Mossy Branch

Yesterday afternoon I scrounged around and found a mossy branch to use for a perch to put up next to the bird feeder. I like to use what's at hand because it fits and suits the environment. I imagine if I lived in the eastern plains of Wyoming I'd find a nice dead juniper branch or a piece of sage. This morning the only visitors I had to the perch were a Western Gray Squirrel and a Steller's Jay. I was excited when a pair of Band-tailed Pigeons landed close by but the squirrels scared them off. Here are my two best images from the morning. I pray that your week is going well. God bless, chris Both images were photographed with a Canon 7D MkII and a Canon 100-400IS lens v.1. The camera was on our bedroom window sill and it was supported with a ground pod and an old Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/60th of a sec for the Jay and 1/800th of a sec for the squirrel as they were photographed hours apart from one another.#TeamCanon

Looking Back

On Saturday afternoon I went out into the rain and put up a new perch for the squirrels and birds to use. Yesterday morning I put it to use photographing a few Steller's Jays that came to our backyard in search of a snack. They were a little bit nervous and wouldn't stay on the perch for very long. I think there may have been a hawk in the trees nearby making them jumpy. After editing the images last night the image below ended up being my favorite. I love that pose with the Jay looking back. It accentuates their plumage and makes their eye stand out. This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and a ground pod on our back bedroom window sill. I was using my Canon 100-400 IS v.1 lens at 253mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/200th of a sec. I like to use F8.0 because more of the bird tends to be in focus and it is still wide open enough to blur the background out. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris

Simply Gorgeous

I love it when I can capture the light glinting off of a hummingbirds gorget like I did yesterday afternoon with a male Rufous Hummingbird. It was simply gorgeous like the hummingbirds throat was on fire. The word gorget comes from the time when a knight-in-armor wore a metal collar or gorget to protect his throat during battle. In hummingbirds the bright intense glint is the result of iridescence, rather than colored pigments in the feathers. A hummingbird's gorget feathers contain very tiny, thin, layers of “platelets,” set like overlapping tiles against a dark background. The light waves reflect and bounce off the tiles, creating color in the manner of sun bouncing off droplets of water in a rainbow. Hummingbirds can angle their gorget feathers too turn the irridescence on and off like a light bulb. It is amazing when they turn towards you and flash their feathers to on! Blessings upon your day, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 500EX flash set to high speed sync. The camera and lens were supported with a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead.

Hummingbirds Prime Perch

I spent some time photographing the Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds in the backyard over the past few days. The hummingbirds were using one perch in particular and there were quite a few battles fought over its prime location near the hummingbird feeders. I liked the perch because its closeness to the edge of our patio and it had the forest behind it for a background. Moving the camera six inches one way or another produced different colors in the background depending upon the type of trees behind it. Yesterday I trimmed some oak leaves from below the perch as they kept getting into the bottom of the frame. I was worried the hummingbirds would stop using the perch but they didn't seem to mind in fact they began using it even more. Last night and this morning I got around to editing all of the hummingbird images. There were quite a few including one dragonfly that liked this spot for hunting insects as well. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a bogen heavy duty ballhead.

Thinking

Yesterday morning I played with the chickadees again in my backyard. Towards the end of summer the number of species of birds visiting my bird feeders dwindles down to just a few birds. Chickadees and Steller's Jays being the most prolific followed by Juncos, Band-tailed Pigeons and a few Mountain Quail. Here is my favorite image from yesterday's full line up of Chestnut Backed Chickadee images. I liked the intent searching look. It's like the chickadee is thinking very hard,"Is there really bird seed down there?"

My new book "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography" is soon to be released on Sept.11th and is currently being shipped to retailers. I'm excited! Please check it out on Amazon and other fine book sellers. Get your Christmas shopping done early as it is the perfect Christmas present for a birder or photographer you may know. It is available as a preorder. This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens at 310mm with a Manfotto 055XB tripod and a Bogen 3055 ballhead. Camera setting used AV mode, ISO 400, F 6.3 and shutter speeds of 1/1,250th of a sec. God's love and blessings to all,chris

Put Up a Perch and They Will Come!

One of the cool things about dragonflies is that they will often return to the same perch after flying around for a bit. They will also many times use a perch that you have set up for them as is the case here. I went out to out our little garden pond and set up a small branch that was a little bit taller than the vegetation around it. Within minutes the dragonflies were using it! Here are a couple of samples from my backyard. God's love and blessings to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens,with an extension tube, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F 16.0, shutter speed 1/8th of a sec.

