkII with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. The camera was supported on a ground pod set on a window sill. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600, F 8.0 at 1/80th of a sec.

Loving Those Chickadees

Yesterday I fought off the squirrels from the bird feeder while trying to photograph the Chestnut Backed Chickadees. Anyone that would have observed it would have been bent over in laughter. Here is this long pole jabbing out of a window every time a squirrel made an attempt to climb onto or get close to the bird feeder which was quite often by the way. Even I had to laugh because it seemed so ridiculous at times. Later on I made a couple of new bird feeders and drove down in the valley to a new location I scoped out. In the next few weeks a change of scenery will be good as there will hopefully be some different birds to photograph. Here are a couple of Chickadee images from yesterday afternoon. God's love and blessings to all, chris all images were created with a Canon 7DmkII on a ground pod on our back bedroom window sill. the lens used was a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800 and 1600 at F 8.0 shutter speeds varied.

Scattered Images From the Week

Here are some more images from this week. I have been having a blast in my backyard with the fall colors for a background. All of these images were created with a Canon 7DmkII and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. The camera was supported on a ground pod placed on our back bedroom window sill. Camera was set in AV mode, F 8.0, Exposures varied. #TeamCanon

Early Morning Squirrel

How could I possibly resist photographing this Douglas Tree Squirrel in our backyard this morning? It arrived at the feeder shortly after sunrise. I grabbed my camera and put it on a ground pod and photographed it from the window ledge in our back bedroom. Image created with a Canon 7D mkII and the great and venerable Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. The camera was set to AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.6 shutter speeds varied.

Pulling My Hair Out

i am currently pulling my hair out trying to solve the battery issues I am having with the flashes for my hummingbird photography. Which isn't very good because I don't have very much hair. I purchased some eneloop rechargeable batteries hoping I could save some money over the long term. So far what I have found is that the eneloop batteries initially put out too much power to the flash on the first burst and then drop too low and underexpose on the next discharge of the flash if I'm doing a sequence of images. Eventually as the batteries start to wear down it gets a little more consistent. So far I'm leaning towards going back to just paying for regular AA batteries even though it may be more expensive in the long run. Here are a few hummingbird images from the backyard this afternoon. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens on a Manfrotto tripod with a Bogen ballhead. Manual mode, ISO 100, F 22.0 at 1/200th of a sec. Four Canon 540EZ flashes set to 1/14th power were used for lighting.

Maybe a Little Rain Today

Rain is in the forecast for today. I was up early putting the cat out this morning. When I looked to the east and I really liked all the layers of trees, mountains and contrasting light over the Little Lake Valley. with the heavy cloud cover I knew it wasn't going to last very long so I ran downstairs and grabbed my camera and a telephoto lens. I love to shoot selective landscapes with a telephoto zoom. It's fun and creative choosing interesting patterns in the landscape. All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. Camera was handheld and braced. May God bless you with his precious love today, chris

Few More Birds

Yesterday morning I went out to my photoblind in the Little Lake Valley and photographed birds. Not too many birds came in to the bird feeders. I'll probably have to switch to a meal worm feeder to get more action at this time of the year. As usual the local Lazuli Buntings taunted me by feeding all around me on the native oat grass seeds. Just out of camera range of course! Once the male came in close but he was perched on a very unphotographic two by four. When I got back home I edited my images there were two images that I really liked. One of an Oak Titmouse (one of my favorites) and a male House Finch. Not bad for a short morning in the blind. God's love and blessings upon the rest of your week, chris both images were photographed using a Canon EOS 7D camera with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0, 1/2,000th of a sec and 1/640th of a sec. Fill flash was provided with a Canon 550 EX flash set to high speed synch at -2stop exposure. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead.

My Favorite Little Bird in Yellow

Of the small birds I would have to say that the Oak Titmouse comes close to the top as being my favorite. It's in a tie with the Calliope Hummingbird. But that is like comparing apples and oranges so I would have to say that the little Oak Titmice are my favorite. They seem to have such a great little heart and soul. This morning one kept coming over and over into the bird feeder. This gave me plenty of opportunity to work at getting just the image that I wanted. After editing the images this afternoon there were some very clear favorites but this one topped the the rest by far. Great eye contact and composition along with a nice uncluttered background to set the bird off rather nicely. I hope that you have a great weekend. God's love and blessings to all, chris This image was taken with a Canon EOS 7D with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens at 210mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/2,500th of a sec.

Sunrise and the Rest of the Birds

This mornings sunrise was a glorious repeat of yesterdays. Soft pastels that gradually faded away to gray and white. On Tuesday I was inundated with juncos but there were a few other species of birds that managed to sneak their way into the feeders. It was interesting to see that the Acorn Woodpeckers would drive away any Steller's Jays that came to the feeder but they pretty much ignored the other birds. Juncos would move out of the way of the woodpeckers but they wouldn't be forced to leave. The woodpeckers would go after the jays with a vengeance. It was really nice to have a Spotted Towhee come up onto the feeder. They are normally pretty secretive preferring to stay in the brush or on the ground. A couple of pairs of House Finches made an appearance and I managed to photograph the male. Overall I had a great time. Today I'm off to visit the tax man. Wish me luck on a good return. God bless, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. Camera settings used. AV mode for more control of the depth of field. ISO 400, F 8.0 for the birds and F16.0 for the sunrise. Shutter speeds varied. A Manfrotto 055 PROB tripod and a Bogen ballhead were used to support the camera for a sharper image.

Inundated

Yesterday morning after setting up the bird feeders and putting the pole back into my photoblind I settled in for some bird photography. The birds must have been ravenous from lack of food during the storm because they came piling in. There was a continual stream of four to six birds at a time. My only problem was that ninety nine percent of them were Dark Eyed Juncos. I was inundated with Juncos. Didn't I recently say something about missing them? Somehow they all must have heard me and come! The lighting was just fantastic and I was able to create some gorgeous images. It's so nice to have mornings like this. God's love and blessings to all,chris All images were created with a Canon 7D in AV mode using an F stop of F8.0. This F stop was chosen to allow the background of Bay Laurel trees to be out of focus. This F stop also gave enough depth of field so most of the bird especially the eye would be in focus. Shutter speeds varied. The camera was fitted with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens set on a Manfrotto 055 PROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead.

Another Steller's Day

Before the sun rose this morning I set out a new bird feeder and a piece of bark for a perch. Later on sitting in my photoblind the Steller's Jays came for black sunflower seeds almost non stop. There was one short break and during that time a lone Chestnut Backed Chickadee made a very brief appearance that was almost to quick to follow. I ended up making a lot of nice Steller's images but this one hands down was my favorite. May you have a blessed afternoon and evening. chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens at 220mm. Camera settings used- AV mode, ISO 800,F 5.6 at 1/100th of a sec. Cmaer was supported on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead.