My How To Manuscript on Backyard Bird Photography

For those of you that have been following my photoblog for a long time you know that I have been writing a book. Today I am pleased to announce that my manuscript, "How to Do Backyard Bird Photography" is complete and I am looking for a publisher. The book is a comprehensive guide that takes anyone wanting to learn backyard bird photography on a step by step process on how to accomplish it. In this book you will learn about the techniques for creating professional-quality images, the necessary gear, and the construction and use of feeders,perches,backgrounds and blinds. The book includes detailed images and diagrams that assist you in this purpose. I am looking forward to working with a publisher on this project. If you are a publisher or know of a publisher interested in publishing a How To book on Backyard Bird Photography please get in touch with me. At this time I want to thank my family and many of my followers for your support, prayers and encouragement in the writing of this manuscript.You have been a blessing to me. Sincerely and God bless, chris

One Frosty Morning

The inland valleys in Mendocino County for the past couple of weeks have been dropping into the twenties. Combine that with clear nights and you get some great frost in the morning. Not what a lot of gardeners want to hear but it's great for photography. Annika and I went in search of frost along Willits Creek over the weekend and we found it in abundance. This morning I got around to catching up on processing some of the images from our adventure. God bless, chris

Life on the Water

The best laid plans of mice and men all fail. Today my plan was to photograph some kayakers up on the Eel River. When I left Willits for the drive up it was threatening to rain. It started raining immediately upon the opening of my pick up door when I arrived at the river.Oh well. Sans camera I walked down to the river and talked for awhile with Jeff Laxier and Cate Hawthorne. They run Liquid Fusion Kayaking. Today they were teaching three students the basics of whitewater kayaking. Now for the commercial break. They are the ones to contact if you are interested in kayaking from from mild to wild. They provide epic paddling adventures in the Mendocino and Fort Bragg area for all ages and abilities. For those that want to learn to kayak, Liquid Fusion Kayaking specializes in learn to kayak classes for beginning through advanced paddlers.You can contact them at (707)962-1623. After I left them on the drive home I thought how as guides/instructors they spend the majority of their time on the water. Much the same as the willows I photographed standing in a riffle on the river. God's blessings to all, chris

Sunrise on a Wet, Gray Day

This morning we were greeted by a bright, glowing sunrise. It was quickly replaced by a wet, dull gray sky.Now it is spitting snow. Not enough to make it interesting either. It stops and starts.Not exactly the best day for outdoor photography pursuits. I think I'll sit by the fire. God's love and blessings to all, chris

BRRRRR!

It was really cold out this morning. I was on my way to the gym wearing shorts when I made a detour to photograph some of the frost on the floor of the Little Lake Valley below where we live. It wasn't the best clothing choice for the temperature but it sure was beautiful.It was worth the little bit of chill. God's light and love to all, chris

Chasing Sparrows

My goal this morning was to capture some images of Collared Dove and California Valley Quail.When I arrived at my friends house this morning there were quite a few in the backyard. They took off in a flurry of wings as soon as I stepped into the yard. After I finished setting up my photoblind I sat down for a long cold wait of about forty five minutes before anything returned.Unfortunately for me the quail and dove never did return. Lots and lots of Golden-Crowned Sparrows in winter plumage came. When you are given sparrows well.. that is what you photograph. Perhaps another day! God's light,love and blessings to all, chris Thank you Ron LeValley for the species ID.

Simple Sparrow

Today I was working on a new birding set up. While I was setting it up there were quite a few (actually tons) of Golden-Crowned Sparrows in winter plumage coming into the feeders. Here is one of them. Have a great weekend and God bless, chris

Artist's Sunset

This afternoon I worked on getting more images for my book. I'm making slow but steady progress. Later on in the evening just before dinner Lenore and Annika arrived and exclaimed. "You have got to see the sunset! If you hurry you might just catch what is left of it." Abandoning the woodstove I was loading up I hurried outside to catch the remnants of a gorgeous pastel sunset. The fog and mist just softened everything. It was just beautiful. God's precious light and love to all, chris

Following the Herd

Today was filled up with domestic chores that needed to be done around the house. Sometimes they are called "deferred maintenance". Tonight as a respite from chores I wanted to try something that I have seen a lot of other photographers doing. Burning steel wool in a chef's wisk while twirling it around your head.Crazy!! Tonight was just an experiment to just get a feel for what it is all about.First off I learned that you really,really need to take fire safety into consideration.Those little sparks go everywhere! That is why I chose a rainy dripping night.Secondly is that for personal safety a hat and safety glasses are required. The sparks sometimes land on the twirler or twirlee as well. My yard wasn't the most photogenic location for it and I look forward to trying in near the ocean or in a river where you could get something really creative going.The reflections would be incredible! God bless, chris

