December, 2011 - David Mathre Photography

Monday (31-December-2011) — New Jersey

What a Year — It Was Amazing!

As the year comes to and end, and I try to reflect on everything I have done and everywhere I have been — all I can say is WOW!. The year started out with a great photography trip to Patagonia with Thom Hogan. We will ignore the extra few days we were held hostage in southern Chile. This was followed by the Ultimate Travel Workshop II on the Semester at Sea M/V Explorer lead by Michael Mariant. This started in San Diego, and then stopped in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama (including a transit through the Panama Canal), Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize, Mexico, and ended in Fort Lauderdale. My parents were along for this trip. I then attended a Workshop in Death Valley, also lead by Michael Mariant.

There have been a number of challenges at work. We shut down our San Francisco operations which included part of my group, and thus no more regular trips to California. We ended the year achieving (and exceeding) all of our objectives. I also attended a work sponsored executive retirement seminar. It is hard to believe that I have been working long enough to even consider retirement, but then again maybe I could spend more time working on photography.

This year I expanded beyond my Nikon cameras and lenses — adding a Leica X1 and Leica V-Lux 30 P&S cameara. NAS did add a couple of lenses to the kit (500 mm f/4 VRII and 600 mm f/4 VRII telephoto). Also at the end of the year I added a Nikon 1 V1 (mirrorless) camera body with the 10 mm f/2.8 lens, the 10-30 mm lens, 30-110 mm lens, and the 10-100 mm lens. I am looking forward to the FT1 lens adapter so I can use this camera body with a telescope.

Looking through my image database, it looks like I took something over 120K images this year — a new record for me. It also meant that I needed to update my digital asset management strategy. Lightroom is good, but can’t handle this many images. I’m currently testing Media Pro (Phase One). Capture One Pro (also Phase One) is now my primary image processing workflow, although I still am using Adobe Photoshop CS 5 and many Nik, OnOne, and Topaz plugins. I also needed to update my image storage and backup strategy after some hard drive failures. I’ve moved to a couple of Drobo disk arrays (16 TB) on and off-site.

Plans for next year? Thought about, but I didn’t sign up for the Semester at Sea Enrichment Voyage to the Carribean and Brazil (including a trip up the Amazon river). Thinking about a Hurtigruten cruise in Norway to see the Northern Lights, Nikonians Ultimate Travel Workshop III (San Diego, Central America, Peru – including Galapagos Islands), and also a trip to Cuba. If none of this works out, maybe it it time for a road trip out west. The White Ram (Roadtrek RV) is anxious for a road trip!

After dumping Facebook last year when my account was hacked, I joined Google+ this year. Google+ is a better platform for photographers. I really like the Daily Image Themes, and have been contributing a number of images.

Self Portrait in Death Valley. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)

Saturday (24-December-2011) — Florida

Gone to See America. December 2011 Florida Road Trip. Day 5: St. Petersburg.

Sun Rising from under the Sunshine Skyway bridge viewed from Fort De Soto Park. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Sunrise Rising Under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge from Fort Desoto County Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-200 mm f/2 VRII lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/16. 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre) — Sunrise Rising Under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge from Fort De Soto Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-200 mm f/2 VRII lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/16. 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (21-December-2011) — Florida

Gone to See America. December 2011 Florida Road Trip. Day 2: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

After arriving at my hotel in Cocoa Beach I drove to Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. It took about 40 minutes to get to the headquarters to buy a new America the Beautiful pass. They were going to give it to me for the senior rate of $10, but to be ethical I paid the full price. I then went for one round through the 7 mile, one-way Black Point Wildlife drive before sundown. They close the road at sunset. The following are some images I took along the road.

Great Egret Hunting. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre) — Great Egret Hunting. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Late Afternoon Great Blue Heron Hunting. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 330 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre) — Late Afternoon Great Blue Heron Hunting. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 330 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Great Blue Heron Swallowing a Frog. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1800, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre) — Great Blue Heron Swallowing a Frog. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1800, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Great Blue Heron Doing the Chicken Dance. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1800, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre) — Great Blue Heron Doing the Chicken Dance. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1800, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Great Blue Heron. On Black Point Wildlife Drive in iMerritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 2000, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec) (David J Mathre)

Lone Great Egret Hunting on a Small Island. On Black Point Wildlife Drive in iMerritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)

Lone Wood Stork. On Black Point Wildlife Drive in iMerritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec) (David J Mathre)

Alligator with Reflected Eye. On Black Point Wildlife Drive in iMerritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 2200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec) (David J Mathre)

Sunset from Merritt Island, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/22, 1/320 sec) (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (21-December-2011) — South Carolina to Florida

Gone to See America. December 2011 Florida Road Trip. Day 2: South Carolina to Florida.

I set up a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens on a tripod rigged into the passenger seat, and started driving south. The camera was set to take images every 10 seconds, auto ISO, f/2.8, focus manual (infinity), auto shutter speed. I would have to stop and change the battery every hour or so. The images were then used to produce the following time-lapse video of the road trip.

Month: December 2011