Deerscape

This week I took a nice drive out Sherwood Road in Mendocino County in northern California where I live. It's great country road with very little traffic. I went in search of one of the elk herds that reside out that way. When I found them they were in front of someone's barn in a pasture so it didn't look very photogenic. I drove onward out to the Sherwood Valley site of the old mill town of Sherwood. Only a single home on the west end of the valley the Octagon House gives any clue to its former existence.I didn't see any more elk and I turned around to head home. Just as I was about to leave the valley I spotted some deer watching me from a ridge top. I thought they would make a great "Deerscape".
God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris

Scorpion Silhouette

This morning when I was working out I thought up a creative concept for an image. Isn't working out a great time to think? I decided that I wanted to create the silhouette of a scorpion against a sunrise.I stopped first for grocery shopping then hurried home and went in search of a scorpion. Luckily I found one under the first piece of firewood in the woodpile.Then I spent the next hour creating a set up and photographing the little critter before I set it free.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Mendo Morning

A typical scene in Mendocino County California with the morning fog on my way to town this week.

God bless,

chris

Drop on By

I spent most of this morning playing with water drops and editing them on the computer. I know its been overdone but the darn things are so much fun to do. It is so cool to see the physics of what really happens when a water drop hits. The variations in color are only limited by what color liquids, back grounds and filters you can come up with to use.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Another Try at the Beetle

This is one of those images that bug me.(Pun intended) I have a vision in mind and I'm just not quite getting what I have in mind. Getting close but not there yet.I've got the beetle just about right but the composition is wrong as the beetle is headed out of the image. I'll keep at it.

God bless,

chris

Rainy Day deer

The rain poured down off and on all of Sunday. There was very little chance to photogaph anything but the local Blacktail Deer. I passed by one group with a really small buck and a wild eyed doe. I have never seen a doe with such bulging eyes.They stayed put while I photographed them from the car. Just stopping briefly from feeding now and then to lift up their heads and check me out.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Trip Report Part Two Other Birds

The Sacramento Valley trip in Northern California continues. Besides Mallards there were a few other visitors to the blind at Delevan. A pair of Gadwall swam by and the usual ever present American Coots. Even a group of four White Fronted Geese came by for a short visit.The most colorful bird of the day was a Meadowlark that landed in a tree above the blind and proceeded to serenade me with its' territorial song. I left the bind when the Meadowlark left and nothing came to the blind for close to an hour.

I then made the drive up to the main Sacramento Refuge and took the Auto Tour around the refuge. If you ever get the chance to do the auto tour in mid january it is well worth the drive with tens of thousands of ducks and geese sometimes on the ponds right off of the auto tour route. Today however most of the waterfowl were dispersed from the refuge now that the hunting season for them is over. But there were still a lot of birds to see and photograph including many birds of prey in the trees right above the road.This included a Turkey Vultureand a Redtail Hawk.

Waterfowl wise I photographed a Ringneck Duck, Snow Geese a huge flock and a single. Both Green Wing and Cinnamon Teal. Completeing the Auto tour I headed south through the valley town of Maxwell where on the outskirts of town there wasa flock of White Faced Ibis that flew in to feed. Overall it was an exciting trip full of opportunities to photograph birds and even a squirrel. I also got to see three River Otters and a Peregrine along the way but they weren't in locations I could photgraph them. Maybe next year.

God's blessings and love to all,

chris