Celebrating spring
May 29, 2025
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Celebrating spring
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Spring is nature’s grand reopening. It is a time of rapid change and growth, a time when the natural world bursts into color and life, practically begging to be photographed. Whether you're strolling through forests, wandering meadows with wildflowers, or exploring a gardener’s carefully curated...
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First Fawn!
May 27, 2025
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This little cutie is the first Black Tail fawn I spotted this year! Black-tailed fawns are born between late spring and mid-summer. They start with spots but lose them in a few months. At birth, they weigh about 6 to 8 pounds and have no scent for the first week. He or she was keeping up with mom very well despite this tall grass but stopped a few...
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Design Your Shot
May 22, 2025
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Design Your Shot: A Guide to Thoughtful Photography Composition
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Photography isn’t just about clicking the shutter at the right moment—it’s about crafting an image that tells a story, evokes emotion, and keeps the viewer engaged. While sharpness and exposure matter, what truly separates a good photo from a great...
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A Body Built For Speed
May 20, 2025
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This is a Long-tailed weasel, a critter whose sleek and aero-dynamic body was built for speed. They use this to their advantage when hunting mice, voles, squirrels - among other prey. They have a very high metabolism rate and eat about 40% of their body weight every day! They are rather small at only 11-18 inches long including their tail but are f...
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Hummingbirds: Tiny Marvels of Flight
May 15, 2025
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Text and photos by Heather Cline
Hummingbirds are my favorite of all birds. I tell my husband on a regular basis that ' I want all their business ' and he has indulged my little obsession by creating a bird oasis in our yard, complete with feeders, trees, plants, flowers and water features. They seem to enjoy it and reward us by coming by every da...
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Bob the builder
May 13, 2025
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In this case, it's likely 'Barbara The Builder' because this is a California Towhee and for this species, the female is in charge of gathering materials to build the nest while the male watches over their territory. These birds are common in the Sacramento region year-round and very tolerant of nosy photographers compared to other birds in the area...
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Back to basics: Nature Photography
May 08, 2025
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Back to basics: Nature Photography
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Juvenile Antelope Squirrel, Carrizo Plains National Monument
I was recently gifted a vintage film camera from my husband's boss. It was so much fun to start going through all the camera settings, remembering what it was like to use this fine tool before the digital age. It als...
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I dare you to hate me
May 06, 2025
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This is a Canada goose (gosling), a bird that I hear people complain about on a regular basis. I was chatting with a fellow photographer and mentioned that I didn't really understand why they were hated by so many people, and he said, " well, there's a lot of them and they poop everywhere ". My response, " There's even more humans and we poop every...
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Rock and awe
May 01, 2025
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Rock and Awe: 10 Rock Formations You Should Add to Your Bucket List
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Sunrise through rock formations, Alabama Hills
The United States is full of rock formations that look like they've been plucked right out of a sci-fi movie set or were specially designed works of art. From the striking towers rising out of Mono...
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Bird Yoga
April 29, 2025
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This is a Northern Flicker, a medium sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is North America’s widest-ranging woodpecker, a common inhabitant of forest edges, savannas, and suburban areas. These birds use their long, slightly curved bills to probe into the soil, anthills, and rotting wood for ants and grubs. Ants make up a large portion of their d...
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Hunting Styles
April 24, 2025
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Hunting Styles: Hunting behaviors of 5 different species of wildlife
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Sea Otter with clam
In the wild, survival often depends on extraordinary hunting strategies. The crafty fox uses its keen hearing and stealth to ambush prey, often pouncing with precision. Ospreys, masters of aerial hunting, dive with amazing...
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Wizards Hat
April 22, 2025
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This group of sea stacks is a popular coastline feature on the Bandon coastline in Oregon. When I last visited, the tide was a bit high to get close and isolate the stacks but still made for some fun sunset photography. That was - until I got hit with a sneaker wave and nearly lost my camera to the sea. Thankfully, it survived but my PTSD still mak...
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California wildflowers 2025
April 17, 2025
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The chase begins—wildflower season has officially arrived!
Text and photos by Heather Cline
The 2025 wildflower season brings a mixed outlook across California. Northern California has enjoyed abundant rainfall, promising spectacular blooms in many areas. In contrast, Southern California has faced near-record drought, with some locations seeing n...
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Picture Perfect
April 15, 2025
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I feel as though this Red Fox was anticipating his close-up and went into hair and makeup before posing for this image. He was a very handsome fella and so kind to let me capture his image - albeit briefly. Fun facts about these foxes: they are highly athletic and can jump a 6-foot-tall fence, they can run up to 30 miles per hour, and they have ult...
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Using snags to snag photos
April 10, 2025
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Natures Dying Gift: Using Snags to Snag Nature Images
Text and photos by Heather Cline
Great Blue Heron surveys his territory
A snag is another word for a standing dead tree. Trees become snags due to a variety of factors including disease, insects, fire, lightning, storm damage, drought, and old age, or a combination of these. While seeing th...
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