Moonrise!

I was totally unprepared for last night's moonrise. We had just finished dinner when Lenore looked out the window and exclaimed,"Is that the moon?" I glanced up from clearing my plate. "Oh my gosh I thought!" I sprinted up the stairs and grabbed my camera. I ran to our bedroom window and threw it open with a crash. I fiddled with the settings until I got the exposure right. It was simply beautiful. Moon rise over the Little Lake Valley. Thank you Lord for all your creation. I hope everyone has a great day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400 L IS USM lens V.1 at 400mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 7.1 at 1/200th of a sec. This was handheld and braced on our bedroom window sill. #TeamCanon

Lovely Layers

Forest fire smoke from the north of us has made for some beautiful layered pastel sunrises for the past couple of weeks. This is the one from this morning looking east over the Mendocino mountain Range. This image was aptured with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 18-200mm lens from our bedroom widow. Blessings upon your day, chris #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Saturday Morning

I woke up early to catch the sunrise this morning. The earth has finally tilted far enough that I can once again watch the sun come up over the Mendocino Range. In a few months as it moves farther south the trees on that end will block my view of it through the winter. I can enjoy it for now. God bless your day, chris All of these images were created with a Canon 7D mkII camera and a Tamron 150-600 G2 lens. the camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen heavy duty ballhead. #TeamCanon, #withmytamron

Good Morning

The Badger dog woke me up at six am with the urgent need to go outside. I was greeted by a beautiful tropical looking sunrise when I stepped out onto our deck. Thank you Lord for such a lovely day, chris

Perfect for Poppies

Today is overcast and looking like it really wants to rain. It's perfect diffuse lighting for photographing poppies. I had a medical appointment at the local hospital this morning and it was a quick visit.(Good job Melissa!) Afterwards I went out and photographed poppies in the field by the hospital. I was really happy to find one with a spider on it and a group of four that looked like they were ascending to the heavens. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris All of the poppy images were created with a handheld Canon 7D MkIIwith a Tamron 18-200mm lens. #TeamCanon, #tamron

Fire in the Sky

This morning the sunrise was pretty spectacular over the Little Lake Valley and the Mendocino Range. There was a big bank of clouds over the mountains with a slim gap for the sun to slide into. It was like the sky was on fire. What a gorgeous way to start the day. God's precious love and blessings upon your week, chris Both images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens propped on our window sill.

Foggy Down Below

This morning when I arose my first view of the Little Lake Valley down below was one of thick fog. Above the horizon of the Mendocino Range there was a weak sunrise that actually looked like it might hold the promise of a sunny day. Which ended up to be quite true for as I am writing this outside it is bright and cheery. Who knows what this day will hold? We shall see. May you have a blessed day, chris. I tossed in a Chestnut Backed Chickadee from yesterday afternoon. #TeamCanon

Orion Rising

I was up this morning way,way before the sun rise. I was doing some star photography and I wanted to capture the constellation Orion coming up over the Mendocino Range and the Little Lake Valley. I created quite a few images but this one was my favorite. For those of you that don't know Orion's Belt is that row of three bright stars in the lower right bottom of the frame. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 50mm F 1.8 lens. the camera settings used were Manual mode,ISO 1600, F 1.8 at 8 sec. The camera was supported on a Gorilla Pod on our window sill.

Serious Scenic Blues

I spent another day mostly indoors. I did squeeze in a walk with the dog out front. I'm starting to go a little stir crazy. The contractor is getting close to finishing the hardwood floors. It looks like probably only one more day. He had to stop early today because his rubber mallet for putting the floorboards in broke. Luckily it broke only about half an hour before his usual quitting time. Later on I was watching a movie on Netflix and Annika yelled out, "Dad you gotta see this sky!" Well that got my attention because Annika has a good eye for seeing images. Sure enough the sky was a deep shade of blue in contrast to the bright white patches of snow on the peaks of the Mendocino Range. It was a serious case of the blues. I grabbed my camera and put on a telephoto lens and made some images of it. This one was my favorite. Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens. God's precious light and love to you, chris

Sunday's Sunrise

I haven't done much photography over Christmas. Here is the sunrise from over the Mendocino Range and Snow Mountain. God's love and blessings to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF-S-17-85mm lens.

