One Steller's Day

This morning I got off to a late start. By the time I got set up and in the blind it was already eight thirty and the sun was starting to hit the tips of the new perch I put up. While I was working out the fine tuning of how to compose the image and what exposure to use a Steller's Jay flew in and perched. I quickly composed an image and took it. Then the Band-tailed Pigeons started dropping from the trees. That's when the batteries in my camera died. I thought I had just put in a fresh set. Obviously that was not the case. Always check that you have fresh batteries in the camera and a fresh set handy when you go into the blind! I waited and watched the pigeons until something flared them off. Then I climbed out of the blind and went back into the house. The sun was now too bright and I have some editing images to catch up on as well as some domestic chores. Have a blessed day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400IS v. 1 lens at 130mm. The camera settings used were manual mode, ISO 200, F 13.0 at 1/160th of a sec.Lighting was provided by four Canon 540 EZ flashes in 2' x 2' soft boxes. Two were on the perch and two were on the background. #TeamCanon

Up an At 'Em

I was up before the sun rose this morning. It took me over a half an hour to get my gear organized and a set up redone in the backyard. After it was complete I climbed into the photoblind and sat and waited. Almost immediately the Steller's Jays started coming in to feed. Once they realized that it was safe the Band-tailed Pigeons startd dropping down from the trees and fighting for positions at the feeder. With some patience I waited until they came over to the perch I had set up next to the bird feeder. Here are a couple of images that were my favorites. God's love and blessings to all, chris #teamcanon Both images were created with a Canon &D MkII and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash set to - 2-1/3 stops.

Into the Forest

This morning when I awoke and looked out the window I could see the fog was starting to burn off and shafts of light were breaking through. What a perfect day for a walk down our road into the forest. I found that the Douglas Iris were just starting to finish up and the Bracken Ferns up fully up and growing. It was really nice walking through the fog drip with a slight breeze barely moving the trees. What a delightful way to start the day. God's love and blessings to all, chris Both of these images were created with a handheld Canon 7D MkII and a Canon EF-S10-22mm lens.

Please Be Safe Out There

This was one that I did for fun last night. I found a bark beetle right next to our gas fire pit and it sparked my my creative juices flowing. But it actually has a serious message behind it. Fire season is almost upon us. The grasses and forests are already drying up. Please be safe with fire,power equipment or vehicles that could cause forest fires. Have a great week and God bless, chris Bark Beetle climbing out of a match box. This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 18-200 mm lens. Lighting was provided by two Alien Bee Studio lights with large soft boxes. #TeamCanon, #withmytamron

Potpourri of Pictures

Here is a mixture of images from the past few days in my backyard in Mendocino County, Northern California. All of these images were photographed from my photoblind on our back patio. The perch used was an old rotten and mossy corral board. There was a nice showing of birds that came to the bird feeder. There were Red Breasted Nuthatches, Steller's Jays, Band-tailed Pigeons and Chestnut Backed Chickadees. I had a separate feeder set up for the squirrels to use but one Western Gray Squirrel came for desert after it had finished eating the other food. God's love and blessings to everyone, chris All of these images were created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Canon 100-400IS v. 1 lens along with a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The camera was supported on a 190 XPROB Manfrotto Tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. The camera was set in AV mode, ISO 800. Shutter speeds and F stops varied. A Canon 550EX was used for fill flash set at -2 stops.#TeamCanon #withmytamron

Elusive Mountain Quail

The most elusive, challenging and difficult bird to photograph in my backyard is the Mountain Quail. There is a very small covey nearby and they occasionally come into my backyard. When I'm in the photoblind I can hear them coming by their soft feeding calls. Yesterday morning was a textbook case. I could hear them coming up the ridge. Because I was photographing small birds I knew I would have to back off my zoom lens before they arrived or they wouldn't fit in the frame of the image. I slowly pulled back the zoom and waited quietly. Mountain Quail are extremely skittish and will flush at the merest sight or sound of motion. I waited and waited for about five minutes. One quail made an appearance and hopped up onto the perch I had set up. Ever so slowly I inched the camera over to focus on it. I realized I hadn't pulled the zoom back far enough and I was too tight. I made one image. Then I attempted to try and slowly back the lens off a little bit more. Instantaneously the quail jumped off the perch and ran into the forest! As I stated before they are very skittish. Better luck to me next time. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MII and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens with a Canon 550 EX for fill flash.

Tiesel Toppers

Yesterday morning after I finished up with the rock perch images I switched over to using a dried Tiesel heads as a perches. Both the seed head and the stalks are full of prickly spikes. I'm always amazed to see birds using them as perches. They must have really tough feet! Here are a few more House Finch images. I hope that all of you are having a great week. God bless, chris All of the images above were created with a Canon 7D MkII DSLR camera with a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. The camera was supported on a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen Heavy duty ballhead. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash set to -2 stops. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 shutter speeds varied.#TeamCanon