Sunflower Kind of Day

Todays' photoblog was created with a nod to Jack Brock. He is one of the most talented and prolific bird photographers that I know. Please check out his bird photography on Facebook. He is always posting something new and creative. He posted some birds with sunflowers recently and I decided to create something of a similar nature. Last night I went out into the backyard and did the preliminary work on the set up. This morning I headed out to the backyard with a sunflower in hand and completed the set up. I photographed the Chestnut Backed Chickadees for about half an hour. After editing these three images were my favorite. Thanks, Jack. God's love and blessings to all, chris All of the images were created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L is USM v.1 Lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800 and the exposures varied. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 500EX flash set to -2 stops. Please check out the book, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography for more information on how to photograph birds in your backyard. #TeamCanon

Time for a Close Up!

Here is a close up of a Western Gray Squirrel stopping by the old backyard water hole for a drink. This image was made using a water set up that I created and built. Bird feeders were placed around its edge to entice the birds and squirrels to come in. It's really cool to get an intimate portrait of a squirrel drinking. God's precious light and love to all, chris This image was made with Canon 7D MkII camera and a Tamron 150-600 mm G2 lens at 552mm. The camera was supported on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB Pro tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F11.0 at 1/60th of a sec. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX set to - 1 and 2/3rds stops. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Still In the Pink

I was hoping for a great image of a Lazuli Bunting today but the House Finches dominated the feeder all morning. I spotted one bunting around the edges of the garden a couple of times but it wouldn't come in. One Black Headed Grosbeak made a showing but I wasn't able to capture any images of it. Here is a beautiful male House Finch. Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS at 300mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 100, F 8.0 at 1/80th of a sec. Fill flash was used with a Canon 550EX at 2-1/3 stops. God's love and blessings to all, chris