Chris The Photog

A Flora Kind of Day

2012-02-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

We haven't been exactly blessed with much sunshine today here on the ridgetop. The sun has made a few feeble attempts to break through but it has been mostly fog and clouds with some drizzle for a gray day. A perfect time to play with flowers from a bouquet I gave Lenore for her birthday today. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

A Couple of Birds and a Sunset

2012-01-30T21:12:00.000-08:00

Thankfully yesterday afternoon went better than the morning. I took Annika down to Mendocino Junior College for her Sign Language Class in Ukiah,California. The class lasts for an hour and a half so it gives me plenty of time to do some photography. The campus is dotted with old oak trees so it provides the perfect habitat for a wide variety of birds. The birds are fairly tolerant of people so it makes for a good combination. It was slightly windy yesterday which cut down on the number of birds but there were still a fair number of them around. I got a few images of some California Towhees and White Throated Sparrows. The sunset on the ridge overlooking the camps wasn't bad either.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Being stupid or A Monday Morning Drive Gone Bad

2012-01-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

This morning I went for a drive out Sherwood Road near Willits, Califonia looking for some elk to photograph. I found the elk herd but the big bull was up in the trees and wouldn't come down. I guess he doesn't like his photo taken.With no big bulls in view I decided to drive the eastern branch of Sherwood all the way back to Highway 101. Along the way I spotted where a good samaritan had put someones hubcap up on a fence post. Later on I photographed an old "No Trespassing Sign" that no longer had much to say. Eventually I wound my way back to Highway 101 and headed down to Willits. When I reached Reynolds Highway I made the decision to restock my bird feeders out on the Burris Ranch.
Along the way I spotted an oak tree out in the fog I thought would be cool to photograph. I pulled off onto the shoulder only to sink up to the axles on both wheels. DUH! That was smart I thought to myself. In trying to get out I realized that I was just shredding my tire that was on the pavement. Finally using my brain I gave up and called AAA for a tow truck. A CHP officer came by and checked on me and helped with traffic until the Tow truck arrived. While I waited I photographed a Grain Truck going by and fielded numerous offers to pull me out which I thought was pretty cool and shows the good nature of the people around here.

God's precious love and blessings to all,

chris

"Not True" This Was Just for Fun

2012-01-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

Today while I was going through some old files I ran across an old image of my son Jay with our cat Mango.For some reason it inspired me to create one of those urban myths that weave their way across the world wide web sometimes. In any case here is my version.The following is not true. All the names and locations are made up. Any likeness to persons or places in the real world is purely accidental. Except for Jay and Mango. Have fun!

Tan Oak Leaf

2012-01-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

I'm sticking with the simple theme today. I visualized a single leaf and nothing more with no distractions. First I thought of a leaf on dark black ground but realized that seemed too cold. I wanted something a bit warmer in feeling. Here is what I came up with.

God's precious love to all,

chris

Simple Sunset

2012-01-27T19:27:00.000-08:00

After days and days of rain up here on the North Coast of California we were treated to an almost cloudless sunset tonight. There was one wisp of a cloud just out of the frame in the image I chose for today.I was drawn to the simplicity of this image. The ocean was almost white and the sky was all shades of orange. Layered in was a dark blak ridge of the coast range. All very simple and pleasing to the eye.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Where Do I Fit In or Odd One Out

2012-01-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

As I walked across the parking lot to the gym this morning the smell of bacon was drifting by from the restaurant next door. Talk about counter productive to what I'm trying to accomplish by working out.That bacon smelled so good.

When I got home I worked on some stock photography. My theme for today was "being different". So my goal was to try and represent that symbolically through my images. Using toothpicks and matches I came up with a few ideas that worked. Here are a few samples.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

At the Lake

2012-01-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

I spent some time this morning editing images from my brief trip yesterday to Lake Mendocino in Northern California close to where I live. In addition to yesterdays Western Bluebird I also captured some images of some common birds. A mother brought four cute toddlers down to the lakeshore while I was there. She had a basket full of goodies for the birds. All it took was a few handfuls of bread to be thrown out and the birds came from all over to try and partake of the feast. So I got a lot of images of gulls (the experts on gulls can figure out what kind), Brewers Blackbirds, American Coots and Mallards. All in all a very productive morning.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

The Early Bird

2012-01-24T17:17:00.000-08:00

I typically begin to see Western Bluebirds showing up in the area where I live in Northern California as early as the last two weeks of February.Today as I was photographing near Lake Mendocino I was shocked to see a flock of Bluebirds.One flew from the group and landed on a signpost near my pick up. This gave me the opportunity I wanted. Here is the result.

