Gray Day

We awoke to cloudy gray skies and a light fog coming in from the coast this morning. I went out and watched the fog flow through the Little Lake Valley in, around and over Little Darby Peak on the eastern edge of the valley. It's amazing how fast it can change over the course of ten or fifteen minutes. Right now at a little past eleven in the morning the sun is making a brave attempt to try and break through. We shall see by this afternoon who shall have the upper hand. God's loving embrace to all, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 IS, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV Mode,ISO 400,+1 E.V., F16.0, Shutter speed varied

Whatever Comes My Way

This morning I was up early enough to catch the sunrise. It was overcast and it made for a gorgeous mix of colors on the horizon. Our family is back to its school schedule so I was up early helping make breakfast and lunches. Afterwards I went out to my photblind in the backyard and did some set up images to fill some gaps that were missing in my "Backyard Bird Photography" book. Nice lighting due to the high clouds.I was willing to photograph whatever came my way. The Steller's Jays naturally obliged as did a great little Chipmunk. One young Western Gray squirrel hung out in the background eating seed heads on the edge of the yard. He came close to the feeders but then he chickened out and scampered back into the forest. There were a few Dark Eyed Juncos that stopped by as well and a Red Breasted Nuthatch but none of the images I created of those were of a quality fit for viewing. May you have a blessed day, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 IS, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV Mode,ISO 400, F 5.6, Shutter speed varied

Awesome Bee

This morning when I went out to get something from the car I was shocked to see a Bumblebee feeding on one of our bushes that is in flower next to our gate. I was shocked because I very rarely see bees where I live in wintertime. It flew off from me being nearby but on my return trip I spotted a Honey Bee feeding there as well. I went inside and returned with my camera, macro lens and a flash. I spent about ten minutes chasing that bee around the bush. I came away with an amazing image. God bless you through out this new year, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 540EZ Flash, 100mm Macro Lens. Camera and Flash Settings- Manual, ISO 400, F18.0 at 1/200th of a second, Flash set to 1/16th power on manual.

Star Trails

Last night it was clear, cold and dark. Just perfect for doing some star trail photography. After midnight I went out into the backyard and set up my camera so that it would be facing Polaris the North Star. I took a couple of test images to create a nice composition. Then I started up the camera and went to bed. This morning I got up before sunrise and collected my camera.I went into the office and processed the images using an image processing program called Star Stax I'm quite happy with the final result. I was really surprised that there weren't any meteors in it. Have a beautiful day, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D and a Canon 10-22 at 10mm, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera settings- Manual Mode, ISO 5,000, F4.5 at 30 seconds.

Window to the World

This morning I was up early watching the Quadrantids Meteor Shower. I just saw a couple as it was nearly dawn. Afterwards I came back into the office and worked on editing images from Pt. Reyes on New Years day. There was only one image that really caught my eye. At McClure's Beach there was this great narrow passageway through the rocks that led between sections of the beach. I really liked it because walking through it was like opening a window to the view the world. May you have a blessed day, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D and a Canon 28-135 IS lens at 50 mm. Camera settings Used- Auto,1/200th of a second. F stop not recorded.

Seashore Silhouette

I spent part of this morning editing the images from yesterday at Pt. Reyes National Seashore. I love silhouettes so I have to share this one of a couple rock fishing off of the rocks at McClure Beach. I really liked the dramatic light from the fog. God's light and love to all, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D and a Canon 28-135 at 135mm. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F 22.0 at 1/1,600th of a sec., E.V -2 stops

Image to Start Off the New Year

Today we met the cousins on a spur of the moment trip to Pt. Reyes National Seashore. We ventured out on the short trail to McClure's Beach. The lighting was beautiful with sun and fog mixed. This was one of my favorite landscape images from the day. Happy New Year and God's blessings to all, chris

Camera Used- Canon 7D and a 8mm Ultra wide angle lens Camera Setting- AV mode,ISO 400 F. 22.0 at 1/125th of a second.