Behind the Scenes

Here is an image of a DouglasTree Squirrel that I created this morning. Those of you that have followed my blog for any length of time know that I love photographing small mammals. So what's behind the image? Didn't you just go out and find a squirrel and photograph it? What did it take to make this image?

Surprisingly there is a lot that had to happen before I could push the shutter button to take the picture. The first thing was that I created an environment over the years around my house with bird and squirrel feeders that was squirrel friendly. Next I found an old downed snag (rotting tree) and from it I made a knothole feeder for the squirrels to use. It's basically a thin piece of the tree with a knothole in it. I attached a coffee can full of sunflower seed to the back side of it. After putting up the feeder I had to wait a few days for the squirrels to start using it. I built a photography blind (you can also buy one) and set up my camera in the blind and prefocused on the knothole on the feeder. The next part was the easiest. I sat in the blind and waited an hour and a half for the squirrel to come use the feeder. All in all I made about seventy images of the squirrel going in and out of the feeder. After edtiting I came up with six that were what I call keepers. I selected this one as my favorite as it portrays the personality of a Douglas Tree Squirrel the best.Now you know probably more than you needed to know what was behind the image. A coffee can right?

God's precious love to all,

chris

I'm Hiding

This morning I went off in pursuit of Blacktail Deer. I found a few but they were either on private property or they were just in unphotogenic locations like under someone's deck! I did find one Blacktail Jackrabbit up on a hillside. I took a few images of it and then I decided to move closer. It was really cute because it put it's ears down getting ready to run. It looked like it was thinking. "If I just put my ears down maybe he won''t see me?"

God's love and joy to all,

chris

A Few Wild Turkeys and a Bandtail

I got off to a late start today so I didn't see too much in the way of wildlife. I found a small flock of turkeys working there way down a hillside. When I arrived at home I spent a short time in the photography blind and I photographed one Bandtailed Pigeon. Sure beats working inside on such a beautiful day .

Of Biblical Proportions

Oh, all right it’s not quite that big but it does have to do with the bible… I love it when my brain goes into overdrive with an idea. Usually it’s at some inopportune time so I need to write it down to make sure I don’t forget it. In this case it was at one in the morning as I was getting ready for bed. I knew it was fruitless to lie there as the ideas kept coming to my head and I wouldn’t be able to remember them all. I dragged myself out of my cozy bed into the office. I pulled out my photo idea book and wrote them all down. I came up with a whole variety of images I wanted to do of the bible for PhotoMission a Christian stock agency I submit images to. Here are a few images as some of the others are pretty complex and are going to take me awhile to complete.

God’s love and blessings to everyone,

chris

Chasing Blacktails Again

This morning after dropping Annika off at school I was out chasing the Blacktail Deer again. I had a little better luck today as a couple of them were still out even though it was after eight o'clock. They are starting to go into rut and so the batchelor groups are starting to split up a bit.

God' light and love to all,

chris

Playing With Peppers

Today I added some peppers to my collection of fruits and vegetables.It can be fun to play with veggies.

God's blessings to all,

chris

They Remind Me of Teddy Bears

Those of you that have been following my blog for a while know that I am a push over for small furry critters. I like to photograph small mammals. For example I much prefer to photograph Pika than Elk. This morning I photographed some nice Blacktail Deer. When I got home I went out to the photoblind with the intention of getting some images of a Chickaree AKA Douglas Tree Squirrel. Luckily there was one at the feeder and as long as I was perfectly still it would let me photograph it. If it sensed any movement at all from the photoblind it jumped off the feeder and ran to a nearby fir tree to complain. I had to give it five minutes or so before it would come back. It was the cutest darn thing. It reminded me of a teddy bear.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris