Pine Trees – Circadianreflections Blog

Whatever Weds. 4 Points

A girlfriend and I got up early after a snowstorm in January for a sunrise photography outing and then we headed to a birding location when we came across this guy along the way.

Did you know that one the west coast it’s common to only count the points on one side of the antlers, and on Mule Deer like these you don’t count the brow tines- the ones coming above the brow?

On the east coast they count all the points. Who knew? I’ve gone with the west coast rule of thought and counted only one side. 😀

4 Point Buck

There were quite a few Doe’s too. Here’s one.

Doe Mule Deer

I hope you are having a lovely week. We’re halfway to the week-end! Let’s make a point of making it a good one! 😋

Nikon D810| Nikkor 200-500mm| PS CC 21.0.3

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends-MT. Chickadee

Two more images from my time with the Chickadees.

Mountain Chickadee

Look at this one taking two seeds at a time! I love it! I didn’t realize it had taken two until I uploaded my images. Moutain Chickadee

I didn’t crop it in too much so you can see the environment we snowshoed into to see and feed these birds. It was pretty cool being out here almost alone for a good bit. As the morning wore on though more and more snowshoers started coming up the mountain. We spent an hour and a half feeding the Chickadees then headed down to venture to other places to see what we could find. I’ll share those finds in future posts.

I hope you all have a good week-end!

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon XF 100-400mm LM OIS| PS CC 21.0.3

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends

Last week was pretty full. I went to see Baby Girl, and the Grandson’s for a couple of days then got home and had friends from out of town over for the week-end.

We went birding. I shared with them the spot where the Chick-a-dees ate from my hand we were fortunate and saw them again and they ate from our hands. It was just as fun, exciting, and awesome as it was the first time.

Two Chick-a-dees landed on my hand to get seeds and one didn’t like the idea of sharing at. all. 😂

Mountain Chickadees

They were quite picky about the sunflowers seeds they would take often spitting several overboard before selecting one and flying off to the trees with it.

In this image, you can see the seed and its shadow in the air in my hand that the Chick-a-dee just discarded. They all did it. Perhaps they were saving some for later?

Chick a Dee feeding from my Hand

My friend Anna was wearing a beanie which was perfect to put some seeds on it and get the Chick-a-dees to land on her cap. They did!

Chickadee on Anna's Hat

This was our first birding stop for the day and it was so much fun.

I’ll share other birds and wild mustangs from the week-end in future posts.

I hope you all are having a great Friday, and your week-end is a good one!

Lumix FZ200| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 21.0.3

more to come…

The Sky is Dark and Full of Stars!

Last week-end a girlfriend (T) and I went to Brookings, OR to scout, and photograph seascapes, and hopefully we’d have a clear night for night sky imaging in the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor. We looked at the weather forecast for the week-end and it looked like we’d only have one really good night for any night sky imaging. We both hoped to photograph the Milky Way, and if we found a great spot for Star Trails we’d do that too, but it wasn’t a priority like the Milky Way was.

When we were at Arch Rock for sunset we realized straight-away that wouldn’t work out so well for a Milky Way location since it was facing west, but around the path a bit closer to the parking lot was a nice sea stack that faced directly south. We both pulled out out cell phones and summoned our night sky app called Photo Pills to double check our thoughts, and find the time when the Galactic Center would line up over the sea stack. After determining that 1:32AM it would line up we headed out to dinner, then back to the Hotel for a nap.

I’d been up since 5AM driving from my house in Silicon Valley up to T’s two hours north east of me. From there I drove all the way to Brookings, OR. It’s an 8 hour drive without stops. We stopped for gas, and lunch of course. Needless to say- I needed a nap!

My alarm sounded at 12:30AM. We were ready pretty quick and headed back to Arch Rock Viewpoint to photograph the Milky Way.

