Wednesday Morning Blues

Wednesday morning I added another image to my "Blues Collection" of Steller's Jay images.  Late Tuesday afternoon I went out into the backyard and set up a lichen covered brach about twelve feet out from our back bedroom window. I clanped it at an angle between to up right perch supports at a nice angle for the birds to land on. Just above it and out of camera view I hung a single port bird feeder filled with black sunflower seed. Then I went back inside the bedroom and pulled the window screen out and put the window hide/ blind in it's place. On Wednesday morning I was up bright and early waiting for the birds to come. I waited and waited and nothing came. What's a fella to do but go make some breakfast. While I was preparing breakfast I heard the distinctive call of the Jays. I grabbed my breakfast bowl and hurried down the hall into the bedroom. Looking out from the blind i watched the Jays feed looking to see where they were landing. Once I figured that out I prefocused my Tamron 150-600 mm lens on the spot. I was alarmed to see my shutter speed on my Canon E|OS 7D was quite low! I took about thirty exposures and all but four had some kind of motion blur in them. One however looked pretty nice. Late after uploading the images to the computer I was very happy to see it was pretty sharp. I had the image i was looking for. Great over the shoulder pose on a beautiful perch. Later on I set up my camera again and Got a really nice Western Gray Squirrel in the same spot. They have the most awesome tails. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Simple Set Ups

The past three mornings I went out into the yard and created some simple set ups. On the first day I duct taped a branch to the side of a small platform feeder  about ten feet out from one of our bedrooms. Within minutes of setting it up the birds were using it.  I got some nice images from it. The second morning I grabbed an old knothole feeder I had lying around and I used some wood screws to attach it to the same post. The birds loved it and so did I. This morning I added a fall colored background behind the feeder. For some reason the birds weren't as cooperative. I had a long, long wait before the birds started using the feeder. Eventually they came in and  I was able to create some images. I hope that you are all enjoying your week. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Ahh, My Sweet Little Chickadee

This morning I worked on a set up that I wanted to call the, Steller's Jay Blues. First I set up a mixed blue background. In front of the background I put up a perch that I had found earlier in the week from the firewood pile. For the crowning glory I surrounded the perch with three purple and white Iris from the garden. I climbed into the photoblind with great expectations. I waited and I waited. One Steller's Jay came but there wasn't enough light to photograph it so I upped the ISO on my camera. Then the bully boys the Western Gray Squirrels showed up. I had to scare them away by rapping on the photoblind wall and telling them to go away. Instead they went up into the trees and began yelling at me. Finally another Jay stopped by. It hopped up onto the perch and I hit the shutter. The flash overexposed the image as I had upped the ISO after seeing the first Jay in low light thereby cancelling the flash settings I had inputted into the camera. I went back to the waiting game. A Raven stopped by and had a couple of peanuts. It never got into a position I could photograph it from before it left. My last visitor as the light was beginning to burn out was a little Chestnut Backed chickadee that was almost overwhelmed by the size of the set up I had created. Some days you have to just take what you can get. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris This image was created by a Canon EOS 7DMKII camera and a Canon 100-400 L IS USM v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX Speedlight set to - 1 1/3rd stops. The Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 8.0 at 1/50th of a sec. #teamcanonusa

At the Old Watering Hole

A couple of days ago I was at the window looking out on the back yard. I caught some motion out of the corner of my eye. In our little backyard pond there was a Hermit Thrush getting a cool drink of water. As I watched a little longer it threw itself into the water upside down and began to have a grand old time splishing and splashing. I walked to our back bedroom which is much closer to our little pond to see a parade of Varied Thrushes, Dark Eyed Juncos and Hermit Thrushes coming to the pond to drink or bathe. The next morning I set up six Canon Speedlights around the front rim of the pond for lighting. I put up my window photoblind in the back bedroom window and clamped a ground pod to the inside of the window sill. All that was needed was to set my camera up on the ground pod and create some photographs. Over the next couple of days whenever I spotted a bunch of birds in the backyard I would wander into the back bedroom to see what I could capture with my camera. I ended up with some very nice images including one of a Cedar Waxwing when a whole flock of waxwings dropped by for a drink this afternoon. They had a great time and so did I. God's blessings upon your day, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. Six Canon 540 EZ Speedlights set to 1/64th power were used for lighting. The camera settings used were Manual mode, ISO 800. A shutter speed of 1/160th of a sec was used. The F stops varied. #teamcanonusa, #withmytamron

Knothole Feeders

I built two new knothole bird feeders this last week and I have been trying them out in the yard. I just have to remember to take them in each time I use them or the Gray Squirrels will tear them apart to get to the seed. On Friday the birds were using them non stop. They love that black sunflower seed. Here are a few sample images from the feeders. All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400IS V.1 lens.The camera settings varied. #teamcanonusa, #teamcanon God's love and blessings to all, chris

