Back to Juncos and Jays

I was waiting for a phone call this morning so I had to stick close to the house. I decided to do some bird photography in the yard with some orchids for a perch. As I was setting up I could hear the squirrels down the ridge from our house giving an alarm call. This was a premonition of things to come. There was some kind of predator in the area and they were letting everyone know. Sure enough once I was set up in the photoblind it was quiet except for the squirrels giving out their staccato warnings. I sat and sat. Eventually a Steller's Jay made its way down to the feeder only to fly off screeching as a hawk swooped in to try and grab it. It was way too fast for me to follow but the Jay escaped. That was pretty cool! After that it stayed slow and and I waited patiently with Badger asleep at my feet. Suddenly the bottom of the blind shook and there was Papaya the blasted cat wanting to be petted. Now it was quite cozy in the blind with the dog at my feet and the cat in my lap! After a little bit more of a wait I managed to photograph a Steller's Jay and a Dark Eyed Junco. It was a great morning to be out. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600 lens. Camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod and a Bogen 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used AV mode, ISO 800 shutter speeds and F stops varied.

Ladies Turn

Yesterday I posted an image of a Male House Finch. This afternoon I spent quite a bit of time editing images and I came across a female House Finch taken during the same time period. I felt I should show off the female finch as well. She was sitting there in beautiful light and she looks gorgeous! I hope you are having an enjoyable weekend. God's love and blessings to all, chrisImage created using a Canon 7D and a Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD lens at 450mm on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used. AV mode, ISO 400,F 8.0 at 1/1,250th of a sec.

B.O.A.S. Day

This morning I rose early and left the house after a really quick breakfast. I wanted to get in as much photography as I could for the morning. When I arrived at the photoblind it was covered completely in thick frost both inside and out. This time I was prepared with my wool socks. It was a good thing too because I had a long wait before any birds showed up. I haven't been out there for several days and the birds had cleaned out the bird feeders and moved on so it took them awhile to figure out more food was available after I refilled them. Once the birds did show up however the action was non stop. There were a lot of Acorn Woodpeckers, Dark Eyed Juncos and House Finches with a few Steller's Jays thrown in for good measure. They just love those black sunflower seeds. Just in case you are wondering the B.O.A.S. stands for Bird On A Stick. Below was my best bird on a stick for the day. Image created with a canon 7d and a tamron 150-600 at 450mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400 F 8.0 at 1 /3,200th of a sec. The camera was supported by a Manfrotto 190XPROB tipod with Bogen 3055 ballhead.

Morning Jay

I spent about ten minutes in the photoblind this morning. This lovely Steller's Jay is the end result.Have a great day day. God bless, chris This image was created using a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens at 182mm. Camera settings were AV mode,ISO 800,F 8.0 at 1/50th of a sec.

Short Cure for Cabin Fever

Much of the eastern US and other parts of the world are stuck in the midst of winter. One way of bringing a little spring into your step and into the house is to go to the grocery store or florist and buy some flowers. Besides adding to the decor they can be fun to photograph as well. Here I took some carnations and put them in three vases all in a row on some kitchen chairs. At the end of the row I propped up a dark grayish brown piece of foam core on a chair to use as a backdrop. I bounced some light onto the flowers using a reflector. I focused my camera on one of the flowers in the first vase allowing all the ones behind it to go out of focus. I really liked the end result. A beautiful and quick cure for the winter time blues! Though I will say it is pretty nice outside here in Northern California. God's love and blessings to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens. Camera settings used AV mode, ISO 100, F22.0 at 1.3 sec. A Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead were used to support the camera. Natural light with a gold reflector used to lighten up the flowers.

Redwood Sunset Silhouette

Today was not a photography day. I was much too busy to pick up my camera until it was almost sunset. Then I grabbed my camera and tripod and walked down the ridge looking for something interesting to put in front of my lens. After a short walk I could see that there weren't enough clouds to make a grand sunset with clouds I was going to have to try something different. It was then that I noticed two Redwood Trees growing side by side. "Hmmmnnnn..." I thought. That would make for a nice composition. I worked the Redwoods over pretty good trying different angles and focal lengths. This image ended up being my favorite. I should have titled today's photoblog sisters. For some reason the redwoods reminded me of two sisters growing up side by side through thick and thin always there for each other. God's love and blessings upon you, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600 at 200mm set on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a 3055 Bogen Ballhead. Camera settings used were ISO 100, F 13.0 at 1/30th of a sec.

Wandering Aimlessly in the Night

Ah the best laid plans of mice and men. On Saturday Lenore was meeting old high school mates from high school down in Novato, Ca at five p.m. The sun doesn't go down until six. That would make it perfect for me to have an hour before the sun went down to do some photography. Such was the plan I had in my mind until we got lost and couldn't find the place where we were meeting them. By Lenore's dead reckoning we finally found the house at about five minutes until six. I jumped out of the car and braced my camera on a wood chipper that was parked near the house and photographed an oak tree silhouetted by the sunset.Wait a minute.. a wood chipper what the? Then it hit me. Who keeps a wood chipper parked on the street a nice upscale residential area? To give you some reference I was just in the middle of reading a murder mystery where all of the victims are thrown into a wood chipper before the bodies are disposed of. Just plain creepy to see one sitting there in such a nice neighborhood. Pushing those thoughts from my mind I drove westward hoping to find a ridge top to photograph from. I found a couple but there was no room on the narrow road to pull off. I then drove south past the Cheese Factory and around Lake Nicasio. A stiff breeze was up making reflections off of the lake all but impossible. I turned toward San Rafael and when I hit the freeway I went further south and turned off in Tiburon. I was hoping for a good view of San Francisco. The views of the city from there weren't all that noteworthy. I tried a few but I wasn't happy with them. I drove north and then on a random chance took the exit for the San Rafael Bridge. I took the last and only exit before the bridge at San Quentin Prison. Surprisingly there was a sign with a small parking lot that said "Scenic View". I created some images of views of the bridge but only one of them came out because there was too much vibration on the camera from the wind off of the bay. After that I packed it in and went back to pick up Lenore. Lucky for me she had a piece of chocolate truffle cake for me to nibble on. Love and God's blessings to all, chris