Monochromatic Monday

This morning I was up a little after six thirty. I was checking to see if our deck was dry enough to stain as I power washed it yesterday. When I looked to the east I could see the mountain layers covered in a thin layer of fog with the silhouette of the Madrone tree. I went back inside and grabbed my camera and a telephoto lens. Soon one image led to another all without color. just another "Monocromatic Monday". God's love and blesings upon your week, chris all images created with a handheld Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400IS v1 lens.

Cotton Candy

Yesterday morning I had to drive down and pick up our dogs from the boarding kennel in Ukiah where they were staying while we were gone. They went absolutely crazy when they heard my voice from the office. Badger was jumping in the air and around in circles when they brought him out and Lance was pulling for all he was worth to get to me. It felt so nice to be wanted by our pets. On the drive home I spotted this tree in bloom in front of a vineyard and I just knew I had to photograph it. When Lenore saw it on the computer screen she told me it reminded her of Cotton Candy. God's love and blessings to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600 lens at 300mm on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with a Bogen #055 Bogen Ballhead. Camera settings used ISO 400, F 5.6 at 1/500th of a sec.

An Inside Kind of Day

I woke up to the sounds of the wind and rain. I snuggled down further into the warm blankets of my bed to escape the chill. It didn't take much convincing that this was going to be an inside kind of day editing images etc. Later while looking out the kitchen window I spotted this Tan Oak tree in the front yard with the moss fanned out to capture the moisture of the rain. I opened the window and created several images of it. This one was my favorite. May you have a blessed day, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens at 120mm, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F stop F16.0,Shutter speed 8/10ths of a sec.

Steaming

On my way to town I often pass by this Redwood stump. It's an old stump from a tree that was probably logged in the 1930's or 40's by the look of it. When I drove past it earlier this week I noticed that it was steaming as the frost melted off of it from the warmth of the sun. Yesterday I drove back by it at around the same time and sure enough it was steaming away into the mid morning light. I took a whole series of images of it but this is the one I liked best. Oh the stories that stump could tell of what it has seen! God's love and blessings to all, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 IS USM , Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV mode,ISO 400, F 11.0, Shutter speed of 1/40 th of a sec.

Rise of the Morning Light

We rolled out of bed early to watch the ISS (Internationl Space Station) pass by on its orbit around the earth. We missed it due to the trees blocking its trajectory across the morning sky. Later on we watched morning light start to fill the sky.Fog filled the valley below and I was drawn to the redwoods poking their spires out of the fog. As usual I was drawn to Sherwood Castle. A large flat topped redwood on the St. Francis Ranch that has always reminded me of a castle rising up out of the fog.I have photographed it in many variations over the years.A great start to the day. God's love and blessings to all, chris

The Lone Sentinel

I spent the morning with my dog Badger driving around on the snow covered backroads looking for interesting trees. Don't dogs make good traveling companions? They just sit there looking around quietly. Then they curl up in a ball and go to sleep.

My adventure started in the valley below where I live but I quickly realized I would have to get to a higher elevation as almost all the snow and frost had melted there. I immediately thought of one of my favorite drives out through the Sherwwod Valley and then back to the main highway on a narrow one lane gravel road. Perfect for my little beat up old throw away 4WD.

The Sherwood Valley used to be home to the Pomo Indians (Native Americans) and later it was home to a the small town of Sherwood complete with two lumber mills and a railroad and all. Not a single building remains of the original town. There is not a sign of it remaining. Outside of the townsite there is a very unusual house that was built about the same time though. It is a tall three story house built in an octagon shape. As such locals call it the "Octagon House".

As my fortune would have it the snow was melting before I found too many trees that I considered photo worthy. I was lucky to see a Golden Eagle on top of Sherwood Rock though when I entered the valley. The eagle stayed there the whole time I was in the valley. Log that one into the potential possible future photos memory bank.

Finally on one of the down grades heading down towards 101 I saw a tree perched all by its lonesome near the top of a ridge. I liked it because you could see broken limbs around it and see that it had weathered a lot to survive where it did. The sky still held a blue color behind it. I liked how the image turned out. It embodies that tough lone tree; the sentinel guarding the ridge.

God's light and love to all,

chris