White Christmas

There was just enough snow left on Christmas morning to call it a white Christmas. The Mendocino Range to the east of us got a nice coating of white. We got peeks of it through out the day. I liked this view of it through the clouds as it was like looking through the single slat of a window blind. God bless, chris

Just a Peek

Do you ever have one of those days where you don't feel creative? Today is one of those days for me. There are too many home projects that need to be done right now that are cluttering my mind. This mornings sunrise was a bit delayed due to the cloud cover over the Mendocino Range. Here is the sun just breaking out above the clouds. May you have a blessed day.I'll be sanding and painting, chris

Smoky Sunrise

With an offshore breeze the smoke from the Rocky Fire has been filling the coastal valleys the past couple of days. This has made for some pretty spectacular sunrises. Here is this mornings sunrise from over the Mendocino Range. God bless, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150 - 600mm lens.

Prayers Needed

Greetings to all from California. I have been offline for a couple of weeks vacationing with my family in Costa Rica. While we were there we received news of the the devastating fires in California. We are all safe but the people who have lost their homes and the firefighters need your prayers. Here is our view of the smoky sunrise from our house this morning over the Mendocino Range to the east. God bless, chris

The Best Camera Is...

There is an old saying that the best camera is the one you have in your hand. This was true this morning when I hopped out of bed and looked at my favorite view over the Mendocino Range to the east of us. A beautiful sunrise was taking place. I grabbed the nearest camera which was my daughter Annikas Rebel. I braced the camera against the window sill and created the image. The adage holds to be true. God's love and blessings to all, chris Image created with a Canon Rebel T3i with a Canon 28-105 lens at 93mm. Camera settings used- AV mode, ISO 400,F4.5 at 1/160th of a sec.

99.9% Moonrise

Today I was busy working on edits for my forthcoming book "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography". I did manage to break away for a little while to restock my bird feeders out at the Burris Ranch in the Valley. Then it was back home for some more editing. I really wanted to do some photography today I just didn't have the time. I missed yesterday's moonrise due to the clouds so tonight I was ready and waiting. According to TPE the moonrise was going to be at 8: 44 p.m. at 98.9 degrees.It was a 99.9% Waning Gibbous Moon. It arrived as scheduled. OK so it's not a full moon! I'm not going to quibble over .1%. Here is the moon rising up over the Mendocino Range this evening. God bless, chris

Camera Equipment used- Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 at 400. Manfrotto 3055 Ballhead, ground pod on windowsill. Camera Settings- Manual Mode, Manual focus, ISO 400, F 5.6 at 1/60th of a second

Rude Awakening

I love dogs. I don't like dogs when they wake me up at six fifteen in the morning to go to the bathroom. That is exactly what Badger the Wonder Dog did this morning. Which ended up allowing me to capture this beautiful sunrise over the Little Lake Valley that I would have slept through. Thank you Lord for sunrises and great little dogs. God's tender blessings upon your day, chris

Pastel Sunset Over Red Hill

Today was another work day. This evening Lenore and I went for a walk just before sundown. By the time we got back home the clouds over the mountains to the east of us had turned beautiful shades of pastel. Such a wonderful way to end the day. God's light and love to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 28-105 lens at 44mm. Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV Mode,ISO 6,400 oops!,F16.0, 1/60th Shutter speed .

Cookies and an Incredible Sunrise Too!

This morning the dogs awoke me way too early. I dragged myself from my warm cozy bed and left Lenore sleeping to put them out. Standing there in the dark and cold while they went my mind cleared and I was up and alert. I couldn't go back to bed now! When I went back into the house and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Just about the time the cookies needed to come out of the oven a beautiful sunrise appeared that just got better and better. May you have a blessed day, chris

Ever Changing View

This morning I was planning on sleeping in until at least nine. Just before sunrise I heard Lenore whisper, "Are you awake? You've got to see the sunrise. There are these cool clouds on the horizon." I'm not really sure if I was completely awake. But, I was then! I rolled out of bed and went to my office and grabbed my camera and created a whole series of sunrise images from our back window. I just love the ever changing view from where we live. We have a wonderful view of the Little Lake Valley and the Mendocino Mountain Range. This image was my favorite. God bless, chris