Break in the Rain

We were supposed to go camping this weekend but we were deterred by the rain. I'd much rather camp in the snow than the rain. Today it has rained off and on all day. During one of the breaks I grabbed my camera and photographed both hummingbirds and Lenore's world famous roses in the backyard. The ross were just gorgeous covered in rain drops and soft beautiful light. May you have a wonderful weekend. God bless, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. Fill flash was provided with a Canon 550 EX flash.

Enjoy the Simple Things

Today looks to be the last day of my imprisonment by the flooring contractor. That is until we have the carpeting installed. Judging by the shape of our carpet it was a wise decision to do the carpeting last. With all of the sawdust and the workers going in and out it is looking pretty bad. What to do on a rainy day? I grabbed my macro lens and took a walk into the backyard. The leaves on Lenore's roses looked pretty enticing covered with the raindrops. So many times I have found beauty in the small worlds at my feet rather than in the grand landscape. Please enjoy the simple beauty of these leaves. god's light and love to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens on a tripod. AV mode, ISO 800, F 16.0 at 1/30th of a sec.

Lenore's Roses

Lenore's roses in the backyard had a profusion of blossoms this spring. I'm guessing one of the best. This morning I figured I had better create an image of some of them rather quickly as they are past their prime and will soon need to be dead headed. I cut four of the best and put them in a vase on the dining room table with a black background dropped behind the table. I lit them with a single snooted light overhead . I liked the simple elegance of it. God's blessings to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- One snooted Alien Bee 1600, Canon 7D,Canon 28-135 lens at 135mm, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- Manual mode, ISO 100,F16.0, shutter speed 1/200th of a sec. at f16.0

What are You Doing in My Photoblind?

I kept hearing this strange scratching noise yesterday as I was photographing hummingbirds from my photoblind. I looked all around the around the blind for its source with no luck. Thinking it might be a Chipmunk or a Junco scratching for seed I searched the ground on the edges of the blind. Nope. Suddenly Annika's cat Papaya slipped in under the blind flap startling me! I picked her up and began petting her secure in my knowledge that the mystery was solved. Then the scratching noises began again. HMMMNNN... it can't be the cat because the cat is in my lap. I put the cat down and she went out. As she went out and a little light came into the blind I caught a glance of something moving in the upper corner of the blind. Pulling open the door and flooding the blind with light I saw a cricket climbing up into the darkened corner of the blind. I went into the house and grabbed a jar and captured it. This morning I placed the Mormon Cricket - (Anabrus simplex) a female by the way onto one of Lenore's roses to photograph. It nibbled away on the rose as I photographed it. Afterwards I let it go into the forest. God's love and blessings to all, chris Equipment- Canon 50D,100mm macro lens,Alien Bees 1600 Monolight with a 28"x56"Softbox,3'x5'Gold Reflector Camera Settings- Manual Mode, F16.0,1/200th of a sec, ISO 400

Garden Rose

Lenore's roses in the backyard are coming into bloom. They are really budding out. Here is one of the early ones. Though I can't really say early ones due to the fact that it never really stopped blooming all winter long even when it snowed. There were always a couple of blooms on it. Pretty amazing. God's love and blessings to all, chris

A Rose by No Other Name

Today I was playing around with some textures.I photographed one rose from a bouquet of Annika's. Here are three versions. One normal,a black and white and one with textures. God bless, chris

Sticking With the Rose Theme for Today

We awoke to a dusting of snow this morning. With that in mind I couldn't wait to see what Lenore's roses looked like. I quickly grabbed my tripod and camera. Then I went out and spent a good time photographing them. Here are some of my favorite images of them. God's light and love, chris

Love is a Rose

Right now the majority of the Northern Hemisphere is in the grips of winter.The Southern Hemisphere is enjoying the summer. Outside my window right now it is cold and rainy so you can probably guess which half of the earth I'm on.I'm still amazed to see that one of Lenore's rose bushes in the backyard is blooming again. It had five blossoms until I picked one to bring inside to photograph it. A perfect day for some indoor flower photography to brighten my spirits.Even if I do have only one flower to photograph! Thank you Lord for the flowers, chris

December Rose

I had thought that Lenore's roses were finished up a long time ago. When I looked outside during the snow on Saturday I could see a few blossoms gamely charging on. They were thinking. "Snow? What snow?" So here you have a December Rose. Stay warm and God bless, chris

Simple Beauty of a Rose

This morning I went out to water in the backyard. Supposedly it's fall but my plants don't believe it.The weather has been rather warm and they are still thirsty for water.When I stepped onto the patio my eye was drawn to one particular blossom on Lenore's rosebush.For some reason this rose just seemed to stand out. I went back into the house and grabbed my camera and tripod. I came back out and created numerous exposures of it. This one is my favorite. I love the soft colors and the translucent petals. The dark fir trees in the background really set it off.It's a gift from God and a joy to find simple beauty in your own backyard. Enjoy and God bless, chris

Beginning,Ending a No Photography Day

Today was basically a no photgraphy day. I grabbed an image at the beginning of the day of a pot of steaming water that for some reason looked interesting to me. Then I worked most of the day replacing a wooden beam on our second floor deck that was rotten.Just before dinner I grabbed a blossom from one of Lenore's roses to photograph as it was just about to the end of its life. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Random Images

This morning we awoke bright and early and roused Jay from bed. We took him down to Ukiah to an oral surgeon to have his wisdom teeth removed. Not a fun experience for him. While we waited we went to the post office and mailed off a package to my niece in Afganistan and then hit the bakery for some lemon bars. Along the way a rose caught my attention with it's flaming orange colors outside the post office. The door handle with the dark interior offered up some intrigue for me at the bakery. Jay is feeling slowly better. We will see what tomorrows dawn brings.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris