Bee Happy

This morning I grabbed my little Canon T1i to take with me on a quick trip to the big city of Ukiah. I threw on a macro lens and then I checked the SD card and discovered that there were twenty-nine images that I hadn't downloaded yet. "Hmmnnn ... I thought to myself". So I uploaded them to my computer and there were some pretty nice images there. My favorite though was one of a bee covered in pollen. It was happily going about its work gathering nectar from a sunflower. It even had pollen in its eyes. I hope that you can be happy in your life's work as well. God's love and blessings to all, chris This image wascreated with a Canon EOS T1i camera and a Canon EF-S60mm F 2.8 Macro USM lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/250th of a sec. #teamcanon

Quick Set Up

This morning I was up and at'em even before the sun climbed up over the Mendocino Range to the east of us. I grabbed four speed light flashes and a single red Zinnia flower and created a quick hummingbird photography set up in the backyard in about fifteen minutes. I didn't even bother with a photoblind as the hummingbirds are pretty used to humans in the backyard so long as you don't make too many fast movements. There were a lot of hummingbirds! My best guess was that there were roughly around thirty of them. They were mostly Anna's with a few Allen's/ Rufous thrown in. At one point one of the young males tried to take over the feeder. That lasted only about three or four minutes before he gave up. There were just too many opponents to try and fend off. I had a really good time both watching and photographing them. It's been awhile since I did much photography. I've been working on a lot of deferred maintenance around the house. God's precious love and blessings to all, chris This image was created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400 IS USM v.1 lens with a 12mm extension tube added for close focusing. Lighting was provided by four Canon 540EZ speedlights set to 1/64th power. The camera settings used were M mode, ISO 400, F 11.0 at 1/160th of a sec. #teamcanon

Birds and Bugs

When I awoke this morning and looked outside I realized it was the perfect day for photography. There were high clouds almost covering the sky. They were blocking out all the harsh light that can make photographing during summer difficult. I went out into the backyard and taped off all the feeder ports except one on one of our hummingbird feeders. Then I set up my camera on a tripod about two feet away from the feeder port with a macro lens and a flash. I plopped down in a chair behind it and I tried not to move. It didn't take long for the hummingbirds to discover that there only one spot to feed. I remained as motionless as possible taking an image now and then when everything looked perfect. There were tons of Anna's Hummingbirds coming to the feeder one after the other.After about half and hour I called it quits for the hummingbirds.Next I journeyed to the garden and stalked bugs with my macro lens. I had a great time. It was nice to be out and about with my camera on such a beautful day. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Tamron SP Di 180mm macro lens. #teamcanon,#withmytamron

Virga Over the Valley

This morning when I awoke and looked to the east I was surprised to see in the morning's sunrise clouds with virga. I quickly grabbed my trusty camera and photographed a wide variety of compositions of the virga. Virga is basically clouds releasing raindrops that dry before even making it to the ground. In fancy pants meteorological terms virga is an observable column or shaft of precipitation dropping from a formation of a cloud that evaporates or sublimates before reaching the ground. This is due to dry air and a higher condensation point below the cloud formation. There is your meteorology lesson for the week. God's blessings upon your weekend. Go out and have some fun, chris All images were created with my Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon EF 28-200mm lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 11.0 at a variety of shutter speeds.#teamcanon

Band, Cast, Party and Scold

There was a scold of Steller's Jays at the bird feeder in the back yard this morning. Who makes up these odd names for groups of birds anyway? A cast of Steller's Jays. Sounds more like casting a spell. Shaking of fists and pointed finger. "I cast a Steller's Jay on you!" There were only Jays coming to the bird feeder so I made the best of it and made quite a few images of them. I even got a few over the shoulder looks. One of my favorite bird poses as it really shows off their plumage. They are quite the fun and vocal group of birds to watch. I hope your week is going well. God bless, chris #teamcanon All of these images were created with a Canon EOS 7DMKII camera and a Canon 100-400 L IS USM v.1 lens. The camera settings used were, AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at a variety of shutter speeds. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX speedlight set to minus 1-2/3rds stops. #teamcanon

Hoot Owl by My Window

We just got back yesterday from a trip up to Washington and Idaho. I was visiting relatives so I got to watch not one but two parades and I was lucky enough to watch two fireworks displays as well. The weather was great we only had one rain shower. We didn't see much wildlife. Most everything I spotted was from a distance. We spotted one Marmot, four Osprey, one Bald Eagle and some Whitetail Deer with fawns. They were pretty cute. The usual baby ducks at the marina were nice The best sighting of all were two newly fledged Great Horned Owls behind my brothers house. They were little whiners constantly calling out to Momma for food. I never spotted her but my brother said that she had fed them a Marmot the day before we had arrived. I must say they were a pretty cool sight to see. The last image was of Mount Shasta as we were flying home. It still has a lot of snow! God's blessings upon your upcoming weekend, chris All images were created with two Canon EOS cameras and lenses. #TeamCanon

Summer Vacation

Since late spring and early summer I've been really busy and I've been neglecting my photoblog. I went to my niece's wedding in Toronto which was unbelievable! Many thanks to the Sheerazi family for your incredible hospitality and a beautiful wedding. This morning I created a quick B.O.A.S. (Bird On A Stick) set up next to a new bird feeder made from a water bottle in the back yard. There were a lot of Black Headed Grosbeaks and a few Steller's Jays that immediately came to the feeder and started feeding. Here are a few of my favorite images. God's blessings to one and all, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400 L IS USM v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon Speedlite 550 EX. Shutter speeds varied but my camera was set to AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0. #teamcanon