700 Dollar Mistake

My seven hundred dollar mistake arrived today and I couldn't wait to give it a try. My mistake is a refurbished Canion 50D to replace the one that I arranged to give a swimming lesson to in Pyramid Lake awhile back. It survived for quite some time before finally dying.

The camera arrived via Fed Ex today and I immediately installed a fresh battery and went through the settings on the camera to set it up how I like it. I set up a longer preview and enabled the highlights to show etc. After setting up the camera I threw on a 100-400 telephoto. I set it on the tripod and wandered into the backyard looking for a subject. Some male Anna's Hummingbirds immediately caught my eye and I took numerous pictures of them trying to get one with the gorget lit up on display.






Works the same as my old 50D. Just waiting for the Vertical Battery Grip to come in as it is on back order. Currently saving money for a water resistanr body and a few more lenses. I just thank God that I was able to afford a new camera.

God bless,

chris

Non Photo Days

The past few days have been non photo days. The vast majority of yesterday was spent dealing with computer issues. I'm donating one of my old computers to Lenore's class room and I had a bunch of photos backed up on it from Bora Bora that I needed to transfer to a back up hard drive. The problem was that my computer wouldn't recognize the drive on the old computer. A lot of time was wasted doing a work around to get the images all transferred. When I finally finished I spent some time cleaning my office which has been a bit neglected and needed some attention.









Today was spent ferrying children to and fro and doing a doctor visit to the dermo to have too much sun in my past burned off of my face. Ouch! When picking up Annika in the afternoon from her "Rock Camp" I saw a pretty cool yellow flower in front of a nearby house and I created a quick image of by adding some texture to it from another image.



God's special blessings to all,

chris

Evening at the Ranch

Today was the first day of summer and for once it felt like summer. It was warm and the temperatures got into the low eighties. Woo hoo! Summer has arrived. This morning was spent going down to the big city of Ukiah and buying shoes. My shoe selection has pretty much dwindled down to nothing. So shoe shopping was in order as there are no stores in the big town of Willits that carry foot apparel of any kind except flip flops.



This afternoon I beat myself up at the gym and then headed out to the Burris Ranch for some photography. I sat in my blind for a short time before I got restless and then I took my camera for a walk. I really haven't explored much of the ranch so I headed up hill to where my friend Israel said there was a small pond.





When I got to the pond I saw a small turtle slide under the water and I saw plenty of dragonflies for a future photo expedition.
I also photographed a Western Fence Lizard checking me out from a top of a rock. Then the horses came for a drink to cool off and I got a chance to shoot some images of them as well. Afterwards I went down to the barn and sat the shade and had a fine conversation Israel before I packed it up and headed home. All in all it was a fine evening out at the ranch.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Painting Flowers With Light

Today was Father's Day and my family spoiled me. The weather was beautiful so we finally got out the new BBQ from the garage where it has been hiding from the rain and fog. This was its first time out and it performed flawlessly to my great happiness. Especially since the last one was a piece of junk and often burned the food as it had some serious hot spots.




While BBQing today I finally took a good look at all the flowers that are blooming in the backyard right now. The roses and the Fox Glove look fantastic. I made a mental note to take some images of them this evening when the breezes settled down. Late evening came and went and the breezes didn't diminish so I decided to do a little painting with my flashlight.




I got my macro lens,trusty tripod and made a couple of images by flashlight. Basically it was just a long exposure during which I brushed the flower with light from my L.E.D. flashlight. Looking forward to doing a deeper exploration in some soft morning light
in the next few days.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Flowers in the Fog

Spent the early morning mucking about crawling on the ground photographing Wild Iris. The fog was pouring in off of the ocean so thick it was like it was raining. One of my neighbors saw me crawling around on the ground and he came over to see what I was doing. He remarked,"You sure earn your keep don't you?". I bluntly responded. " I sure do." As I looked down at my sodden clothing.




It was fun but cold. Next time I'll make a better choice in clothing before I go wandering about in the fog.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Fly Tying

Today I tried my hand at a little stock photography of fly tying. I tried a single light set up and in looking at the results it is going to need some more more work. It just doesn't have the feel that I'm looking for. So it's back to the drawing board to see what kind of improvements I can make on it.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Smoke in Your Eyes

The past few days have flown by rather quickly. On the photographic end I haven't done anything as I have been too busy with family responsibilities and work around the house. Tonight I set up a single light and photographed some smoke with a black background. Smoke is simply amazing in the curves,shadows and shapes that it creates as it floats up into the air.
It is incredible that something so simple can create something so beautiful.

God's precious light and love to all,

chris