Drops in the Ocean

Sometimes when I'm out photographing a song will start running through my head sparked by the image I'm creating. On Wednesday evening Lenore was taking a Ukulele workshop in Mendocino giving us the perfect opportunity to spend some time on the coast together. While she was at the workshop I went out onto the Mendocino Headlands and photographed rocks. There are millions of rocks in the ocean which reminded me of the song "Drops in the Ocean," by Hawk Nelson talking about how much God cares for us. "If you could count the times that say you are forgiven. It's more than the drops in ocean." That gives me a lot to be thankful for. Have a great day, chris Both images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 100-400 IS v.1 lens on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod.#TeamCanon

Two Images of a Chorus Frog

This morning found Lenore and I out at the coast wandering a trail on the Mendocino Headlands. Suddenly Lenore stopped, pointed and excitedly said."Look a frog!" I looked where she was pointing and all I could see were grasses and a small blackberry bush. "Where?" I asked in confusion. "Right there on that blackberry leaf", she responded. Sure enough when I looked closer there was a Pacific Chorus Frog AKA Pacific Tree Frog sitting there on one of the Blackberry bush leaves. I see frogs like this quite often but rarely do I see them up off the ground on a plant.Way cool! We both photographed it numerous times before we moved on. I liked the one with the frog more towards the center with the leaf leading from the corner to it. Lenore liked the image with the frog off in the right hand side. I decided to include them both in today's photoblog. Which one do you like better? God bless, chris This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D mkII and a Canon EF 28-135mm lens at 135mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 5.6 at 1/1,250th of a sec.

Out Into the Darkness

Saturday afternoon we went out to the coast and hung out around the Mendocino Headlands watching the sun go down. We had a fantastic tail gate dinner of clam chowder, olives and Camenbert Cheese. We counted so many Gray Whale spouts that I lost count. Right now they are migrating north to Alaska. Such a pretty cool sight to see. The sunrise ended pretty quickly in a fog bank so we headed up the coast to where we were staying at Pudding Creek north of Fort Bragg. We walked out onto the Pudding Creek Trestle in the fading light and created one image of the rocks off shore. We went back to our room watched an old western movie with Jimmy Stuart and drifted off to sleep. Around midnight the dog decided it would be a great time to go to the bathroom. I plodded out into the darkness and worked on an image of the rocks and the beach. The dog really put me into a mood when he wanted to go out at four a.m. I grabbed my camera again and this time made an image of the water shining with the silvery light of the moon. It was a great trip except for my lack of sleep. Next time the dog is staying home! God's love and blessings to all, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 28-105 lens. The first image was created by bracing the camera against the trestle railing for a long exposure. The other two were taken on a Manfrotto 190 PROXB Tripod with a Manfrotto 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used AV mode,ISO 400,F 4.5 at 30 seconds.

Mendocino Headlands

Today Jay had a track meet in Ft. Bragg, California which is just thirteen miles up the coast from the scenic Mendocino Headlands. I thought to myself what a perfect opportunity to go out to the coast and do some photography. I try to get out to the coast whenever I can even though the drive is extremely twisty and winding. My house sits on a ridge that is only about sixteen miles or so from the coast. On a clear day I can see the fishing boats out of Ft. Bragg but it takes 45 minutes of driving to get there from here.

The weather for the coast was incredible. The sun was out and there was a light breeze. I parked the car and Badger and I walked a section of the headlands and looked for scenic spots to create some seascapes. When we finished we drove up to Ft. bragg just in time to watch Jay compete in the 100 meter dash. He was in the middle of the pack when I saw a look of anguish cross his face. He suddenly slowed down and finished near the end of the pack still beating a runner. When I talked to him later he said he pulled a muscle and it hurt all the way home.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris