New Wildlife Snag

On Monday we had to have a hundred foot Douglas Fir tree removed from our yard. It was dead and it threatened to fall on our house. The night before the tree service came I had an epiphany. I realized that we shouldn't cut the tree all the way down. We should leave a good fifteen foot section as a snag for wildlife. The tree service was glad to oblige as it was less work for them. As the snag rots over the next few years it will provide habitat for a multitude of creatures. Maybe I'll get lucky and have some cavity nesters use it after the woodpeckers have had a go at it. God's blessings upon your day, chris #TeamCanon, all images were created with a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon EOS 7D MkII cameras.

Forest Still Life

Like many people I'm often attracted to patterns. Every time I take a walk in the forest I'm drawn especially to the repeating patterns in nature. This morning my eyes were drawn to the Douglas Fir cones. They almost look like Trilobites with there scaly appearance. Close up they look really cool. What an amazing world God has created for us to look at! Here is a still life from early afternoon when I got around to photographing some of them. God's blessings upon your day, chris This image was created with a handheld and braced Canon 7D MkII anda Tamron 18-200 mm lens at 100mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800,(I tried 100 ISO but I was too shaky) F 8.0 at 1/50th of a sec.#TeamCanon, #takenwithmytamron

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

Evening Light

Yesterday was windy with torrential rains, snow and hail. This morning we awoke to sun filled skies with a scattering of clouds. I didn't pick up my camera all weekend until I finally created some images of the last evenings light on some tree trunks off of our driveway. I combined these with some cracked pavement for a little texture.

God's love and blessings,

chris

Douglas Tree Squirrel

This morning I set out tophotgraph my vsion of a Douglas Tree Squirrel that I've had on my mind for awhile now. I wanted to photograph one from the side coming out of a knothole. I wanted a dark background so all the colors of the squirrel would stand out. Last week I made a new knothole feeder as the deer destroyed one of the ones I have been using. I set up the new feeder so I was looking at it from the side with a lot of dark fir trees in the background. After getting into the photoblind I only had to wait about twenty minutes before one of the squirrels came for a visit. I'm really pleased with the result.

God's light and love to all,

chris

They Remind Me of Teddy Bears

Those of you that have been following my blog for a while know that I am a push over for small furry critters. I like to photograph small mammals. For example I much prefer to photograph Pika than Elk. This morning I photographed some nice Blacktail Deer. When I got home I went out to the photoblind with the intention of getting some images of a Chickaree AKA Douglas Tree Squirrel. Luckily there was one at the feeder and as long as I was perfectly still it would let me photograph it. If it sensed any movement at all from the photoblind it jumped off the feeder and ran to a nearby fir tree to complain. I had to give it five minutes or so before it would come back. It was the cutest darn thing. It reminded me of a teddy bear.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

From the Tiniest of Acorns Grow..

One thing there isn't a shortage of around my house is trees. Douglas Fir, Madrones, Redwoods, Tan and Valley Oaks. Every fall the oaks produce a lot of acorns. I have to be careful where I park my car if I don't want a lot of little dimple marks put into the paint job. Most of these acorns that drop never make it to the growing stage. A good percentage them get eaten by the Wild Turkeys,Bandtail Pigeons,wild pigs and the Blacktail Deer. A small percentage of them that survive and manage to land in decent soil get a chance to grow. Many of the rest just rot away.

This morning I decide to photograph a couple of acorns. I found a nice mossy patch to do that. I like the result.

God's blessings to all,

chris