Claws

One for fun. I couldn't resist posting this one. From out of the mists of the deep, dark forest comes claws! I thought the close up the paw of a Western Gray Squirrel looked pretty cool. Canon 7DmkII and a Tamron 150-600 at 600mm. I hope that you are having a great week. God bless, chris It is a great stock image for a biology book showing how well a squirrels paws are set up for climbing trees.

Work in Progress

I had an idea for an image with pink orchids and a Steller's Jay. This afternoon I squeezed in a little time between domestic duties to give it a try. The lighting wasn't perfect but with a little tweaking believe I can create a pretty sensational image next time I give it a try. God's love and tender mercies to all, chris. This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600 lens at 165mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 7.1 at 1/125th of a sec. Camera was supported on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Bogen ballhead.

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.

Small Secret World

I'm always amazed at the cool and unique things that you can find on the forest floor. It's like there is a secret little world apart from our own right at our feet. As adults we don't spend enough time marveling at God's handiwork at ground level. As children we often spent time crawling around on the ground looking at everything and being fascinated by plants, bugs the rocks and the dirt. The taller we get the more removed from that little world we seem to get. While visiting Little Darby Environmental Education Area east of Willits yesterday Lenore picked up these great clear leaves for me. They are amazing in that they have slowly decomposed to where only the vein structure is holding them together. They are really small beautiful world unto themselves. God bless, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 28-105 lens at 105mm. Camera settings used AV mode,ISO 100,F16.0 at 2.5 seconds. Camera was mounted on a Manfrotto 190 PROBX tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead.

Roll Out the Photos

Yesterday we awoke to a very gray day. I had a lot of work outside to do in preparation for the incoming storm. I put away my photography blind so that it wouldn't get destroyed by the wind like one of my last ones. I tucked away my backdrops so they wouldn't blow away as well. Then I put away the light patio furniture and some other stuff so we wouldn't lose it. When I was done I was ready for some photography. I keep a notebook of image ideas. Every once in awhile I'll dig the book out and add another idea to it or I'll work on bringing one of the creations to life. Today it was one of the latter. It's also one I promised I'd roll out for everyone to see once I finished it. After cleaning up outside I gathered up my photography gear and went to work. I had a blast working on getting the lighting right. I am really happy with the result. I see some room for improvement and I'll put that idea to work if I try it again in the future. Enjoy and God bless, chris PS It is raining cats and dogs right now as I am typing this. It rained hard all night long. Luckily the winds have been mild. Image greated with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens with an extension tube added for close focusing. Lighting was provided by four Canon 540EZ flashes set to 1/64th power. I wrapped the flashes in plastic bags to keep them dry. Camera settings used were manual mode, ISO 400,F8.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055PROBX tripod and a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead.

Inside Endeavors

Last night the wind just howled. The yard was covered in debris this morning. There were leaves, needles, twigs and sadly the remnants of the new knothole feeder I just put up. It looks like I'll have to search out some more mossy bark and build a new one. I went downtown to work out and buy groceries. What an amazing difference in the weather. At my house on top of the ridge the wind was blowing and it was cold. When I arrived downtown it was calm and warm. When I got back home I made a quick set up to do some smoke photography. I did some red smoke and some blue. My favorite was some blue smoke that looked a lot like a pregnant woman that was just beautiful. What do you see? God's love an mercies to all, chrisAll images were created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens. Camera was set to manual mode. Exposures varied. Lighting used was a snooted Alien Bee 1600 studio flash from the side.

It's the Squirrels Turn

I slept in this morning until eight thirty or so. I looked out the front window to check my birds feeders and there were just a few birds pecking about. They must be out of seed I thought to myself. After a leisurely breakfast I grabbed my camera and a scoopful of black sunflower seed and ambled out to the photoblind. My first objective was to find Papaya the cat and put her away but she was nowhere to be found. A Western Gray Squirrel watched my approach and he scolded me from the top of one of the bird houses for my very presence. Soon after pouring the seed into the bird feeder the birds started arriving in force one after the other. I made a few images but what I really wanted was a Douglas Tree Squirrel. The Western Gray kept its distance knowing that I was there. It would start to come in close and then bolt away to the trees for safety. I watched two Douglas Tree Squirrels out on the periphery gathering up bits of a fungi they were tearing apart. Eventually one of them bounded past the Gray Squirrel and jumped up onto the knothole feeder. I made several images of it before it gave a cry of alarm and scrambled off for the trees. What had I done to scare it off I wondered? Papaya soon made her entrance to be petted and I called it a day. God is good all the time. There are just times that we don't know why. chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens. Camera setting used- AV mode,ISO 800,F8.0 shutter speeds varied. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055PROBX tripod and an 055 Bogen ballhead.

Splash of Color

Today was one of those days where I got a lot done but not necessarily on the things I needed too. Over the past week I have been spotting the Mountain Quail covey in my backyard. As many of you know I am determined to capture a excellent image of one.Today with that in mind I sat in the photoblind for about an hour early this morning and then later on sat in the blind for about two hours in the afternoon. During all that time I didn't hear or see any quail. I did manage to add many images to my abundant collection of Western Gray and Douglas Tree Squirrel collection. OH MY! I gave up around three o'clock and went in search of something different. I walked down to the end of our road and back. On the return trip a splash of color caught my eye.There was a Bracken Fern illuminated by the late afternoon sun and just glowing with possibilities. I photographed it from several angles before I found the best one. The problem with the best one was that there was a branch from a bush blocking it. I solved that problem by setting the timer on my camera and running over to the bush and pulling the branch out of the way when the shutter released. After a few laps back and forth I had an image I really liked.The quail can wait for another day. God's love and blessings, chris