Five-Years Ago (06-October-2013) — Arizona

Gone to See America 2013. Nikonian Annual Photography Adventure Trip. Day 1: Sedona.

The first stop for our van was at Slide Rock State Park. While walking down one of the trails, I noticed a park bench right next to a steep drop to Oak Creek. Even though chained to the ground, you would need a seat belt to safely sit on the bench.

Bench on the Edge of a Cliff. Rock Slide State Park, Arizona. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Image converted to B&W in Capture One Pro 7. Nikonians ANPAT-13. (David J Mathre)
Bench on the Edge of a Cliff. Slide Rock State Park, Arizona. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Image converted to B&W in Capture One Pro 7. (David J Mathre)
International Harvester McCormik Farmall Tractor at Rock Slide State Park in Arizona. Gone to See America 2013. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/3.5, 1/50 sec). Image processed and converted to B&W with Capture One Pro 7. Nikonians ANPAT-13. Note the John Deere tractor in the corner. (David J Mathre)
International Harvester McCormik Farmall Tractor at Slide Rock  State Park in Arizona.  Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/3.5, 1/50 sec). Image processed and converted to B&W with Capture One Pro 7. (David J Mathre)
Backlit Summer Bloom. Slide Rock State Park, Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 160, 220 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Backlit Summer Bloom. Slide Rock State Park.  Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 160, 220 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Penny Caught in a Cactus. Sedona, Arizona. Gone to See America 2013. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 32 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 160, 32 mm, f/2.8, 1/8000 sec). Nikonians ANPAT-13 (David J Mathre)
A Penny for your thoughts?  Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 32 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 160, 32 mm, f/2.8, 1/8000 sec).  (David J Mathre)

Thursday (14-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I did a walkabout in my yard this afternoon to check if any wildflowers have appeared. Something different from the firefly trails. An ant on a daisy flower, some small cactus flowers, a larger yellow prickly pear cactus flower, a yucca plant about to bloom (kept behind a wire mesh to keep the deer away), an icelandic poppy flower, a flowering beardtongue plant, and honeysuckle flowers.


Grow Tower. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Grow Tower. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Fresh Picked Strawberries. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Fresh Picked Strawberries. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Mosquito emerging from the water. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Mosquito emerging from the water. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Spider at my Computer Desk. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Spider at my Computer Desk. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)

Friday (04-May-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

A Chipping Sparrow at the bird feeder, wary deer, and attempts to capture water droplets in a fountain. During the night a raccoon raided the composting tube in the Garden Tower. I decided to mount a cactus on top of the Garden Tower. As you can see in the nighttime IR videos, it didn’t work.

Chipping Sparrow at the Bird Feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens. (David J Mathre)
Chipping Sparrow at the Bird Feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens. (David J Mathre)
Wary Pair of Deer. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (David J Mathre)
Wary Pair of Deer. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (David J Mathre)


Cactus on top of the Garden Tower. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens. (David J Mathre)
Cactus on top of the Garden Tower. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens. (David J Mathre)

Friday (27-April-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Several varieties of Daffodils are in bloom. The deer ignore the daffodils. I found a couple of Grape Hyacinths (muscari). It looks like the deer nibble on the green leaves, but leave the flowers. I am not sure where they come from as I don’t remember planting these. There are also wild violets in the lawn all through the backyard. Way back from the house is a tree covered with small white flowers. I think it is a Bradford pear tree. I didn’t see any bees near the flowers? My Plum tree is about to bloom, and the Japanese Maple tree is turning bright red. I assembled a Garden Tower to plant Herbs and Vegetables up on the patio (hopefully away from the deer). I also moved the cactus that have spent the winter inside the house out onto the patio.





Tuesday (27-February-2018) — New Jersey

Winter Nature in New Jersey — Spring is Coming.

I noticed that the purple crocus flowers across the street just started to bloom. Early, but not as early as 17-February-2012. It was sunny today, and another reason to check out a new camera. This was also the first day this year that my solar panels produced more electricity than I used.



Individual images can be viewed here.

Pink indoor cactus flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 300 mm f/4 telephoto lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec) (David J Mathre)
Pink indoor cactus flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 300 mm f/4 telephoto lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec) (David J Mathre)