A Short Walk Up Willits Creek

I took a short walk up a section of Willits Creek today looking for some fall color from the Big Leaf Maples. Note to self next time time bring waders.This section of creek is only accessible by walking in the creek itself. Last year I was intelligent
enough to wear waders. Today was a warm day so I thought shorts and watershoes would be fine. Not! I could barely feel my feet by the time I climbed out of the creek bed.
The creek was way down so it was hard to find parts that had an interesting flow pattern to them. Luckily I found plenty of leaves on the rocks to help keep it interesting. A ccccold but invigorating way to start my day.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Mendocino Morning Blues

My morning sunrise view is across the Little Lake Valley to the Mendocino Range. I see Snow Mountain and a few other minor peaks. This morning they were covered in a blue haze. It made for a nice mornings view.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Still Playing

Yesterday was a play day as the weather was howling outside for most of the day. In the afternoon we watched videos catching up on some of our favorite shows from last weeks installments. Afterwards I made up one of my snacks and I photographed it.

God bless,
chris

Rainy Day Play

The wind was positively howling this morning. My pop up outside was getting torn up by the wind. I had to go outside to take it down before it became unusable. As it is I'm going to have to sew up a few tears in the canopy already. On my way indoors I noticed an old bill lying on the ground by the steps. Where it came from I haven't a clue. Especially since it is from Saudi Arabia. A one riyal note. I just stuck it in my pocket with an old one dollar bill. This afternoon I decided to play around with Photoshop and see what I could do with the bills. A little rainy day play.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Trip Report: Part Three of Three Clearlake State Park

I really love Clearlake State Park in Northern California. It is a superb spot for photography as it has a wide variety of subjects to photograph. I try to make it over that way at least once a month from where I live to do photography and sometimes fishing from my Ultimate 14.5 Kayak. On Tuesday I went over with my friend Joe and he fished while I photographed. The one thing that amazed and annoyed me was the amount of American Coots. There were hundreds of them. It made it extremely difficult to photograph anything without one of them being in the image. Which is OK if you are trying to photograph coots! When God hands you coots. You photograph coots. I had a great time taking action images of them as they would run across the water ahead of me when I ventured too close to them.

Along with the coots there were the ever present American White Pelicans hanging around near the entrance to both Cole and Kelsey Creeks. They are truly magnifent to watch in flight. I created one image of them resting on a gravel bar with the fall colors behind them. It is one of my favorite images from the trip. Besides the pelicans there were shorebirds, ground squirrels and host of other subjects during the day to catch my eye to photograph. It was a wonderful day. The weather was perfect for a good paddle and some photography.

God bless,

chris

Trip Report Part Two of Three: Clearlake State Park

On Tuesday I took my kayak to do some photography with my friend Joe to Clearlake State Park near Kelseyville in Northern, California. I use a Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 for my photgraphy because it is really stable. I have a custom made camera support that I use on my kayak that makes photography from a kayak much easier than using a tripod or hand holding the camera. Please take a look at my other blog to learn more.

http://diyphotocheapodepot.blogspot.com/2011/04/kayak-camera-support.html

OK enough for commercial breaks. After leaving Joe to his fishing I paddled up Kelsey Creek. Here the fall colors were superb. I passed a few more Mallards and saw a couple of Cormorants perched up on snags. The best sight of all was when I rounded the point leading into the slough were two deer out in the water. They just stood and watched me not sure what to do before they high tailed it up into the forest. I found them down at the waters edge later on in the day and I photographed them again.

Leaving Kelsey Creek I headed for the entrance to Cole Creek heading into the last installment of this trip report.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Trip Report Part One of Three: Clearlake State Park

On Tueday I made a day trip with my friend Joe to go fishing and do some photography at Clearlake State Park in Northern California. OK I'll admit it I only threw in my flyrod at the last second in case the fishing was really hot. The day started off cold and foggy but cleared up pretty rapidly to be a beautiful fall day. I focused my efforts on paddling up the three main creeks and sloughs that help make up the park. Here the water is perfectly flat and well suited for photography from a kayak like my Ultimate 14.5.

I started with Kelslsey Slough and immediately discovered a lot of Great Egrets and Mallards resting on the logs in the slough. With a slow approach you could get very close. Those Mallards with there orange feet really stand out. When I got to the end of the slough I saw the flip of a tail and my mind immediately jumped to RIVER OTTER! Luckily for me the otter was engaged in hunting crawfish and small fish and was more curious about my presence than afraid. Several times it went up onto a log to check me out. At one point it even swam around under the kayak for awhile checking it out. It must like Ultimates! I was blessed to spend close to ahalf an hour with the otter before it went up into the brush along the bank to take a break.



Paddling out of the slough I headed over to Kelsey Creek I passed Joe along the way and he had caught three Largemouth bass. One of them he hefted out of the water. It was a nice fish easily 6+ pounds. A great way to start the day that's for sure.

God bless,

chris