Month: August 2021

The winds the other night tore this still green acorn from its branch long before it was ready…making it an early fall, so to speak. I saw it in the middle of the sidewalk on my morning walk, passed it, then did an about face and returned to retrieve it. Now that I am becoming obsessed with reflections and focus shift shooting, I find myself assessing just about everything I see to decide if it would make a good candidate for a macro shot. This acorn appeared to be an interesting subject. Using my Nikon Z6II, my Nikkor Z MC 105mm macro lens, and three Nikon SB5000 speed lights set to different low powers I created this image on a piece of black acrylic, taking 150 images that I merged into one using HeliconFocus to stack the images.

My garden attracts hummingbirds, but only a few and not nearly the number of hummers we saw at Madera Canyon. In fact, I rarely have more than two in my garden at any one time and usually there is only one. The dominant male, the one I’ve been calling Homer for years even though it’s more than likely a different bird, chases any hummer he considers an interloper. This female Anna’s Hummingbird has been the most consistent visitor to my California Fuchsia plants and despite being bullied by Homer, she returns frequently. I was using flash so the few garnet feathers on her gorget show their colors.

This Kodiak Brown Bear sow found a convenient scratching post on the shores of the Uganik River on Kodiak Island in Alaska a couple of months ago. As she lolled around on the spongey seaside sandplant that mounded along the river’s edge, she looked straight at us, and seemed to be showing off her claws.

I’m reflecting on three quarters . . . of a century . . . old. . . Yikes!!!