Umbrella Day Gray

The weather has been rather intense. We had winds this last week that blew off part of the shingles and the roofing felt off of a section of our roof. Stuff was hitting the house all night long. In the morning the yard was littered with leaves and small branches. Three Tan Oak Trees blew over not far from our deck. They are currently hung up on some other trees which is good in some ways as if they had fallen all the way they would have taken out our fence. This morning when I woke up it was positively pouring. I decided to try some bird photography anyway. A few birds came but they were way too fast for the shutter speeds that I had available to me. It was pretty dark due to the heavy cloud cover. A couple of Western Gray Squirrels did come into feed at the bird feeder. They were very curious about the sound of the camera shutter and kept looking towards the bedroom window from where I was photographing from. These were some of my favorite images from the morning. God's blessings upon your week, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400IS USM v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550Ex flash.#TeamCanon

Fall Color Tour or Country Roads

Every year I try and take a fall color tour to the east of Willits, Ca. The route always starts off the same but then depending upon my whim the ending is usually different. I take the Hearst-Willits Rd up over Red Hill down through Rock Tree Valley. I then ford Tomki Creek. From here on it's anyones' guess as to where I'll go. This year I decided to follow Tomki Creek out to Tomki Rd and up over into Redwood Valley and then back out to Hwy 101. It was a beautiful drive with plenty of creek crossings and not a single vehicles in sight until I got close to Redwood Valley. I was glad to have a high clearance vehicle because at one creek crossing because the water was close to two feet deep. I don't think Lenore's little Mazda would have made it through that one. It was such a lovely drive. I look forward to another year. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera or a Canon EOS T!i camera. I had two lenses with me a Wide Angle and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 telephoto #TeamCanon

Poppin' Out All Over

There has been a wonderful California Poppy bloom this spring. I went out a couple of times to photograph them this last week. Both in Ukiah and Willits. As beautiful as they are it takes some work to get a beautiful image of them. Part of the reason for that the grasses have grown up faster than the poppies pretty much burying them in the grass. You have to look for poppies that stand out or are isolated from the grasses in some way. I created a lot of images but here are three of my favorites. All of these images were created with a Canon T1i camera and a variety of different lenses. #TeamCanon

Wee One From the Woodpile

Spring is the perfect time for me to find salamanders in the woodpile. I'm usually getting down to the bottom of the pile and salamanders are getting active because it is still moist and getting warm. Yesterday I uncovered this slender salamander under one of the last logs in the pile. At first glance I thought it was a worm until I noticed the tiny little legs sprouting out from the body. I carefully placed it in a glass container. This morning I photographed it before setting it free. Compare the salamander to some of the fir needles in the images and you can get an idea of how small they are. God's blessings upon your week, chris All of these images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF-S 60mm USM macro lens on a tripod. #TeamCanon

Sally

Earlier this week while getting some wood from the woodpile I discovered this cool little salamander between the layers of the tarp covering the pile. It was awesome in appearance being black with gold flecking. Size wise it was very small only being about two inches long. It was also difficult to capture because it was really fast and active for a salamander. This afternoon I photographed it before releasing it back into the woodpile where I had captured it. I'm sure it has some pretty wild stories to tell to its buddies. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris Both of these images were created with a Canon T1i camera and a Canon EF-S 60mm macro USM lens. #TeamCanon

Stopping by for a Drink

Yesterday I sprayed some water on the coneflowers out in our front yard. Soon afterwards the butterflies started dropping in for an afternoon drink. I walked back indoors and grabbed my tripod and my camera outfitted with a telephoto lens. I came back out and set the tripod up as close to the flowers as I could focus. I watched and waited until one of the Painted Lady butterflies turned its body towards me. It's really important that the butterfly be as parallel to the front of the lens as possible for everything to be in focus. I was really happy to find a really nice one when I was editing images early this morning. Thank you Lord for the beautiful butterflies, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm lG2 lens at 600mm. The camera was supported by a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a 3055 heavy duty ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 6.3 at 1/1,000th of a sec. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Country Life: Guest Photographer