God's precious love to all,

chris

Filling Time With Woodpeckers

2012-01-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I took Annika down to Ukiah for a Sign Language class at the Junior College. While I was waiting for her class to finish I filled my time by doing some photography. I was photographing Acorn Woodpeckers until a pair of Sharp Shin Hawks appeared. It got very quiet and everything disappeared. No more bird photography after that.I photographed a silhouette of the ridgeline just before Annika came out from her class.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Christmas Left Overs

2012-01-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

The snow was really coming down this morning for a short time. Then it abruptly shifted back to rain. I was really hoping for some snow photography.Today is a perfect day to stay inside while the rain drops reign.

I had my camera all set up for photographing the falling snow so when it stopped my attention turned to this vase of flowers left over from Christmas.There were all these flowers with muted colors that drew me to them. So Christmas left overs it will be.

God's love and blessings to all of you,

chris

Fly Tying

2012-01-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

Today the sun made its appearance for a brief time before the gray closed in again. It was time for some indoor stock photography again. I stuck with the fly fishing theme and did some fly tying images.

God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris

Indoor Pursuits

2012-01-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

The weather today here in Northern California was suitable for indoor activities like knitting,sewing, fly tying and stock photography. I chose the latter and racked my brain for some still lifes to pursue. I settled on fly fishing and went to the garage and gathered the needed items. Here is the result.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Rainy Day Red

2012-01-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

The rains are finally returning which creates its own photographic challenges with the gray gloomier weather. I look for bold colors which stand out and are saturated by the bright colors or I just go with it and find misty, foggy and dark scenes. Today I went with the former and found a bright delivery truck dropping off beverages at a local market.I also photographed some bright lights reflecting off of the pavement in the rain. When I got home I had some fun in Photoshop combining them into one colorful image. I think they look pretty cool together. Enjoy the rain when it comes your way.

God bless,

chris

Time for Dinner

2012-01-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

I got off to an early mornings start. Kind of bummed as there wasn't any snow. There was a possibility of it in the forecast this morning. Hopefully later in the week we will get some because I really want to do some bird photography in the snow.

Today's image is a neon sign next to the gym where I work out.It is from Gribaldo's Diner. I have been trying to find a good angle to photograph this sign for a long time now. This is the best angle so far. I'm going to keep looking. I'm getting there but it's not yet what I really have imaged in my mind

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Park It

2012-01-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

We got a safety recall notification about the sun roof on Lenore's car. Apparently the sun roof glass could at any time fall from the roof of the car and squash you. Naturally this got our attention and we called about getting it repaired. They responded that we could get it repaired for free at the nearest repair facility. Here is where living in a small town becomes a major disadvantage. The closest place was an hour and a half away in Santa Rosa. After six months of waiting during which the sun roof could have fallen on us at any moment the repairmen called and we set up a time for it to be repaired. I asked for a time in the morning so I could go down early in the morning and squeeze in some photgraphy at Howarth Park before the appointment.

I drove down this morning and was able to get in about forty five minutes of photography at the park before I had to go get the car repaired. The lighting was nice early morning light and there were plenty of subjects. One of the advantages of photographing at a park is that the birds become accustomed to people and are more approachable than they would be out in the wilds. I was able to walk within ten feet of a Black Crowned Night Heron. Something virtually immpossible to do anywhere near where I live. I wanted to spend more time photographing but that had to wait until another day. There was a Kingfisher that I want to get to know better so I will be going back.

God' preciious love to all,

chris

Minor League Tule Elk

2012-01-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

This morning I drove out to the Sherwood Valley near Willits in Northern California. I went looking for Tule Elk as there are several herds on ranches out that way. I found one herd that was in heavy timber just off of the road but they were too difficult to photograph. There were two satellite bulls in a ranch pasture across the road. They were practicing for the big leagues sparring round and round pushing shoving trying to get the best of their sparring partner. Photographing elk was a great way to start the day.

God’s love and blessings to everyone,

chris

Cold Morning's Mixed Bag of Images

2012-01-13T23:57:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-12T12:56:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-09T18:35:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

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

The Usual Cast of Characters

2012-01-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Late this morning I sat in my photoblind waiting for some birds and squirrels to photograph. Perhaps there was a hawk or a predator nearby because I waited for well over an hour before the usual wintertime creatures came to the feeders to get seed. Once they started I had a parade of Dark Eyed Juncos,Douglas Tree Squirrels, Steller's Jays and Western Gray Squirrels coning into the feeders.

God's light and love to all,

chris