Saturday (23-July-2011) — New Jersey

Summertime Heat Wave. “Let it Snow” in July.

The Carrier Clinic in nearby Belle Mead put this wishful thinking inflatable display up. They usually have it up in December and January. It has been in the upper 90’s and even over 100°F for the last several days. Anything to think cold is helpful.

Let it Snow -- July and 98°F in New Jersey. Wishful Thinking Inflatable Display in Front of the Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, NJ. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Out of the camera jpg image. (David J. Mathre)
Let it Snow — July and 98°F in New Jersey. Wishful Thinking Inflatable Display in Front of the Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, NJ. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Out of the camera jpg image.

Friday (22-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

A series of images of a black fly with red eyes, and several spiders — including hundreds of newly hatched baby spiders. I may not like spiders, but they are great subjects for practicing macro images.

Macro Image of Black Fly with Red Eyes. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of Black Fly with Red Eyes. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of Black Fly with Red Eyes. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of Black Fly with Red Eyes. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of Black Fly with Red Eyes. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of Black Fly with Red Eyes. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of Spider. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of Spider. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Baby Spiders Hatching. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Baby Spiders Hatching. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Baby Spiders Hatching. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Baby Spiders Hatching. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Baby Spiders Hatching. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Baby Spiders Hatching. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of a Spider with a Mass of Baby Spiders. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of a Spider with a Mass of Baby Spiders. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of a Spider with a Mass of Baby Spiders. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of a Spider with a Mass of Baby Spiders. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of a Spider with a Mass of Baby Spiders. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of a Spider with a Mass of Baby Spiders. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of a Spider with a Mass of Baby Spiders. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of a Spider with a Mass of Baby Spiders. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of Spider with Prey. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of Spider with Prey. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens and TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.

Thursday (21-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

The heat continues, the fireflies are mostly gone and the cicadas are making noise. I really want to find and photograph the cicadas. I hear them, but have yet to find one. While sitting out on the deck I did get a chance to photograph what I believe is a chipping sparrow. Thom Hogan (and birders) would call it a LBJ (little brown job) — but I need the practice focusing and getting a sharp image with a big telephoto lens as part of my quest to get to 10,000 hours.

Chipping Sparrow. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/50 sec) on a tripod, VR-ON, Mirror-UP. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Chipping Sparrow. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/50 sec) on a tripod, VR-ON, Mirror-UP. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Chipping Sparrow. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/50 sec) on a tripod, VR-ON, Mirror-UP. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Chipping Sparrow. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/50 sec) on a tripod, VR-ON, Mirror-UP. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Chipping Sparrow. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/50 sec) on a tripod, VR-ON, Mirror-UP. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Chipping Sparrow. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/50 sec) on a tripod, VR-ON, Mirror-UP. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.

Wednesday (20-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

10,000 Hours to Become an Expert. Over the last couple of days I have seen several blogs referencing that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a subject, activity, profession, etc. Thom Hogan and Mike Hagen have related this to becoming a photography expert. Thom Hogan pointed out that 10,000 hours is 40 hours/week for 5 years. (About as long as it took me to complete my PhD studies in Organic Chemistry). This could be doubled if visualization/acquisition of the image, and post processing are separate areas of expertise. Unless totally committed (and not having a day job to pay the bills) how many folks have 10,000 hours to commit to becoming an expert in 5, 10, or 20 years?  I have always taken on new challenges every few years, both professional at work and outside of work. It was about 5 years ago that I decided to take on photography. From my point of view, the technical side was easy (but still requiring a lot of work and practice). For me the artistic side is the challenge. I have had several teachers/mentors (Winston Hall, Thom Hogan, Michael Marriant) over the past 5 years. One thing I learned from Winston was to share a new image every day (and thus my “Image of the Day” postings) and then learn from the feedback. Thom Hogan also pointed out today you also need to accept and learn from failures. If you don’t like one of my images, let me know.

Back to my “Images of the Day”.  Another hot summer evening in New Jersey. Each of my tomato pots on the deck took 2 gallons of water. As I was sitting out on my deck I took some images of a young fawn, a grey cowbird, and Harvey the backyard rabbit. All were taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. Because the D3x camera has a 24 MP sensor, I was able to do significant crops and still retain significant detail. I will break this into 3 posts (one for each animal) because of the number of images.

Grey Catbird with Insect Lunch. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Grey Catbird with Insect Lunch. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Grey Catbird. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Grey Catbird. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.

Wednesday (20-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Blue-Eyed Fawn. Another hot summer evening in New Jersey. Each of my tomato pots on the deck took 2 gallons of water. As I was sitting out on my deck I took some images of a young fawn, a grey cowbird, and Harvey the backyard rabbit. All were taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. Because the D3x camera has a 24 MP sensor, I was able to do significant crops and still retain lots of detail. I will break this into 3 posts (one for each animal) because of the number of images. The sky reflection makes this fawn look like it has blue eyes. It also have very long whiskers and eye lashes.

Blue Eyed Fawn Head Crop. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Blue Eyed Fawn Head Crop. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Blue Eyed Fawn. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Blue Eyed Fawn. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Blue Eyed Fawn Running. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Blue Eyed Fawn Running. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Blue Eyed Fawn. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Blue Eyed Fawn. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Blue Eyed Fawn. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Blue Eyed Fawn. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). Image processed with Capture One 6 Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.