Squirrel Filler Image

Friday morning I made a trip up to Arcata, California for the weekend. So I wasn't able to make any blog entries due to lack of access to a computer. Here is filler image of a Douglas Tree Squirrel I created Friday before I left.I really like how the fall colors framed the squirrel! God bless, chris

Steller's Jays

I arose bright and early to a cloudless sky and bright sunlight.I rushed out to my photoblind as I'm working on trying to create a really nice Mountain Quail image. I waited for a long time this morning before I heard the quail coming down our patio. I watched them as they fed around my feeders.Eventually one was about a foot away from a perch I had set up and a Steller's Jay came in and forced it away.Shortly after all the quail left. Steller's Jays are a beautiful bird but they do take over my bird feeders at times. They are very aggressive. When they arrive the rest of the birds move away from the main feeders pretty fast.So when you are given lemons make lemonade. Here are a few Steller's. Gd's light and love to all, chris

Grasshopper

With the advent of the colder weather one of the things I least expected to find in the backyard was a grasshopper. I guess it found a way to hide out from the cold and chilly weather we had.So here is one grasshopper image and a couple of images from this mornings sunrise. God's light and love to everyone, chris

I Can’t Do a Thing With This Hair

Yesterday afternoon I went out to my photoblind.. I wanted to see if I could get a Mountain Quail image. I have been noticing that they have been coming around to the feeders around three o’clock each day. I was a little late in getting out to the photoblind and I ended up spooking about eight quail away. After it happened I figured if I waited them out they would come around again. I was in for a long cold wait. I was just about to call it quits when I could hear quail feeding calls coming from down our patio behind me. They slowly walked past me. I watched and waited until one of them went up onto the mossy perch I had placed next to one of my feeders. Its’ plumage was a little wild looking(bad hair day) but I didn’t care because I had my Mountain Quail image. Mountain Quail are on my list of one the most difficult birds to photograph around my house. The only one that is more difficult is Ravens because they are sooo smart. God’s love and blessings to all, chris

New Arrival

This morning I wandered out to the photoblind in the backyard for about an hour of bird photography. I got to photograph something different for a change.Woot! Woot! There was a small flock of Yellow Crowned Sparrows hanging around the bird feeders. Such cute little guys too. Quite the change as I haven't ever seen any up here on the ridgetop before.They might be just migrating through. Time will tell. God's precious light and love to all, chris

Time For a Cool Refreshing Drink

When we landscaped part of our backyard some years ago one of my priorities in the design was to include a small garden pond.It's not very big as far as ponds go. It's about five feet across and about two and a half feet deep.What it lacks in size in easily makes up for by the amount of wildlife it attracts. We have insects,snakes, birds, squirrels and butterflies that all come in to use it. In springtime there is a chorus (if you can call it that) of frogs that come to it to breed. This morning I sat by it waiting for a Douglas Tree Squirrel to come and get a drink from it. After a bit of a wait a young female scurried past me and down to the pond for a cool refreshing drink. She didn't even flinch as I made several exposures of her drinking up her fill. What a wonderful way to start out today. God's love and blessings to you all, chris

Playing Tourist or This Has Been Done Millions of Times Before

On Thursday I went down to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to photograph the U.S. Navy's Flight Exhibition Team the Blue Angels. Naturally while I was there I couldn't resist photographing the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. It has literally been photographed by millions of tourists and photographers since its completion in April of 1937. The bridge's main suspension span is 4,200 feet long and the overall length of the bridge from abutment to abutment is 8,981 feet long. Approximately 110,000 vehicles use it on a daily basis. That is a lot of cars and trucks. So here are some images of the Golden Gate Bridge. God bless, chris

Work in Progress

I have been working towards creating a Douglas Tree Squirrel with fall colors in the background behind the squirrel. I was up and at it early this morning again. I'm making progress and I'm having a lot of fun doing it! They are such cute little critters. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Fall Squirrels

I need to get out more! This morning I was out in the front yard photoblind going nuts with the Douglas Tree Squirrels.I'm trying to get some fall colors into the background behind the squirrels. So bear with me for a few more days of squirrel images until I get it right.I loved the soft lighting and the sharp detail. I just want more color behind them. Blessings to all, chris

That's a Fine Kettle O' Vultures

This morning I was quite the busy boy. I worked out,did the recycling, photographed some birds and had lunch with Lenore. All in a mornings work! I went out to the Burris Ranch because I wanted to photograph some birds on a mossy rock. The only birds that came in were Dark Eyed Juncos. It's that season of the year where I'm only getting to see just the local birds as other birds are or have already migrated southward. After getting out of the photoblind a kettle of Turkey Vultures (yes that is what a group of turkey Vultures is called) began forming in the thermals above the pasture next to my blind. I stayed and watched them for about fifteen minutes. A couple of times they broke off into separate groups but then they came back together again. At one point I counted just over forty vultures. I couldn't get the whole kettle in as I had my telephoto lens on.All in all a very nice morning. God's love and blessings to all chris