Cold Morning's Mixed Bag of Images

This morning I brought Jay to school for zero period Jazz Band. At our house on the riddgetop it was 43 F. We watched the thermometer on the pickup drop like a stone as we descended down the hill into Willits. By the time we reached the valley floor it was 27 F. I went and worked out at the gym and then drove up over Red Hill East of Willits and then did a loop through Rock Tree Valley and then along Tomki Creek and back to Willits. There were places in Rock Tree Valley that were a brisk 24 F.I stopped several places along the way for photography.

God's light and love to all,

chris

All Heads and No Tails

Today I finished editing my images from kayaking on the Albion River on the North Coast of California. The end result was a large number of Harbor Seal heads. There were very few seals hauled out due to the high tide and the majority of them seemed to be hunting.As a consequence there were a lot of images of seal heads.

God's blessings and love to all,

chris

Driven to Abstraction

Yesterday I went paddling on the Albion River on the North Coast of California. Initially I was drawn to photgraphing all the wildlife there and I had a wonderful time photographing seals,ducks and shorebirds. On the return trip down the river I was captivated by all the great reflections on the rivers surface. There was little to no breeze and all these incredible reflections were being broken up into abstracts by the ripples from my kayak and paddle.


God's love and blessings to all,

chris

An Albion Paddle

Today I took my Ultimate Watercraft Kayak for a long paddle up the Albion River on the North Coast of California. I went with my friend Joe and his wife Susie. We caught the incoming tide just perfectly and went as far as we could up river. On the return trip we timed it just right and hit the out going tide for the trip down river. To top it off the onshore wind didn't kick up at all. You can't ask for much better than that.

As we floated and paddled along we spotted a lot of seals. I got really close to a Cormorant and a Pacific Loon. The best sighting of the day was when Joe spied a Bald eagle up in a snag. I even got some sparrow images. The weather was perfect for a great day on the river.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Note: All of my kayak photography is done with a Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 Kayak. I use a custom made camera mount that I made specially to fit the kayak. Details on how to build the mount can be found here.

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

Native Watercraft's site is here.

http://nativewatercraft.com/boat.cfm?id=7

Still Stuck on the Moon

After jury duty yesterday I spent most of today on domestic chores around the house just to catch up. I did spend a short amount of time creating a new bird set up beside my photography blind. Checking on it through out the day I could see the birds and squirrels using it.

Tonights moonrise was a beautiful sight. It was a Waning Gibbous Moon. Roughly 96 percent illunminated by the sun. It had a strong yellow cast to it as the sunlight that was illuminating it was passing through the earths atmospere as it's not too far past sunset. A great way to start the evening watching the moon slowly rise into the night sky over the Mendocino Range.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Moonrise Over Mendocino

Today I had jury duty so I didn't do any photography until this evenings moonrise over the Mendocino Range.

God's light and love to all,

chris

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

The moon was 99% full last night. It was a Waxing Gibbous Moon. The moon is considered to be waxing if it is growing or heading towards being a full moon. A waning moon is one that is one that is becoming less full after it has passed the full moon phase.

Look up at the moon with your arms outstretched in front of you. Use your whole left hand to make the letter "C" out in front of you. Do the same with your right hand and make a backwards or reversed letter "C" and hold both hands up to the moon. If the lighted side of the moon can be cupped in your right hand it is a waxing moon. If the lighted side can be cupped in your left hand it is a waning moon. A pretty easy way to tell if it is waxing or waning.

The phases of the moon are as follows.

New Moon - The Moon is not visible as it isn't lit up by direct sunlight.

Waxing Crescent - The Moon is less than one-half lit up by the sun. The fraction of the Moon lit up by the sun is increasing towards a full moon.


First Quarter - One-half of the Moon appears to be lit up by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is lit up by the sun is growing towards a full moon.


Waxing Gibbous - A Gibbous moon is the name give to the moon when it is between half full and full. Growing towards being a full moon.

Full Moon The Moon is completely illuminated by direct sunlight.


Waning Gibbous - The Moon appears to be more than one-half but not fully lit up by sunlight by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is lit up is getting smaller.


Last Quarter - One-half of the Moon appears to be lit up by the sun sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is getting smaller.

Waning Crescent - The Moon appears to be less than one-half lit up by sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is lit up is getting smaller.

Well there you haveit. Go outside tonight and take a look at the moon.

God's love to all,

chris