Mendocino County in Northern California is a beautiful place to live. We have the ocean and its sandy beaches,tall Redwood groves, wild rivers and high mountains. Mixed in we have farms, ranches and wineries. You could do something different every weekend and not get bored. Living here we don't always take full advantage of what we have at our doorstep. Sometimes it's just nice to sit back on the deck and look up at the redwood trees. Saturday we went down to Hopland to Gaston Forge to look at having a gift made for a friend. They do incredibly beautiful metal artwork from signs to wall art and custom fire pits and more. Along the way we stopped and bought some delicious strawberries at Saechao Strawberries. Fresh picked out of the fields they are incredibly sweet! As we were leaving the strawberry stand we noticed all of the mailboxes lined up on the side of the road. We stopped and Lenore created some really nice images of them and this one was my favorite. I think it really captures the rural feel of where we live. She used a handheld Canon 7D and Tamron 18-200mm lens at 87mm. The camera settings were AV mode, ISO 100, F 5.6 at 1/320th of a second. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris #TeamCanon, #withmytamron

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

Little More Rain

Just before I shut my eyes last night I looked outside and marveled at the bright clear stars shining back at me through our bedroom window. I was excited at the prospect of a sunny day this morning. I awoke instead to the the sound of rainwater dripping through the downspouts and the patter of rain upon the rooftop. The weather report shows a 20 percent chance of rain with clearing and sunny by he afternoon. I guess I'll have to wait for the sun. Yesterday afternoon I photographed birds in the backyard and the first bird that came to the bird feeders was one lone Band-tailed Pigeon. Being jumpy nervous characters this one flew off after only creating three images. This one was the best of the three so enjoy one of our wild pigeons from Mendocino County in Northern California. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris This image was created using a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens at 256mm. My camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/320th of a sec. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash set to -2 stops. #TeamCanon, #tamron

Spring Has Sprung

This morning I had an appointment in Ukiah. On the return trip I decided to swing through the Little Lake Valley and check out the wildflowers. This year looks to be a tough one as the grasses are up and are really tall. This makes it much harder to spot the low lying wildflowers. As I drove along I could see beautiful patches of one of the first harbingers of spring the California Poppies. They are so bold and bright. I pulled off into a gate access on the side of the road and walked back to a patch of them. I got down low and framed a scene of the valley with the flowers as a foreground anchor. I was quite pleased with how the image looked when I uploaded it to my computer when I got home. I'd say it's a keeper. God's blessings upon your week, chris This image was created with a hand held Canon 7D and an EF-S17-85mm lens at 26mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 100, F 16.0 at 1/100th of a sec. #teamcanon

Mystical Mountain Morning

Sunday morning the fog rolled in over the ridge top where we live creating some soft beautiful light. I quickly grabbed my camera and ran out to the end of our driveway and made a few images of the forest before we dashed off to church. This image was my favorite. God's love and blessings to all, chris #teamcanon This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Rokinon 8mm manual lens. The camera settings used were avmode, ISO 800, F 11.0 at 1/200th of a sec. the camera was supported by a ground pod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy Duty ballhead placed on the ground.

All Alone

One of the sure signs of spring where I live is the blooming of the Daffodils. In our backyard we have about a dozen or so of them. This year only one of them bloomed all by itself. All alone in the big backyard. I wonder if it is lonesome? Blessings upon your day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a 100 mm lens on a ground pod. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.0 at 1/1600th of a sec.#teamcanon

Another Resident of the Woodpile

While rearranging the wood pile I also ran across one of our native snails. Here is a Shoulderband Snail. I love the ruddy red color of their bodies. It contrasts quite well with the dark shells that they have. This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a 100mm lens on a Manfrotto tripod. #teamcanon Have a blessed week, chris

Slender Salamander

Oh, the things I find at the bottom of the woodpile. Last time Jay and I were working on the woodpile we found a Coastal Giant Salamander. Yesterday afternoon while looking for some dry wood (we have had a bit of rain you know) I found a Slender Salamander. With their dark coloring they really blend into the forest floor. This one was buried in the damp forest duff under a piece of wood and I would have probably missed it had it not just barely moved its tail. This was probably meant as a distraction as their tails can easily detach and they can escape and then grow a new one. These guys are really small with very large adults being about five inches long. The is one pictured here was only about two inches long.God's blessings upon your weekend, chris Image created with a Canon 7D MkII and a 100mm macro lens. I used four led light panels for a light source. #teamcanon

Blasted Bear!

