Save It for a Rainy Day

Luckily after another long dry spell we are starting to get some rain again. My photography went through a dry spell as well. With all of the self imposed pressures of some big projects I'm hoping to complete in both my personal and professional life I'm going to knock my photoblog back to only one blog a week. Today it is raining once again. Thank you Lord! Here is a puzzle left over from Christmas. It's missing a few pieces as you can see. A good comparison to how I was feeling.Now there is a better road ahead. The other image is of a mountain top sticking up from the fog and clouds. God's love and blessings to all, chris #TeamCanon

Stopping in for a Drink

This morning I was up at sunrise. I went out into the backyard and set up a small pond feature on some saw horses. It was at eye level next to the bird feeder. With a bit of fussing around I got things looking pretty nice before I settled into the photoblind. After a long, long wait a Western Gray Squirrel came up to the pond for a drink. I managed to make three images of it drinking but this one was my favorite. God's blessings and protection to all those being affected by the earthquake and the hurricanes. chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm F5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens at 213mm. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB pro tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy duty ballhead.The camera settings used were AVmode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/100th of a sec.#TeamCanon, #withmytamron

Breakfast at Sunrise

While I was waiting for the sunrise yesterday morning it occurred to me that the nectar feeder hanging on our clothesline would make the perfect silhouette. I positioned myself down low to the ground directly behind the feeder and waited for the sun and a hummingbird to line up. God's precious love and blessings to all, chris This image was vreated with a Canon 7D mkII camera and a Tamron 150-600 mm G2 lens at 162mm on a Manfrotto tripod. The camera settings used were AV mode,ISO 800,F 22.0 at 1/1,600th of a sec.#TeamCanon, #withmytamron

Common Beauty

Here are a few more images from the old stump feeder in my backyard. They are of the most common beautiful bird to visit my backyard the Steller's Jay. They have prettiest blue plumage. God's blessings upon your week, chris All of these images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600, F 8.0, shutter speeds varied. The camera was supported with Manfrotto 055 XPROB pro tripod. The techniques used in creating these images were from the boook, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography, available from Amazon and many, many other fine book sellers.#TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Black Headed Grosbeak

Every summer we seem to get at least one pair of Grosbeaks that nest somewhere in our backyard or very close to it. Here is one of them visiting the old stump feeder.God's blessings upon your day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens at 375mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600, f 8.0 at 1/160th of a sec. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB Pro tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. #TemCanon, #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

Hummingbird Heaven

When we got back from vacation we only had two hummingbirds left in our backyard. I immediately cleaned and restocked all of the feeders in the first week we were back. At the end of last week I replaced the pump for the hummingbird bath that had died during the heat wave that we have been having. Slowly the hummingbirds have been making a comeback. Thirsty little sugar vampires! This morning I counted over twenty. Pretty exciting to see. They really love our yard and so do we. Here are some images from yesterday afternoon from their favorite perch. It's in the oak tree arch that overlooks our backyard. The images were taken by using the progressive approximation approach. I slowly worked my way forward closer and closer to the perch. I would stop and take images and then stand motionless with my face pressed to the camera. I would then move forward and repeat the process all over again until I couldn't go forward any further closer to the perch.The hummingbirds gradually got used to me being there with the camera and tripod. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. A Canon 550 EX flash set to -2 stops was used for fill flash on a Manfrotto flash bracket. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen heavy duty ballhead.ISO 800, AV mode, F 8.0 shutter speeds varied.#TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

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

Hanging with the Hummingbirds

Yesterday afternoon I restocked all the hummingbird feeders and then I pulled up a comfortable chair and sat and watched them. They are fascinating to observe as they dart from their perches to the feeder. Once in awhile one would break off and feed on Lenore's roses or some of the flowers that we have planted down the hillside. As they fly there are flashes of white, emerald green, ruby red and brown. It's just beautiful! As usual there were plenty of skirmishes and fights over the feeders even though I have ten of them. After a bit I noticed that they were landing and fighting over one particular perch. I went back inside and grabbed my camera. I sat down on my chair with the tripod in front of me and focused it on the perch where they were landing. I started about fifteen feet away and slowly over the course of about half and hour I moved my chair closer and closer to the perch until I was roughly eight feet away. I ended up with a lot of of really nice hummingbird images. May you have a lovely Sunday. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600 mm G2 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 500 EX flash set to -2 stops.

Life and Death Drama in the Backyard Pond

On Wednesday afternoon I was looking into the backyard checking out my bird feeders for birds when I heard and a saw a commotion going on in our small backyard pond. There was splashing sounds and a flash of orange in the water. I grabbed my camera and ran to the backyard. Two Garter Snakes had a hold of one good sized goldfish and they were thrashing around trying to pull it away from one another. Finally the bigger snake broke free with it and the smaller one swam off. The larger snake climbed up onto the rocks that ring the shore and attempted to swallow the fish. Which was pretty good sized for a Goldfish as it was almost four inches long. First it tried from the side and there was no way that was ever going to happen. Next it attempted to swallow it tail first. Luckily it gave up on that idea almost immediately. On it's final attempt it came from the head and it was doing pretty well when the blasted cat showed up. The snake spit out the fish and slid off into the forest. Yesterday afternoon I set up my photoblind next to the pond and I lay down on a piece of carpet. I got quite a few images of the Garter snakes hunting. They would chase the fish all over the pond until they got too cold and then they would crawl up onto the rocks to sun themselves and warm up. A couple of the snakes would try and ambush the goldfish from above. I didn't observe any goldfish being caught. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris All images were creted with a Canon 7D MkII and a Canon 100-400 IS v.1 lens or a Tamron 150-600mm lens. A 38mm extension tube was placed between the camera body and the lens to allow close focusing. #TeamCanon