Small Beauty

My family is so blessed to live in an area where there is so much natural beauty right at our doorstep. This morning I took a lovely hike on a very popular local trail the PAR Course trail. What is normally a quick twenty minute walk took me close to an hour due to the fact that I kept finding things to photograph along the way. I'm always amazed at how much beauty there is all around us. Especially when I slow down and take a good look around me. There is so much we miss when we hurry through life. God wants us to enjoy the world he has given us.We need to slow down and take a break. I'm really glad that I did. I found a lot of small beautiful flowers and a bunches of berries. OH my! It is looking to be a tremendous year for blackberries as I manages to find a nice plump sweet ripe one to eat. In a couple of weeks I think we will be making blackberry pies! Enjoy the images and have a great week. God 's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII with a 100mm macro lens. Exposures and settings varied. #TeamCanon

Pies, Cobbler, Cakes and Crisps

Pies, cobblers,cakes and crisps or if you prefer you can just eat them right off of the cane. Right now the blackberries are ripening and they are delicious! Lenore and I got up early this morning to photograph the sunrise over the Little Lake Valley. We were hoping for a bright red sunrise but there wasn't enough smoke. On the ride home we stopped on the side of the road and picked some nice plump blackberries. Pick one eat one. They were a delightful addition to breakfast. God's precious light and love to all, chris

Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 28-105 lens at 105mm hand held. Camera settings used- AV mode, ISO 400 f 4.5 at 1/200th of a sec.

Macro in the Meadow

This morning I drove down to "Summer Lake". It used to be a lake anyway. Then the department of fish and wildlife ruled it couldn't be filled anymore as it both warmed and blocked the water going downstream harming young Steelhead and Coho Salmon. Since that time the lake bed has gradually progressed into being a meadow. Next a stream restoration project took place and they planted native Redwood Trees. The Redwoods along with natural growing Alders are slowly transitioning it back into a forest. It's starting to look pretty good. My intent was to photograph some spider webs as this traditionally has been a really good spot in the past. I didn't find a one. My camera wasn't lacking for subjects. I found plenty of things to photograph. Thistles,beetles,bees,butterflies,spiders and some of the last blackberries. Naturally I sampled a few and they were sweet and delicious. Probably the last ones I will get until next summer. God's precious love to all, chris