Perfect Perch

I'm always one for finding things and then putting them to use. This one isn't a great stretch of intelligence but it does give a slight insight of how my mind works. Yesterday while walking through the dining room I noticed that the flowers I got Lenore were starting to get droopy. The Chrysanthemum still looked pretty decent. "Why it would make a marvelous perch", I thought to myself. This morning with a Chrysanthemum in hand I went out to the backyard photoblind and created an image of a Chestnut backed Chickadee on a Chrysanthemum as a perch. God gives us simple gifts every day. We just have to be on the look out for them as they are all around us. chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 IS USM at 400 mm, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV Mode,ISO 400, F5.6 at 1/200th of a sec. E.V. -1

Backyard Birds

I was out and about photographing the birds from the backyard photoblind the past few mornings. Nothing unusual appeared. Just the normal cast of characters. Mostly Juncos, Nuthatches and Chickadees.They are always beautiful. Well all of them except the last one anyway. Looks like it didn't preen this morning. Have a beautiful weekend, chris

Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 L IS, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Setting- ISO 400, AV Mode, F5.6

Perfect Perch

Early yesterday morning before church I went out into the backyard and set up a new perch by the bird feeder. I climbed into the photoblind and waited. Before too long I had birds coming and going to the bird feeder. I really like how several images of a Steller's Jay and a Red Breasted Nuthatch worked out. The lighting was really nice due to being muted by a thin layer of fog that slowly burned off. Just lovely. God's blessings to all, chris

Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 L IS, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Setting- ISO 400, AV Mode, F5.6

Thrush Series

This morning I set up a new perch and feeder and while the birds were adapting to it I photographed birds coming to the pond. One visitor a Hermit Thrush got a drink and then had a long and crazy bath time. It kept splsihing and splashing for a good solid five minutes. I would think it was finished and then it would come back again for more. It was a joy to watch. God's precious love to all, chris Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 L IS at 400mm, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod and a 3055 Ballhead. Camera setting- AV Mode, ISO 400,F 5.6.

Variations on a Perch

The past few mornings I have been playing around with a perch on one of my bird feeders. I have been trying it out in a couple of different spots in warm early morning light with different backgrounds.I know it's kind of like comparing apples and oranges but which one do you like best? Personally I like the yellowish one with the chipmunk. Though the little Douglas Tree Squirrel isn't bad either! I'd love to hear from you. God bless, chris

Outsmarting the Ravens

One of the most difficult birds to photograph up close where I live are the Ravens. Some people seem to have Ravens that are almost pets. Not me! All the ones around my house are as skittish as can be. If you even show your face in the window they are gone in a wing beat. Yesterday when I was in the photoblind I could hear the Ravens circling the blind in the trees. A pair of them were chortling and gurgling and talking back and forth. You could almost hear them thinking, "Is it safe to go down there and feed?" Finally after what seemed an eternity with a whoosh of wing beats one of them crashed down onto one of the perches I had set up for a much, much smaller bird. The perch collapsed and the raven took off again and circled and floated down on top of the platform feeder. A much sturdier landing place. It looked around suspiciously for several minutes before taking a small tentative peck at some seed. It would then lift its head and swallow then, look around some more and take another small bite. Each time it lowered its head I would slowly move my camera into position and focus a little bit at a time. The main problem I had was that I was set up for photographing small birds at close range. I had a huge Raven less than eight feet away. The only thing I could photograph was its' head.Beggars can't be choosers so that is what I photographed.Here are my Raven mug shots. They really do have a pretty cool looking head. God's precious love and blessings to all, chris

More Quail Yesterday Morning

Yesterday morning didn't go as planned but it was still very successful. I really wanted to photograph a goldfinch on some yellow Acacia branches. Instead the birds ignored my Acacia perch and went directly to the feeder. The California Quail came in great numbers and were around the blind for close to forty five minutes which gave me some wonderful opportunities to both observe and photograph them. Here is a sampling of some of the images I was able to create.

God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris

Patience and Planning

This morning I got up early and dropped Jay off. On the way out to the Burris Ranch I stopped and clipped some yellow Acacia blossoms. When I arrived at the photo blind I spent about half an hour setting up the feeder with the blossoms I brought. I fussed and fiddled til I got it set up right. I climbed into the blind and focused my camera on the the little branch and I waited. I waited and waited. None of the birds liked my Acacia branch. It's yellow and pretty. What's not to like? Eventually a covey of quail came in . I photographed them on the fence posts,grass and railings as they were too big for my little branch. After they left one lone House Finch finally settled down onto my perch. I took two frames and it was gone onto the feeder. That was good and I called it a day.

God's light and precious love to all,

chris

From Turkeys to Turkey Vultures

Well, my persistence paid off today though apparently I missed most of the fun. Yesterday I created some Wild Turkey images and today I finally got some more Turkey Vulture images after three days of trying. For the past few days I have been working two locations my blind and a dead deer beside the road on the North end of the Little Lake Valley. The Lord does provide. When I noticed the dead deer beside the road. I hopped out of the car to take a look at it. Right next to the deer there was an old wooden fence post lying on the ground. I propped up the post next to the steel one and then fastened it to the fence with a piece of bailing wire. Instant perch! I then found a short fence post top and did the same on the next post down. When you look at the images you can see the difference between the ones on the steel posts vs the wooden ones. I guess it's a matter of taste?


Today I took a short break from the blind and drove into town for lunch According to Ruth the ranch owner I missed all the excitement. Right after I left a bear came barreling up out of the lower pasture and took off up the hill and then over to a neighboring ranch. Not more than two minutes after that one of the mares in the pasture next to my blind gave birth to a colt in less than ten minutes. When I arrived about an hour later it was walking around on wobbly legs. Too cute.

God's light and love to all,

chris