Simple Story of the Red Bench

The red bench started out as a a light brown double bed. It was purchased by a young couple we knew over thirty years ago as a present to themselves for their wedding. Many years down the road when we were in need of a bed for Lenore's grandmother they heard of our need and graciously gave it to us. When Grandma died we kept it as a spare bed. Our son Jay came home from college and it was pressed into use in his bedroom. A month or so back when we were having our house painted and I went to move the bed to make room for painting. In sliding it across the floor I heard a loud crack and one corner of the bed sagged. A quick investigation revealed I had broken the frame of the bed beyond a simple repair. Not wanting to throw away the frame I decided to make it into a garden bench. I cut the bed rails up into seat length sections and screwed them down to the head and foot boards. Yesterday morning I completed the project by painting it a rich red color. Hopefully it will be in use for thirty or more years to come. Thank you Lord for these simple gifts. chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 17-85 mm lens at 30mm. AV mode, ISO 800, F 4.5 at 1/8th of a sec.

Quick Set Up

This has not been been my week for digging into a big photography project. There are just too many home projects pulling me away from it. This morning I erected a quick set up and photographed the Steller's Jays for about half an hour. This image was my favorite from the images I created. Jays are an underrated species! After I finished photography for the day it was on to some home projects. I'll post the finished product one one of my efforts tomorrow morning. God's love and blessings to all, chris image was created with Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Celestial UFO Landing (Not)

Today was a no photography day. We went to the big city of Santa Rosa to shop and to meet my cousins in Sebastopol for lunch. It was so nice to see them. When we arrived home Annika informed me that my lens was back from being repaired. I immediately unpacked the lens and walked down the road and photographed the suns going down over the Pacific Ocean. It always amazes me how the sun distorts so much due to the atmosphere. Tonight's sun looked like an alien ship landing. God's love and blessings to all, chris Image created with a handheld Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens.

When the Stars Come Out at Night

Today was a busy day with home projects and no time for photography. This evening we went out for dinner and by the time we got home it was close to eleven P.M. Walking down the walkway into the house I looked up to see the Milky way and all its mysteries blazing overhead. I went inside and grabbed my camera and a wide angle lens and started making some images of it. These two were my favorite. One is a selfie no less! Both images were made with a Canon 7D and a Canon EFS 10-22mm wide angle lens. Manual mode, ISO 3200, F 4.5 at 30 seconds. Camera was supported on a Manfrotto XPROB tripod with a Bogen ballhead. God's light and love to all, chris

Dreams

When I was out at the coast recently the fog came creeping in as it often does. The timing was just right for a kayak to paddle by in the dwindling light. As soon as I saw it I knew it would make for a great silhouette. I waited for the kayaker to get closer to some rocks ahead of it for a nicer composition. The lack of light from the fog rendered everything into black and white even though this is a color image. This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF-S 17-85 mm lens at 85mm. Settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 18.0 at 1/2,500th of a sec. God's love and blessings have a great evening, chris

Mostly Foggy Day at the Coast

Lenore and I spent the day on the Mendocino Coast. We went for a bike ride on the Coastal Trail. We went down to Glass Beach. We finished the day off by going down into Noyo Harbor to Silvers at the Wharf for iced tea, steamed clams and a bowl of chowder. Lots of beautiful sights to see and photograph on the North Coast! God's light and love to all, chris all images created with a canon 7D and a Canon EF-s 17-85 mm lens.

Little City Lights

I love night photography. It is just so cool the way a camera renders car lights as a blur if you leave the shutter open during a long exposure. Cityscapes are just amazing. I love photographing San Francisco at night with the Golden Gate Bridge bridge or the Oakland Bay Bridge in the foreground. Today I had the urge to do some night photography. The problem is San Francisco is a two and a half hour drive south. Then I remembered that they were running trucks at night on the construction of the bypass of highway 101 around Willits. The truck lights would look great under the Willits Arch. I drove downtown and sure enough there was plenty of traffic under the arch for a great image.A perfect little cityscape. Image created with a Canon 7d and a Canon 17-85mm lens at 70mm. On a Manfrotto 3055 XPROB tripod. Camera settings used were AV mode,ISO 100,F 32.0 at 15 sec.