One of my Favorites

Yesterday afternoon Annika and I loaded up the pick up with camera gear and headed out to the Mendocino Coast. Our first stop was at the Q in Fort Bragg to load up on a couple of Pulled Pork Sandwiches. We had a nice picnic lunch a Lake Cleone. Afterwards we headed further up the coast to check out one of my favorite seal colonies. I love photographing seals with a telephoto lens and we had a great time watching them. There were two of them that looked really cute together. I'm not sure if was a mother and her young one or two seals that get along very well. They were sleeping side by side when we left. On the return trip we stopped at Pacific Star Winery for a bottle of wine and then we went to Cow Licks in Ft. Bragg for some ice cream. It was a gorgeous day. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images created with a handheld Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens.

Wait For It

As many of you may have noticed and probably already know photographing wildlife takes a lot of patience. It also takes learning to watch and wait for the moment. Last Sunday I went to one of my favorite places to photograph Harbor Seals on the coast north of Ft. Bragg. I sat, watched and photographed them for a couple of hours while they slept on the rocks. After a while the incoming tide and the larger waves started washing them off of their haul out spot. They would get washed off and then have to climb back up onto the rocks and find a new spot to slumber. This is where anticipating the moment came into play. I prefocused my camera on one of the seals. After a wait of about five minutes a larger wave rolled in and I was able to capture an image of the seal trying to stay on the rock amidst the wave.It made for a great image. Anticipating the action works for smaller animals as well. This morning while photographing birds a Western Gray Squirrel stopped by for a snack of bird seed. I noticed that periodically it would stop feeding and put its paw up onto the mossy part of the stump and look my way. I prefocused my camera on this spot and I was ready when the squirrel looked my way again. A bit of observation and the patience to wait can go a long way towards creating some beautiful images of wildlife. God's tender love and mercies to all, chris #TeamCanon, #Bringit, #hqspanimals

Singing Joyously

On Friday I made a quick one day trip up to Arcata to pick up Jay from college. Upon arrival I found out that Jay had one paper left to finish up for his last final. By then it was mid morning so the lighting for photography was pretty bright and flat. With some time on my hands I headed first to the Arcata Marsh. The sparrows there were in the topmost branches of the tallest plants singing their hearts out. After a short tour of the marsh I pointed the nose of the car northward up highway 101 to Trinidad. The normally sleepy little town of Trinidad was full of people! I've never seen so many people there before. I talked to a ranger and found out they were dedicating the lighthouse in a big ceremony. Not one for crowds I didn't stay long and instead headed a short distance up the coast to College Cove. Once there I hit the trails and found a profusion of wildflowers, flying gulls and seals basking on the rocks. It was a great hike before heading back down to Arcata to help Jay clear out his apartment and the drive home through the redwoods. God bless, chris All photography was done with a Canon 7D at a variety of settings and exposures.