Above are two shots taken Sept. 11 in my back yard. I had awoken at 2:30 in the morning with an odd feeling that I was going to stay up and I made some coffee. Wondering about this strange feeling I thought that I should check the night sky, I do it a lot, I walked out into the sunroom and saw this. What a joy.

My friend Scott and I spent last weekend chasing the Perceids Meteor shower. Due to all the wildfire smoke in Washington we drove to Oregon. Camping near the base of Mt. Hood at Trillium Lake we were greeted Sunday night to the most delightful show of the Aurora’s, and Meteors to boot. We had a blast. The Sun is very active this season and there should be more. You should check them out.

Happy hunting

So it’s Humming Bird season again, at least on the Crocosmia, it has flowered now in late June. The birds eat on the feeders regularly but it doesn’t make for very good photography. I have been trying a few different types of flowers but the deer keep eating them so Crocosmia it is and at that I have to keep it protected. We have both Anna’s and Allen’s and for a shot time we get the Rufus that are migrating by. These birds are so amazing, fast and beautiful and I just love shooting them in our garden. Enjoy

South Africa in the Fall, our Spring in the Pacific Northwest

This was an Amazing journey but it didn’t quite turnout as planned. It was going to be both a hunting and a sightseeing trip but my sons business needs made it impossible for him to go. Not being able to reschedule the flights we went ahead and made the trip without him, Linda, Heidi and Myself. We decided to make this a recon mission so that when his schedule does allow we would be better at the planning and execution of a trip that takes us half way around the world. I know that in the future he will get to go and we will be thrilled to make the trip again, as it turned out it was rather magical.

We flew into Johannesburg, then to East London and then rented a large SUV to handle the three of us and all the luggage. Everything fit well and we were off, slowly. Slowly out of the parking space. Slowly out of the parking lot and slowly on to the road. I am now 70 years old and have been driving for 55 years but not in the passengers seat, on the left side of the road, in a rental car, in a foreign country. We went slowly. There was a learning curve, for me behind the wheel, for the navigator and for the backseat driver and it all worked out very well. We drove around 2700 kilometers with out incident and had a wonderful time.

In South Africa there are basically five ways to view the wildlife. We went to a small zoo for Reptiles. There are Game Preserves where they have rescued animals that had either been in zoo’s, held as pets or that had been found injured and are there for rehabilitation. There are game Reserves where the animals live naturally but are enclosed on thousands of acres of of land. There are then the National parks were the animals live completely free, to roam, feed and migrate as they will and of course there is the side of the road where we also saw lots of different animals out doing their natural thing. All of these areas are worth visiting and all had an abundance of wildlife

We are so glad that we made the trip, South Africa was beautiful. The people were friendly and very helpful, folks there were much more laid back than what we had thought. The food was excellent, the dollar was strong and English is spoken by most everyone. The sights there were beautiful, the landscapes, the beaches, the mountains and of course all the amazing African wildlife. If you have ever wanted to see another part of the world South Africa comes highly recommended, do some research, Then Go!!!

birds in flight... and not 

A small expedition into nature every time.

Birds have unique behaviors specific to the species and sometimes the individual. It does take some time to observe wildlife and learn how it behaves. Season, time of day, location of the habitat, how and what birds eat and the basic demeanor of the bird will tell you a lot about how to best approach and view them.

       Birds are not hard to find but sometimes hard to get close to and easily startled. A lot of slow movement, being quiet and camo helps.

A Study in the Blue Heron

I am always so impressed with the lives, habits, and behavior of wild animals. Although covered in feathers, fur and scales they are basically naked in the world, ever on the hunt for food, mates and shelter and often traveling great distances to do so. To me Fall and Winter are the best times to see most mammals. The wear their thickening winter coats and have regrown antlers and horns to begin the rituals of the rut, in the cold and fog of the seasons change.

A few years ago an add for a photo contest caught my eye so I clicked on it to see what it was about. The thyme was “strength” and they showed a couple of photos of people in nice light with oiled bodies lifting weights, and i thought, “strength?” Well I don’t do portraiture, but I do shoot strength and amazing strength it is. From migrations to hibernations, building nests up in exposed trees. Feeding in cold northern streams and scraping snow off of the frozen prairie to reach the winter grass. Building log homes in lakes and digging dens and holes to birth their young. Hiding from and fighting with predators that would eat them, take their food or their young. Fighting for territory or the right to mate and always protecting the young so that they may grow and insure the cycle begins again. Strength, this is strength, it’s amazing and watching it with a camera even more so.

Flowers are rather remarkable, and often seen with their beneficiary the Bee

And they are so soothing, as i said, a kiss from Mother Nature.

  I was a carpenter by trade and traveled all around the area doing jobs that last 4 to 6 weeks so I get a taste of all the little beauties all over town. I don't text and drive but in the Spring I am surely distracted.

  I feel fortunate to live in the Northwest, lots of diverse landscapes and dramatic weather. Most of this photography was done close to home. Some in Europe and some in Iceland.

Amazing Universe

I have shot into the sky before as you can see by the first photo on my page, but never like this.

Sun spots too

I stayed with my son and daughter in a small town in Oregon, woke up just after dawn and saw that it was foggy out. Worried about missing this opportunity I hit the road and traveled east for just 20 minutes or so. It worked out well.

Beautiful Sliver

This photograph was just after totality, and then of course it wanes. I felt fortunate to get these photographs, it doesn’t happen often and then the shadows path covers such a small area of the earth. We were lucky.

Midnight in the Mountians

in town out of town

It all started when... 

I was actually making jewelry and needed better photos of my work. I bought a Pro grade camera and once done with the jewelry sessions I took the camera outside. I’ve now found a serious way to divide my time.

The jewelry is really nice, a few pieces can be viewed by clicking on Jewelry in the top header.

Thanks for looking around, Peace to you, Craig