Quick Set Up

This morning I was up and at'em even before the sun climbed up over the Mendocino Range to the east of us. I grabbed four speed light flashes and a single red Zinnia flower and created a quick hummingbird photography set up in the backyard in about fifteen minutes. I didn't even bother with a photoblind as the hummingbirds are pretty used to humans in the backyard so long as you don't make too many fast movements. There were a lot of hummingbirds! My best guess was that there were roughly around thirty of them. They were mostly Anna's with a few Allen's/ Rufous thrown in. At one point one of the young males tried to take over the feeder. That lasted only about three or four minutes before he gave up. There were just too many opponents to try and fend off. I had a really good time both watching and photographing them. It's been awhile since I did much photography. I've been working on a lot of deferred maintenance around the house. God's precious love and blessings to all, chris This image was created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400 IS USM v.1 lens with a 12mm extension tube added for close focusing. Lighting was provided by four Canon 540EZ speedlights set to 1/64th power. The camera settings used were M mode, ISO 400, F 11.0 at 1/160th of a sec. #teamcanon

Summer Vacation

Since late spring and early summer I've been really busy and I've been neglecting my photoblog. I went to my niece's wedding in Toronto which was unbelievable! Many thanks to the Sheerazi family for your incredible hospitality and a beautiful wedding. This morning I created a quick B.O.A.S. (Bird On A Stick) set up next to a new bird feeder made from a water bottle in the back yard. There were a lot of Black Headed Grosbeaks and a few Steller's Jays that immediately came to the feeder and started feeding. Here are a few of my favorite images. God's blessings to one and all, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400 L IS USM v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon Speedlite 550 EX. Shutter speeds varied but my camera was set to AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0. #teamcanon

Snowy Day Backyard Birds

At the beginning of this week the snow came floating down. By the end of the storm we had just under six inches of snow on the ground. I set up a bird feeder and a perch about eight feet from our back bedroom window. Immediately after I filled the feeder the birds began coming in. Because it's winter I managed to capture all of the most common birds from our backyard. Dark Eyed Juncos, Chestnut Backed Chickadees, Red Breasted Nuthatches and Steller's Jays. I had a great session and the birds enjoyed the free food. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera with a Canon EOS 100-400 IS v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash.#TeamCanon

By the Old Watering Hole

For the past couple of weeks I have been periodically going out and sitting next to the pond in the yard. It's a great spot for photographing the birds and squirrels that have been coming for drinks and to bathe. Sometimes there can be some really long waits between subjects. It requires a lot of patience. Here is part of a sequence of a Dark Eyed Junco that stopped by. When it first arrived it sat on the bank for quite some time before tentatively stepping forward to take a drink. Then it very slowly moved into the water. Once it got into the water it really got into it by diving under and splashing with its wings. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX speedlight. #TeamCanon

Mellow Yellow

This last week I was working on set ups in the backyard with the color theme of yellow. I was using a yellow and green back drop with bright yellow and orange sunflowers. It really made the birds especially the Steller's Jays pop in the images. Camera wise I was using my Canon EOS 7D MkII camera body. For my choice of lens I was using both my Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 and my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM v.1 lenses. They are both excellent for this type of photography with the ability to zoom in or out for composing an image in the frame without changing your camera position. This is especially beneficial when working from a photoblind where you can't very easily just pick up and move. I hope that all of you are having a great week. God's love and blessings to all, chris #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron Fill flash was provided in some images by a Canon 550 EX flash set to -1 stops. All images were created on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy duty ballhead.

Crazy Weather

Yesterday I felt like I was living in Colorado and not California. I awoke to the low rumble of thunder. It hailed for about twenty minutes covering the driveway in almost half an inch of pea sized hail. Not done yet it poured big rain drops really hard off and on for the next couple of hours. Then it totally surprised me by snowing in fits and starts for the rest of the afternoon. There were some really big snowflakes too. Some were close to an inch across. It was just crazy. This morning we awoke to a pink pastel sunrise and it was was overcast for most of the day with a few patches of blue sneaking in. The overcast made for some good photography and I photographed some Red Breasted Nuthatches in the backyard. Have a blessed weekend,chris All of the images were created with Canon cameras. The snowy Redwoods were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera with a Canon EFS 17-85mm lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash. The sunrise was captured with a Canon T1i camera and a Canon 50mm f 1.8 lens. All of the bird images were captured with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash set to minus 1-1/3rd stops. #TeamCanon, #TakenWithMyTamron

Images From a Rainy Day

Yesterday it poured rain off and on all day. Late in the afternoon I decided to photograph some birds and squirrels in the backyard. I did it from the comfort of our back bedroom window so I had a cozy chair and I stayed warm and dry.Our backyard is such a fun place to photograph birds and squirrels. I was using my Canon 7D MkII camera with a Canon 100-400 L IS USM v.1 telephoto lens. It was really dark and cloudy out so I upped my ISO to 800 and I used my Canon 550 EX for a fill flash to brighten things up just a little. Especially the shadows. I had the flash set to minus one and two third stops so it wouldn't be too bright. I photographed in AV mode at F 8.0 to keep a pretty shallow depth of field and too let in a lot of light as it was so dark out. I was really happy with the images that I created after I went through and edited them. I ended up with some really beautiful images of some Chestnut Backed chickadees and one Douglas tree Squirrel. God's light and love upon your week, chris #TeamCanon

Girl Squirrel and a Chickadee

I popped up an old knothole feeder this morning in the backyard. Within minutes the Chestnut Backed Chickadees were all over it. I grabbed my tripod, camera and a telephoto lens and went out and photographed them for about half an hour or so. Here are my two favorite images. Have a great day and God bless, chris Both images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400 IS L USM V. 1 lens on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB Tripod. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash set to -1and 2/3rds stops.#TeamCanon