We were the only people there. We set up took our test shots, and began shooting. Before the trip I purchased a new filter to help me get a tack sharp focus at night. It’s called SharpStar2 from LonelySpeck I didn’t get it to work as it should have, but determining when I was in focus was easy. A lot easier than just using Live View alone. That cut my set up time in half! I’m going to be practicing here at home with the filter before my next night sky shoot. After reading the instructions again it was definitely user error. I should have practiced with it at night before the trip, but I’m happy.

Milky Way over Sea Stack

It was really quiet just us, the sea, and the sound of our camera’s shutter opening and closing. There was very little light pollution. The cliffs blocked most of the light from Brookings. You can see a light band at the horizon entering from the left of the frame. That’s the light from Brookings. This was a great location with a dark sky.

Saturday night the fog rolled in. I’m so glad we went out Friday night! T’s brother and S-i-L drove up to meet us and photograph the area Saturday. After Sunset we headed back to town for dinner but, we got sidetracked with an Industrial night shot opportunity which I posted Wednesday

So, the fog didn’t completely ruin the night. We had a late dinner with a glass of wine. I fell into my hotel bed after midnight, and slept in Sunday.

We had breakfast and said our farewells to T’s brother, and S-i-L and T and I set off for the long drive home. Thankfully the drive was uneventful. 🙂

I hope to get back up there one day to explore more of the park. It’s a gorgeous coastline, and sky is dark and full of stars!

I hope you all have a lovely week-end! Can you believe June is just about over already?!!

more to come…

Wishing you a Sunny Week-end!

Mt Shasta Reflected

Nikon D810| Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G| Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2017

more to come…

Wordless Wednesday 23/52

Mt Shasta Alpine Glow

Nikon D810| Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G| Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2017

more to come…

P52 1/52 Yosemite Chapel Doors

I am doing another Project 52 this year. I thought about doing one or more genres which I love to photograph, but in the end thought I’d do something different this year; Doors. I thoroughly enjoyed Dan’s doors over at

No Facilities blog this past year brought to us by Norm over at:

https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com

I like doors and windows and I hope to come up with 52 or more doors that are interesting.

My first door for the year are the doors of Yosemite Valley Chapel. I love this Chapel. It’s so pretty in all seasons.

P52 1 of 52 Yosemite Chapel Doors

I went to Yosemite on January 1st to shoot the valley in it’s new Winter Coat of snow with 2 dear friends. This was our “not-so annual” trip. We try every year to start the year with a photography trip, but it hasn’t been consistent since we all have families, a life, and other interests. This year 3 of our little group were able to make the trip to Yosemite. Our 4th we will forgive for missing…one day! He was in the Galapagos Islands photographing all the sights, and some wildlife. I confess I’m a little jealous! Okay, back to the subject at hand. The Chapel.

I had the pleasure of attending a friends wedding here in the early 80’s. It was lovely!

Yosemite Chapel

My favorite time to photograph this chapel in the winter when there is snow. It has the distinguished honor of being the oldest building in public use in Yosemite Valley. It was built in 1879 under the auspices of the Yosemite Union Chapel Association. Their stated purpose was:
“To erect an undenominational house of worship in the Yosemite Valley”. ~Yosemite Valley Chapel.org

“Mr. Charles Geddes, a leading architect of San Francisco, made and presented the plans. Mr. E. Thomson, also of San Francisco, erected the building at a cost of between three and four thousand dollars. It will seat an audience of about two hundred and fifty. Mr. H. D. Bacon of Oakland donated the bell. When its first notes rang out on the evening of dedication, it was the first sound of “the church-going bell” ever heard in Yosemite.” [“In the Heart of the Sierras” by James M. Hutchings (1888)]

My interior images must be on film because I can’t find them in my digital archives. I’ll have to stop by the chapel on my next visit to photograph it again in digital since it’s been a long time since I was last inside. Who knows when I’ll find the negatives, or scan them since they’re boxed up in the garage, and I’m moving ever so slowly through the boxes in the garage.

For more information about the Chapel please visit http://www.yosemitevalleychapel.org/history.htm

This post is part of Norm’s Thursday’s Doors click over to see all the doors posted this week, and add your own if inspired to. Norm gives you until Saturday noon to post!

More to come…

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