I really like bears. They are such a beautiful animal. I also respect them as they are incredibly powerful. You can't believe what one did to our neighbors trash enclosure. It was completely ripped apart.We have a six foot wire deer fence around our backyard to keep the deer out from eating our plants. Now at one place it is only about three feet high. A bear just crushed it down to climb over. What could it possibly want that it would do that? I haven't had any bear problems since last fall but last night I left my bird feeder hanging up with about a cup worths of bird food in it! The bear came over the fence (Sort OF) and then knocked down the bird feeder and hauled it away. I found it crushed and torn apart down in our garden. Luckily it wasn't one of my nice bird feeders but one that I had made out of a recycled plastic almond milk container. For the bears safety and ours it looks like I will have to start bringing in the bird feeders in again at night.Below is an image of the crushed feeder and an image of the likely suspect from our trail cam. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Thank You

A big shout out of thank you to the county road crews and highway workers that help keep our roads and highways safe. You are out there in the most miserable conditions keeping our roads safe and clear. Late at night and early in the morning I could hear the sound of the plows. It was nice to wake up this morning and see the roads clear. God bless and stay safe, chris

Patience Required

Yesterday the weather couldn't decide what it wanted to do. It kept shifting from sunshine to rain, snow and hail. During the breaks in the weather I set up a lichen covered twig next to the bird feeder. I should say I set it up several times because the squirrels kept breaking it off whenever I wasn't around. After each set up I watched where the birds were landing and prefocused on that spot. The chickadees are so fast there is little to no time to recompose an image. They land and then are off to the bird feeder in a flash. I sat there waiting with my finger on the shutter release. Whenever I spotted a chickadee coming in I would click the shutter as soon as it landed. This resulted in a lot of almost images but it also resulted in some really beautiful images as well. After some editing this afternoon I narrowed it down to two images. One image in a vertical composition and one in a horizontal.The horizontal image was created when it was sunny and the vertical one was done when it was cloudy. I was very happy with the results. Both images were created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 150-600 G2 lens at 329mm. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 XPROB Tripod with a Manfrotto 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used AV mode,ISO 800,F 8.0 for 1/800th of a sec.for the vertical image and 1/1,000th of a sec for the horizontal one at the same settings. #TeamCanon,#tamron

What is this Blue Stuff?

This morning was rather unsettling. While still lying in bed I opened my eyes and looked up out the window and saw bright blue skies. After days and days of not seeing the sun it was rather disconcerting. Well actually I did briefly see the sun for about a minute yesterday through the clouds while I was on my way to the big city of Ukiah. I guess there is no real need to worry because as soon as I started to type this at quarter past eleven this morning it started to sleet. This quickly turned to snow and now it is hailing graupel or corn snow. The clouds have moved back in and there isn't a scrap of blue sky to be seen anywhere. Thank you Lord for the sunshine, chrisPhotographed with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens.

Prefocus and Patience

This morning I had to take my pick up to the big city of Ukiah for the airbag to be replaced. After a quick repair I returned home and grabbed a lichen covered twig off of the deck. I placed it right beside the bird feeder. Once back inside I composed and prefocused my camera on the twig. Chickadees are really fast when they feed at my house to avoid being eaten by hawks. Because of this there is little to no time to react. You have to be ready and waiting to make the image. After about a fifteen minute wait and ten tries I had three decent images and one that I was really quite happy with. If the weather holds I may try again this afternoon. I hope that you are having a great day. God's tender love and blessings to all, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 150-600 G2 lens at 329mm. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 PROXB Tripod with a Manfrotto 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used AV mode,ISO 800,F 8.0 for 1/250th of a sec. #TeamCanon,#tamron

Squirrel on the Gnarly Perch

Today was most definitely an inside day. The wind was howling and the rains came down. There was one bright spot sometime during the middle of the day when the sun shone through the clouds for a brief bit but it was very short lived. The clouds closed in and the rains came down again. During the break I put out some seed on the bird feeder and the Western Gray Squirrels immediately found it and came for a snack.I grabbed my camera with a short telephoto zoom on it and I took some images handheld from our back bedroom by bracing the camera against the window sill. Enjoy your weekend and God bless, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 18-200 mm lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, f 8.0 at 1/250th of a sec.#tamron