Anna's On Display

Taking the day off to work on projects around the house. Here is an image from last week of an Anna's Hummingbird displaying it's gorget to try and get the other hummingbirds from using the feeder down below it. God's blessings upon your day, chris Image created with a canon 7D and a tamron 150-600mm lens. #TeamCanon

Got My Eye on You

This morning I had to drop Jay off at work while my pick up is being repaired. On the return trip I thought I would look for some deer. Once again I found some fawns but they were too quick for me as they bounded off into the forest. I did find one Blacktail doe and she kept her eyes on my the whole timeI photographed her from the car window. She was really curious about what in the world I was doing. I left her to her thoughts. God's love and blessings to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens at 375mm. AV mode, ISO 400, F 7.1 at 1/1250th of a sec.

Oh Deery Me!

My number one son reported to me this week that my pick up wasn't shifting well and that it had stalled out a couple of times at stop signs. So yesterday morning we had to drop it off at Cal's Garage for repairs. On the trip home I thought it would be a great idea to look for some deer as I haven't photographed any for some time now. I found one deer running down the middle of the road. Nope that one didn't work out. Later on I spotted a doe and two fawns. The fawns were so darn cute. But they took off up into the forest as soon as I got close. Around the next turn as luck would have it there was a doe resting on the side of the road. She didn't even hardly blink when I drove by. I went up to the next side road and turned around and drove back and parked across the road from her. I focused the camera on her face and waited for her to turn and look at the camera. After numerous tries I had my image! Just after I pulled away I saw her in my rear view mirror get up and walk into the forest. I guess she was tired of being bugged. God's love and blessings to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600 mm lens at 309mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 5.6 at 1/100th of a sec.

Morning at the Waterhole

I have spent the last couple of mornings in the backyard photographing the Band-tailed Pigeons and Steller's Jays along with the occasional squirrel when they came to drink at the large water feature I put up next to my photoblind. It's so cool to see them so close and at eye level. I just love the intimate feel of the images. Enjoy the images and have a great day. May God bless and protect you, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens and two Canon 540 EZ flashes. If you are interested in creating your own water feature please check out Chapter Nine of my book, "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography" on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Backyard-Photography-Chris-Hansen/dp/1937538559

Blog #2 Framed

While walking down our road yesterday with our dog Badger I noticed this cool dried and cracked mud in one of the puddles. This morning after photographing birds I went back and photographed it. I returned home and photographed the door of an old curio cabinet. Later sitting down at the computer I began layering up the image I had in mind.I started with the cracked mud.Then added the flower and the frame. I had intended on using a red flower I photographed yesterday but changed my mind when I realized that an Iris image that I photographed last month would fit the door fame much better. I finished it al off with a textured overlay. I'm quite happy with the final image. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Descent into Chaos

I love to watch birds when they bath. They are extremely vulnerable when they bath so they typically approach bathing with some trepidation. When they arrive at my water feature they will hop all around it before settling in to get a drink. Then they will pause and look around again before taking another drink. This will happen several times before they finally step tentatively into the water. Once again they will stop, pause and look carefully in all directions. Next they will lower their head and shoulders experimentally down into the water and then pop up and look around. Sensing no intruders they will do this a couple of times in a row. If nothing happens they will launch into bathing with abandon literally rolling and practically throwing themselves into the water. They become a blur of water drops and flying feathers. Simply amazing! Here is a sequence of a Steller's Jay bathing from yesterday morning in the backyard. All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens with two Canon 540 EZ flashes. God's love and blessings to all, chris #TeamCanon, #canonbringit, Please check out my book, "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography" on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Backyard-Photography-Chris-Hansen/dp/1937538559

Hummingbird Dream

Yesterday evening I spent close to an hour photographing hummingbirds. I find hummingbird photography to be quite addictive. They are like little flying jewels! The bright colors that refract off of their feathers are just amazing. I had so many hummingbirds coming into the feeder that they were fighting for position to feed. I chose a bright background and used some petunias which hummingbirds just love. I created a lot of images and I chose one Anna's Hummingbird as my favorite for today's photoblog. This has been the best year for hummingbirds that we have ever had. We have been going through roughly a gallon of nectar every two days. That's a lot of sugar! May you have a blessed day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens at 190mm with four Canon 540 EZ flashes set to 1/16th power. Camera settings used were Manual mode,ISO 100, F 14.0 at 1/160th of a sec. If you are interested in learning more about hummingbird photography please take a look at chapter six of my book, "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography". The book is available in both hardbound and as an ebook at most online book sellers. Check out the great reviews on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Backyard-Photography-Chris-Hansen/dp/1937538559