Month: June 2011

Sunday (19-June-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey: The Ticks are Back!.

So while processing the Rabbit images, I feel something crawling on me. Yet another Tick. Will need to do some research to see if it is a Deer Tick, Dog Tick, or Wood Tick. Let me know if you recognize this critter. I have both a top and bottom view using macro lenses.

[21-June-2011: Rick Sidler sent me a link that clearly shows this to be Dog Tick (also known as a Wood Tick)]

Tick. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens + TC-E III 20 (ISO 210, 60 mm, f/32, 1/250 sec) and SB900 Flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Tick. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens + TC-E III 20 (ISO 210, 60 mm, f/32, 1/250 sec) and SB900 Flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.
Tick. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 60 mm, f/22, 1/250 sec) and SB900 Flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Tick. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 60 mm, f/22, 1/250 sec) and SB900 Flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.

Saturday (18-June-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Night Sky over New Jersey.

I think that this image of the waining gibbous moon with the D3x and 500 mm telephoto lens is sharper that the one I took with the D3x and 600 mm lens of the full moon 15-June-2001. Both were on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley head, remote shutter, mirror up with 30 sec delay.

Waining Gibbous Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Waining Gibbous Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.

Friday (17-June-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Late Spring Nature in New Jersey.

When I got home today, I saw a doe and two young fawns walking through my yard. I knew I didn’t have time to run and get a DSLR and telephoto so grabbed the Leica D-Lux 5 that I had in the car. I took the D-Lux 5 rather than the Leica X1, since the D-Lux 5 has zoom capabilities. I got a few images before they ran off. Once the doe realized I was near she got between me and the two fawns and then started pounding her front leg to let me know I was too close. Once they were gone, I walked the yard and got some macro images of wild strawberries, wild daisy flowers, and some small pink roses. What I didn’t realize was that the battery was low, and only got these images before the camera shut down.

Wild Daisy Flower. Late Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 100, 19.2 mm, f/3.3, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Wild Daisy Flower. Late Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 100, 19.2 mm, f/3.3, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.
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Wild Strawberry. Late Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 19.2 mm, f/3.5, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.
Small Pink Rose Flower. Late Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 19.2 mm, f/3.3, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Small Pink Rose Flower. Late Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 19.2 mm, f/3.3, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.
Doe and Two Fawns. Late Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 400, 19.2 mm, f/3.3, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, NIK Color Efex (Tonal Contrast), Nik Viveza, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Doe and Two Fawns. Late Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 400, 19.2 mm, f/3.3, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, NIK Color Efex (Tonal Contrast), Nik Viveza, and Photoshop CS5.

Thursday (16-June-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Night Sky in New Jersey.

While reviewing images from last night, I found one where I captured a firefly flashing. So far it is early in the firefly season and I hope to get more images before the season ends.

Late Spring Night Sky with Firefly in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, NIK Define 2, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Late Spring Night Sky with Firefly in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, NIK Define 2, and Photoshop CS5

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Wednesday (15-June-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Night Sky over New Jersey.

We didn’t get to see the full lunar eclipse in this part of the world. The sky was clear, and the moon was bright so I got a chance to test taking images of the moon with my new 600 mm telephoto lens. The first five are attempting the same exposure while changing both aperture and shutter speed (f/16, 1/50 sec; f/11, 1/100 sec; f/8, 1/200 sec; f/5.6, 1/400 sec; and f/4, 1/800 sec). The final image was taken at 1200 mm using a TC-E III 20 teleconverter. For all of the images I used the camera autofocus, remote shutter, mirror up for a 30 second delay to allow the mirror up vibrations to decay, and tripod VR mode.

Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/16, 1/50 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/16, 1/50 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/11, 1/200 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/11, 1/200 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 (ISO 100, 1200 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Late Spring Full Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 (ISO 100, 1200 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec) on a Gitzo tripod and Wimberley Head. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5