April, 2013 - David Mathre Photography

Tuesday (30-April-2013) — Italy

Gone to See Europe and North Africa. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV with Michael Mariant. Day 4: Tuscany, Italy.

Stairway from a Wine Cellar in Tuscany near Lucca, Italy. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). In camera conversion to B&W.

Stairway from the Wine Cellar at Tenuta Lenzini, a Villa and Winery in Tuscany near Lucca, Italy. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). In camera conversion to B&W. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J. Mathre)

Monday (29-April-2013) — Italy

Gone to See Europe and North Africa. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV with Michael Mariant. Day 3: Livorno, Italy.

Antipasto at Tenuta Lenzini, a Villa and Winery in Tuscany near Lucca, Italy. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 13 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec).

Friday (26-April-2013) — Spain

Gone to See Europe and North Africa. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV with Michael Mariant. Day 0: Barcelona, Spain.

After a long day of travel – Overnight on British Air from Tampa to Gatwick, then Gatwick to Barcelona we made it to the Semester at Sea MV Explorer. The ship was not docked at the location that the SAS folks indicated, but we saw it in the taxi when we got near the port. Once on board we found our cabins and had dinner. We spent the morning visiting Barcelona. The weather was great with blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. There were many, many tourists visiting the unfinished Cathedral. My parents had online tickets to visit the inside of the Cathedral. If you plan to visit, get the online tickets – it will save you a line that was blocks long. I went to find Xavi, a friend and fellow student from 30 years ago when I went to Graduate School at Caltech. We had a great lunch of Tapas at Cerveceria Catalina. Xavi also recently retired and is spending his time traveling and doing photography: Xavi’s Blog. Then back to the ship for our mandatory safety drill before sailing off to Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/80 sec). In camera B&W. (David J Mathre)

Tourists Viewing the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec). In camera B&W. (David J Mathre)

Tourists Viewing the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). In camera B&W. (David J Mathre)

Detail in the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10-100 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 100 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). Converted to B&W with Capture One Pro 7. (David J Mathre)

Motorcycle Passing the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/15 sec). In camera B&W. (David J Mathre)

Xavi on His Bicycle in Front of Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Xavi on His Bicycle in Front of Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/400 sec).. (David J Mathre) — Xavi on His Bicycle in Front of Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (09-April-2013) — New Jersey

Indoor Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

It is getting warmer. I actually started opening windows, and kept them open last night. It is great to air out the house after a long winter. On the down side, the large stink bugs have started coming out of hibernation. Maybe, I should have left the spider inside the house. In addition to the Stink Bugs, I also have Western Conifer Seed Bugs (thanks to Chris Mallory for the ID). Apparently, these also have a reputation to be stink bugs, but at least they are not the blood sucking Triatominae (which look similar)

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug - Indoor Spring Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) and ring-flash. (David J Mathre) — Brown Marmorated Stink Bug – Indoor Spring Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) and ring-flash. (David J Mathre)

Stink Bug? - Indoor Spring Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens with a TC-E III 20 adapter (ISO 400, 210 mm, f/9, 1/60 sec) and ring-flash. Not a brown marmorated stink bug. (David J Mathre) — Western Conifer Seed Bug- Indoor Spring Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D3s cameraand 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens with a TC-E III 20 adapter (ISO 400, 210 mm, f/9, 1/60 sec) and ring-flash. Not a brown marmorated stink bug. (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (09-April-2013) — New Jersey

Indoor Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Now that the temperatures are warming, the critters are coming out of hibernation. The latest are these flying ants. They are actually rather lethargic so good subjects for macro images. The jaws and teeth look like the creature from Aliens.

Flying Ant with the Jaws from Aliens. Indoor Spring Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with ring flash. (David J Mathre) — Flying Ant with the Jaws from Aliens. Indoor Spring Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with ring flash. (David J Mathre)