Iconic Photography

First off thanks to Stacey Patton for giving me this idea. She recently photographed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Obviously a photographic icon! I liked her image because she went looking for a location from where the bridge isn't often photographed from. She basically gave it more of her own style by seeking a little something different that gave it a bit of her own twist. I decided to photograph the Willits Arch over highway 101. A much ,much less photographed icon where I live. The other choice could have been a redwood tree.




So this morning dawned wet and foggy and I picked a location and a time in which the average tourist driving through probably wouldn't photograph it. I really like the result as it has my own twist on a local icon. Please let me know you have dropped by for a visit by leaving me a comment or two.

God's blessings to all,

chris
Here is a link to Stacey's blog http://photosbypatton.blogspot.com/2010/10/golden-gate-bridge.html?spref=fb

Traveling Light Oooops Otters!

It poured over the weekend. The rain slammed down and our local lake went up over five feet. As a consequence the creeks started flowing and the rumor is that the salmon and steelhead are starting to move up the coastal rivers. Because the water was flowing in the creeks and there was a little bit of sun(beautiful sunrise) I decided to do a little stream photography.






In packing I decided to travel light as all I would need was one lens and a sturdy tripod. So I grabbed my Tokina 19-35 wide angle lens and trusty Manfrotto tripod and headed down to the creek. I immediately found some pleasing compositions as I worked my way up the creek. I kept hearing a birdlike chirp in the background. I was aware of it but not really locking in on the sound. Suddenly a movement right below me in the creek caught my eye. I saw the flick of a tail going under a cutbank. An otter I quickly caught myself thinking. Soon two others popped up and then they all stopped and looked up at me and started heading down stream.So that's what that chirping noise was!





I saw where they were headed and trotted downstream to get ahead of them. I climbed down the bank and sat in the brush and waited for about ten minutes. Looking up the creek I saw them coming. They were sliding through the riffles and climbing over the rocks. Suddenly they all stopped in catching my scent. They could smell me but couldn't figure out where I was located. Two of them dove under water and went right past where I was sitting on the bank. They all passed less than two feet away. The third one surfaced right next to my left side and when it popped up and saw me it immediately dove back under. See the inset image. Next time I'm bringing a telephot lens and a flash!



What an amazing way to end my outing. Those otters were really cool.

God's blessings to all,
chris

Gobble,Gobble,Gobble

Today dawned wet and rainy. Not usually the best conditions for photography but pretty good for portraits. I planned on finding the deer again and using my telephoto to get some close up portraits. The deer however proved elusive and were nowhere to be found. Turkeys however were out in abundance. So make lemonade and create turkey images.

Even then things didn't go as planned. When I was almost done with the turkeys I noticed that my camera was not set to where I usually keep it on the exposure settings. In fact I was four stops way too dark. Wow! How long had I been shooting images this way? I reset my camera and finished up. When I got home and uploaded my images I discovered that it was at about the halfway point during the mornings photography. Ouch. Nothing can be done but move on as these things sometimes do happen. It will remind me to keep looking at my camera settings as I doing my photography.

God's blessings to all,

chris

One Buck a Day

Today I was privileged to spend about forty -five minutes with some Mendocino County Blacktail Deer. There were three does and three young deer and one good three point buck. For you easterners that means it had three antler points on each side. When I arrived the buck was just sitting under an oak tree relaxing. He then got up and began musting after the does. He then got tired of that and began eating acorns(mast).Later on he raked the branch of a tree with his antlers. When I left him he was looking rather majestic out in a meadow.I also photographed a Western Gray Squirrel and a Wild Turkey to make my morning complete.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Ansco Super Memar

Over the weekend I went to the Willits High School Rummage Sale. When I arrived I figured I'd look through the tables before I found Jay to give him a ride home. On the very first table I checked sat an old silver camera sitting right on top of the pile. Well, I'm a sucker for old cameras. I picked it up. It was old and had some rust. I clicked the shutter and it worked! Then I pulled off the broken leather cover and opened the back. That was a big mistake! There was a roll of color print film inside. I slammed the back shut as quick as I could.Naturally I bought it for the princely sum of four bucks.



Today I found the release button and wound the film back up into the film canister. I'll drop it off at the local drug store to see what if any of the prints survived. It will be like a mini treasure to pick up and see what is on it. I cleaned the camera up a little bit and photographed it. The camera is an Ansco Super Memar that was made in 1954 by Agfa in Munchen ,Germany for Ansco Camera. What a fun little find.

God's blessings to all,

chris

The Drive to Downtown and Back

Samo ,Samo! This morning I made my usual drive to town to drop Annika off at school and then go work out. After I dropped off Annika I made a few stops along the way whenever an image presented itself to be taken. Enjoy and God bless!

chris

Soft Early Morning Light

This morning when I brought Jay down the hill into Willits I could tell it was going to be a great morning for a drive around Little Lake Valley. The fog was sitting in patches all around the valley just inviting me to photograph it. So before I went and worked out I took a valley tour and with the exception of a few cars and cows it seemed like I had the valley to myself. What a beautiful morning. Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment or two.

God's blessings to all,

chris