Ensatina

Yesterday I set up a new photoblind at a friends house for doing some bird photography. He has got a number of bird species coming into his yard that I can't photograph at my usual spots. Before leaving to go down to his house I tossed my photoblind into the back of my pick up truck and literally threw a folding camp chair into the back as well. When I arrived and unpacked at his house I discovered a rather dazed Ensatina Salamander on the seat of the camp chair. It was not moving at all. I carefully packed it away into an empty seed container and brought it back home with me. Later I photographed it on a piece of lichen and moss covered bark before I let it go in my backyard. A marvelous beautiful find. By the way it seemed to have completely recovered and was acting like a normal salamander when I let it go. Poor thing. Now it has some wild stories that the other salamnders are not going to believe. God bless, chris

Artist's Sunset

This afternoon I worked on getting more images for my book. I'm making slow but steady progress. Later on in the evening just before dinner Lenore and Annika arrived and exclaimed. "You have got to see the sunset! If you hurry you might just catch what is left of it." Abandoning the woodstove I was loading up I hurried outside to catch the remnants of a gorgeous pastel sunset. The fog and mist just softened everything. It was just beautiful. God's precious light and love to all, chris

Following the Herd

Today was filled up with domestic chores that needed to be done around the house. Sometimes they are called "deferred maintenance". Tonight as a respite from chores I wanted to try something that I have seen a lot of other photographers doing. Burning steel wool in a chef's wisk while twirling it around your head.Crazy!! Tonight was just an experiment to just get a feel for what it is all about.First off I learned that you really,really need to take fire safety into consideration.Those little sparks go everywhere! That is why I chose a rainy dripping night.Secondly is that for personal safety a hat and safety glasses are required. The sparks sometimes land on the twirler or twirlee as well. My yard wasn't the most photogenic location for it and I look forward to trying in near the ocean or in a river where you could get something really creative going.The reflections would be incredible! God bless, chris

Fabulous Fungi

Most of yesterday afternoon was spent crawling around on the forest floor photographing fungi. With all of the rain fungi have been popping up all over the place. My favorite fungi are the really small delicate ones that are only about an inch tall.They make me believe that they would be perfect little umbrellas for fairies of the forest. God's blessings your way. Have a great day. chris Please leave me your comments down below. I'd love to hear from you.

Effects of the Rain

After days of rain I was ready to get out. With the break in the weather I went to look at the some of the local creeks. Some were full to the brim and overflowing. I had some fun just capturing the flowing water. These were my favorites. God's light and love to all, chris

A Shy One

Some birds are just harder to photograph than others. In the forested area where I live there is one bird that I'm lucky to get to photograph whenever I get the chance. It's not because it is rare either.In fact I see hem all of the time.They are actually pretty common. The bird in question is a Spotted Towhee. They used to be called the Rufous Sided Towhee but then they changed the name. I hate it when they do that. In any case they are hard to photograph well because they are a ground dwelling bird for the most part. Towhees prefer the underbrush and are rather shy and reclusive. They have to be lured from the ground up high enough onto a perch to be photographed because they normally love to stay down low. Yesterday morning I set up some perches that had ramps between them to encourage the ground dwelling birds to come up to a more comfortable level (for me anyway) to be photographed. This one Rufous er I mean Spotted Towhee obliged several times and this one was my favorite set of images from the morning.The thing I love about these Towhees is the intense red eyes!They are just so cool. Thank you for dropping in for a look today. Please leave your comments below. I love to hear from readers. God bless, chris

Landing Gear Down

What to do on a rainy day... This morning I worked on photographing a Steller's Jay landing. It took numerous attempts to get the timing right on my part. God's light and love to all, chris