Battle Worn Beautiful Warrior

This last weekend Lenore and I trimmed the roses and cleaned up a few flower beds. We were amazed to see an Iris blooming in the front yard. This is the first flower bloom we have had this year. You could tell it was tough by how it looked. A bit rumpled, tattered and torn. It managed to pop up close to the wall where it is the warmest. Many, many years ago my dad was splitting up some Iris in his yard and he gave me a bunch to plant in my mine. He left this earth long ago but every time I see one of these Iris in bloom I'm reminded of what an incredible gardener he was. Every place he ever lived he always found places to put in beautiful flowers and a large vegetable garden. Thank you for the wonderful memories, Dad. God's love and blessings to all, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EFs 17-85mm lens at 85mm. #TeamCanon

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Badger the Wonder Dog looks so darn cute at times. He is so very friendly to people and loves to be petted. Today however I'm keeping my distance. No pets on the head or anywhere else for that matter. He smells really bad! Last night at two-thirty a.m. he badly wanted to go out. I'm not a witness to what happened as I slept through it all and was greeted by the smell of the incident when I came downstairs this morning. According to Lenore she went to go let him out. He bolted out the door and went head first into the back end of a skunk going under our deck. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out what happened next. He was whimpering and rolling around on the leaves trying to get that nasty, wicked stuff off his face. This afternoon I'm going to put on some old clothes and give him a bath in water, baking soda,hydrogen peroxide and dish soap. He won't be sleeping indoors for a few days. God bless, chris Image created with a handheld Canon 7DmkII and a Tamron 18-200mm lens at 70mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.0 at 1/250th of a sec. On board fill flash was used. Dog Wash Mix 1 quart of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide 1/2 cup of Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) 1 teaspoon of liquid soap Mix together, shampoo and then rise thoroughly. Make sure to keep it out of the dogs eyes!

Blasted Cat!

This morning just after I let Papaya (The Blasted Cat) out I saw her sitting like a queen on one of the benches in our front yard. She was looking out over her domain to see if anything was amiss so she could command that it be corrected to meet her royal needs. I quickly walked back into the house and grabbed my camera and a telepphoto lens. I was prayed that she would stay there for awhile looking out over her kingdom. Luckily she was still there when I returned. I braced the camera against the door sill and made several images of her. This one was my favorite. Blessings upon your weekend, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD at 250mm, AV mode,ISO 1600, F 8.0 at 1/500th of a sec.

Part of the Fall Color Series

Wednesday morning I was out in the photoblind in the yard adding some images to my fall color series. It's a series of images with birds and fall color in the background. A nice Douglas Tree Squirrel thrown in for good measure. I am really behind on editing images right now. I still have a weeks worth of editing to catch up on. It just takes time. Here for your viewing pleasure are a Steller's Jay, Chestnut Backed Chickadee, Dark Eyed Junco and a Douglas Tree Squirrel. Enjoy your weekend and God bless, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens, Manfrotto 055PROBX tripod and an 3055 Bogen ballhead. If you are interested learning more about bird photography like this please check out my new book. "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography" on Amazon and other online book sellers. http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Backyard-Photography-Chris-Hansen/dp/1937538559

Wee Beastie

I'm starting to see more and more grasshoppers in the yard. Fascinating little creatures. Can you imagine having to dig your way to the surface after being born? Or have the ability to jump thirty or more times your body height and more than the length of a football field? On top of that having the ability to fly! How about having ears on your abdomen or the ability to play music by stridulating. Which is rubbing your back leg on the front of your wing to make music. Even though they are amazing they aren't friends of farmers due to the damage they can do to crops. Mine do a little bit of damage to the garden but not really enough to hurt anything. Here is one I captured off of the driveway photographed and then set free. Such cool looking little beasts. God bless, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens at 150mm with a 36mm extension tube for close focusing. Camera was mounted on a Manfotto 055XB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400,F11.0 at .60 sec.

First Few Days of Spring

It has been sunny and simply gorgeous the past few days. I actually grabbed my camera yesterday and photographed the first blooming "Droopy Daffodil" in our front yard yesterday. A sign of more good things to come. God's love and blessings to all, chris

OH NO! Not Bad(ger) Again

I have to admit that Badger is an easy subject. He is after all a cute dog. At least I think so. He is almost always willing to model for very cheaply.All he expects is a little praise and a simple pat for when he does something right. This morning he had an adventure in the rain when he escaped our yard. He had a grand time chasing the wild turkeys and other creatures. I heard the turkeys complaining loudly when he scared them up into the trees. When I called him back he came readily though he looked a mess and needed a bath.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Lenore's Sunday Morning Roses

Lenore has seven or so rose bushes that she keeps in the yard. Three of them are pretty spectacular. They are just covered in blooms. This morning we were both out in the early morning sunshine and Lenore was dead heading some of her roses. This was the end result.

God's light and love to all,

chris