Way Back in Time

Right now we are at the start of a major clean up at our house. We are emptying all of the closets and getting rid of everything that we don't really need. Today I tackled the stairwell where most of my old camera gear is stashed. The coolest thing that I came across was my very first real camera. When I was sixteen my Dad gave me his old Argus C3 (nicknamed the brick). I think he gave it to me to keep me busy with something to keep my mind off of the fact that we were moving from Colorado to California at the time. I think his idea must have worked because I'm still taking photographs to this day. That old Argus forced me to learn how create an image because there wasn't a single automatic feature on it. You had to calculate exposures, focus and depth of field all on your own. Plus to make it even more difficult I started out shooting slide film which has very little forgiveness. I had a great time with that camera and I learned a lot from it. Now it is covered in dust but surprisingly it still works! I could throw a roll of film in it and step right back out and start creating images with it. So nice to run across an old friend. God's love and blessings to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 17-85 mm lens at 85mm. Camera settings used were AVmode,ISO 100,F 18.0 at .50 sec. The camera was on a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead. I used a black sweep and lighting was from two continuous source LED light panels one above and one off to the side.

Beautiful Hummingbirds

Late Wednesday afternoon I spent forty five minutes photographing the hummingbirds in my backyard. They were coming into the feeder and nectar baited petunias almost non stop. It was quite chilly with a cold breeze blowing in from the coast and they were fueling up for the long night ahead. There was a mixture of Anna's, Rufous and possibly Allens Hummingbirds flying in. It's so difficult to identify an Allens so I just lump them in with the Rufous. I have read in numerous sources that you have to have one in hand to really say for sure they are so hard to ID. Here are my favorite images from that session. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens along with four Canon 540EZ flashes set to 1/16th power. Camera settings used Manual mode, ISO 200, F 16.0 at 1/160th of a sec. camera was supported on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a bogen 3055 ballhead. #TeamCanon, #Bringit

My Jacket is Alive!

About a week ago I had to clear out my pick up as I needed to take someone to a doctors appointment. In my haste to clear out my truck I grabbed my plastic bin of bird photography stuff and put it on the driveway in front of the garage door. I tossed my jacket on top of it and drove off without a second thought. Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. It was getting downright chilly with a cold breeze blowing in from the coast."I had better grab my jacket," I thought to myself. I ran out front grabbed my jacket and threw it on before walking to the backyard. As I began setting up for some hummingbird photos I kept feeling something twitching and pressing into my neck and shoulder blade. At first I thought I was bumping into the hummingbird feeders hanging from the backyard canopy. Suddenly it dawned on me that something was in my jacket! All sort of visions of snakes sprang into my head. I peeled off my jacket and there wasn't a thing. Mystified I held the jacket out away from me and gave it a shake. An Alligator Lizard fell out. Relieved I picked it up and carried it into the house and put it into a container. This morning I photographed it before setting it free out in the forest. May God love and protect you, chris Images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 17-85mm lens.

Morning Anna's

I was up and out into the backyard this morning by five after six. As I worked on my set up the hummingbirds were already buzzing about. Once I was set up and started photographing I discovered one of my flashes wasn't recharging fast enough due to a low battery. Still I managed to get some really nice images when I had the patience to wait for it to charge up. Here is my favorite from this morning of a male Anna's Hummingbird. I cropped it to almost a square format. Enjoy the image and have a blessed day, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens set on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used were manual mode, ISO 200, F 11.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Four Canon 540EZ flashes were used set to 1/16th

A Few Hummingbirds

One of the best times for photographing hummingbirds is right around sunrise. Because of their high metabolisms hummingbirds need to feed as soon as they possibly can each morning. So they hit the feeder pretty hard around this time making multiple trips to fuel up. So where was I at sunrise this morning? I was snug as a bug in bed. When I finally got out to my photoblind at about eight fifteen there were only one or two hummingbirds visiting the feeder about every twenty minutes or so. It was quite a bit of a wait between visits to the feeder. There were visits from immature Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds and one male Annas with a skin condition around its eye. It was really nice to be outside for awhile as today was the first day that I have felt a little better since catching the flue about a week ago. Thank you Lord for the healing and time to rest. May you have a blessed day, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens set on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used were manual mode, ISO 200, F 16.0 at 1/160th of a sec. Four Canon 540EZ flashes were used set to 1/16th power.

Rose and Frog

Lenore's roses are in bloom with such a heavenly scent and soft rich colors. What could be a more wonderful combination than a frog and roses? This morning I spent about half an hour in the photoblind photographing hummingbirds. When I came out of the blind there was a Pacific Chorus Frog sitting on top of the table right outside the blind. It looked great with the roses. May you have a blessed evening, chris These images were created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens on a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod. Camera setting used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/5th of a sec.

Morning Mist

I'm still keeping it simple as I am still fighting the cold/flue and I have been catching up on a lot of reading and sleeping. Here is this mornings view of morning fog in the Little Lake Valley below me. Image captured with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600 mm lens at 375mm. AV mode, ISO 800, F 18.0, 1/500th of a sec. +1 exposure compensation. The camera was braced upon my window sill.