The Chickadees are back! This little one was flying down to the feeder to grab a peanut then fly back to a perch inside the safety of my Camellia bush.
I’ll leave you with a poem about a sweet Chickadee by Hanford Lennox Gordon
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee!
That was the song that he sang to me–Sang
from his perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
My little brown bird,
The song that I heard
Was a happier song than the minstrels sing–
A paean of joy and a carol of spring;
And my heart leaped throbbing and sang with thee
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
My birdie looked wise
With his little black eyes,
As he peeked and peered from his perch at me
With a throbbing throat and a flutter of glee,
As if he would say–
Sing trouble away,
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
Only one note
From his silver throat;
Only one word
From my wise little bird;
But a sweeter note or a wiser word
From the tongue of mortal I never have heard,
Than my little philosopher sang to me
From his bending perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
Come foul or fair,
Come trouble and care–
No–never a sigh
Or a thought of despair!
For my little bird sings in my heart to me,
As he sang from his perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee dee:
Chickadee-dee, chickadee-dee;
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
~Hanford Lennox Gordon
Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm @460mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017 & On1
He-Man and I spent a long week-end visiting my son Big Baby Boy and his fiancé the Dark Haired Beauty down in Southern California. They moved to a new apartment just before Christmas and one town over to San Clemente and we were looking forward to seeing the area, and their apartment.
The area is gorgeous, and their apartment and complex are really nice. They’re happy and we won’t worry about them anymore than normal which is a blessing!
On Saturday afternoon the Dark Haired Beauty and I spent an hour getting our nails done after we had a full, rich breakfast with the guys, and a walk around Dana Point Harbor.
We had a super rich dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse, and hoped to hike on Sunday morning but, we woke up to a rainy day. There was a break in the rain late Sunday afternoon so we high-tailed it to the Cristianitos Trail which is right in their neighborhood. From the trail-head to San Clemente Summit is only 1.4 miles. I stopped to take some photos on the way up.
Spring is in bloom there! I was so surprised to see Lupine this early in full bloom along the trail.
There were huge bushes of Pride of Madeira with new buds. I’d love to go back when they’re in full flower in a few weeks, but know that’s highly unlikely.
The southeasternish view. There are sandbags all over the trail to help keep it from eroding from rain runoff. The clouds were pretty great.
I stopped to catch the sun just before it dipped below the mountains.
From here we made the final push up the hill to the summit. The clouds blocked the sun so there was no color. The image is boring so I won’t share it. We hiked down in near darkness. Fortunately, I brought along my headlamp.
May I present Battle Cat. Big Baby Boy’s and Dark Haired Beauty’s Maine Coon.
He’s a little over a year old, and still has a few more years before he’s full grown. I didn’t realize this breed can get so BIG!
It took him a full day to approach me. I pretty much ignored him hoping that might bring him around. Once he figured I was okay he followed me everywhere, and slept with me for a few hours Sunday night. 🙂 He’s so soft, and cute. I wonder how big he’ll be the next time I see him?
I’m terribly behind reading blogs again. I’ll be catching up! Rain is forecast for Sunday. I’m sure to make headway then. 🙂
Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017
This past week-end it rained. A lot. So, in between storms He-Man and I headed to the nearby hills for a much needed walk. Sticking to the paved roads avoiding the muddy trails we walked up the hills and down to stretch out our legs a bit. Elevation gain was about 250 ft, and mileage was only a couple of miles, but it felt great to stretch our legs, and be outside.
The grass on the hills is tall and green, and there are spring flowers popping up here and there. I saw clover, wild mustard, and even some droopy, rain soaked Daffodils.
Sunday I was a bit stir-crazy so set up to shoot waterdrops again. This time instead of using the faucet which was hard to regulate I set up my C-stand and boom arm and taped a medical dropper to it filled with water. It presented its own set of issues to deal with.
Once the eye-dropper ran out of water it had to be refilled and taped back on the boom arm. I marked the spot with tape, but it didn’t always line up with my pre-focused spot so, I had to refocus every time I filled up and remounted the eyedropper. Also there was a bit of wiggle room with the taped eyedropper so the drops didn’t always land in my pre-focused spot.
I didn’t get many keepers, but it was a fun way to pass a couple of hours on a rainy Sunday.
Nikon Df| Nikkor 105mm macro lens| SB600 Speedlight @1/2pwr low, camera right| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017
It was quite a weekend for me with two back to back trips to Yosemite National Park. We begin on Saturday Feb. 11th; my friend Dali, and I headed out early for the park traveling route SR120 which was open when we left the Bay Area but, when we got near the gate to the park there was an electronic sign saying there was no access to the valley from that entrance due to a rock slide. The Ranger told us there was an alternate route into the valley but it was a 2.5 hours journey from there to the valley. Unfortunately, that would have put us in the valley after 5pm and we needed to be in place, camera set up, and ready to start photographing by 5pm or hours sooner knowing what the crowds can be like at this time of year. So, disappointed we turned around and headed back home. That was 8 hours on the road and nothing to show for it. It’s not the first time!
Not totally defeated, and ever the optimists we knew we still had Sunday! We met earlier Sunday morning the 12th, and drove the slightly longer southern route to access the valley. The southern route is lower in altitude and usually open all year, but even this year with all the rain there were rock slides, and it was closed for a day the week before, and on “call ahead” status for days after before we left! Fortunately, Sunday morning the road condition site said Open so, we forged ahead ever hopeful. With a stop for lunch, and gas we made it into the valley without any delays, and hiked to our spot in plenty of time to set up and photograph what we had planned.
What would entice us and hundreds of other people to spend 16+ hours driving back and forth to Yosemite National Park in two day you may be wondering? If my post’s title didn’t give it away… Horsetail Fall! 🙂
In mid February for about two weeks (give or take a day or two) if the conditions are just right the sun will shine on the waterfall and light it up orange-red. It’s amazing it looks like lava flowing down the cliff face.
What are the perfect conditions to see this? There has to be water flowing. This waterfall is fed by rainfall, and snow melt, and there has to be sun to light up the waterfall.
In February having sun isn’t a given. I’ve been skunked in years past waiting and hoping the sun would peek out from the gray clouds to light up the fall only to be totally skunked. No light what-so-ever hitting the cliff face or waterfall. It was still fun waiting and anticipating the event with hundreds of other photographers, and vowing to be back next year to try again. I did show up the following year, after year, after year.
Having water hasn’t been a given these last 6 years either. Being in California with the drought there were years it was just a trickle. This year with all the drought busting rain, and snow up in the mountains we knew there would be more than a trickle of water flowing but, we had to have sun too. Thankfully, we had perfect conditions Sunday. Water flowing and Sun!
Here is an image from the peak of the phenomenon. This is very nearly straight from my camera. I ran this frame through Adobe Camera Raw for Lens and Camera Corrections, and I did correct the sky. To capture the true color of the fall my camera washed out the sky. I added the blue back in the sky, and removed my dust spots, and I opened up the shadows a little bit. Overall very few post development adjustments were added to this image. This image was shot at 120mm.
I thought I’d try making a Timelapse from the stills I made. It’s crude, and a bit jumpy as I zoomed in and out a few times to get a closer look, and I change the angle of my camera once during the shoot in the beginning.
Timelapse made with 145 still images.
If I’m going to do more Timelapse videos I’ll have be more disciplined about my set up and shooting. I hope you enjoy it despite my shortcomings as a videographer.
This is the 7th year I’ve been photographing this phenomenon. So, was it worth the 16 hours on the road? OH YES! I’d do again. “)
Nikon Df| Nikkor 80-200mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017
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