Sunday (30-June-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Nature in New Jersey. Firefly Trails.

Between thunderstorms I have been experimenting on the best way to photograph fireflies. I want to capture both the number and movement of the fireflies. I set out three cameras to take a series of 30 second images. The images were then combined into a composite using the startrails.exe program. For these three composites I used relatively high ISO’s and narrow apertures to get a wider depth of field. C&C appreciated.

The bad news that I heard today is that the Sirius/XM Book Radio channel is going away as of 15-July-2013. The Book channel is about the only reasons I have kept up my subscription to Sirius/XM. I have the Book channel on 24/7 both at home and in my car. My long distance drives will not be the same when lost listening to a story.

Two hours of Fireflies Flashes During a Summer Night in New Jersey. Images collected using a Nikon D3s and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 6400, 200 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Composite of 238 images created using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
Two hours of Fireflies Flashes During a Summer Night in New Jersey. Images collected using a Nikon D3s and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 6400, 200 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Composite of 238 images created using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
Two hours of Fireflies Flashes During a Summer Night in New Jersey. Images collected using a Nikon D800 and 105 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 3200, 105 mm, f/1, 30 sec). Composite of 225 images created using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
Two hours of Fireflies Flashes During a Summer Night in New Jersey. Images collected using a Nikon D800 and 105 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 3200, 105 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Composite of 225 images created using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
Two hours of Fireflies Flashes During a Summer Night in New Jersey. Images collected using a Nikon D3 and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 35 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Composite of 211 images created using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
Two hours of Fireflies Flashes During a Summer Night in New Jersey. Images collected using a Nikon D3 and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 35 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Composite of 211 images created using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (21-June-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Three Young Wild Turkeys Grazing in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec).

Young Wild Turkeys. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Young Wild Turkeys. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (21-June-2008) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey: Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Female Red-Winged Blackbird with an Insect. First Day of Summer at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec).

Female Red-Winged Blackbird with an Insect. First Day of Summer at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Female Red-Winged Blackbird with an Insect. First Day of Summer at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (19-June-2013) — New Jersey

Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage.

I am back home after an extended voyage on the Semester at Sea MV Explorer. Over 52 days the Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage visited 19 countries (Spain, Monaco, Italy, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, England, Norway, Latvia, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany). The Garmin GPS that I carried recorded 24539 miles (10068 miles by air, 9216 miles at sea, 2457 miles by car, 1800 miles by bus, 819 miles by train, 46 miles by ferry, and 133 miles by foot). Using five cameras (including my smart phone) I took over 60K images taking up almost all of a 1.5 TB external hard drive. Internet access on the ship was slow so I didn’t make many posts. I plan to go back and post images from the trip over the next few days and weeks.

Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage

Sunday (16-June-2013) — England

Gone to See Europe. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 51: Southampton, England.

Queen Elizabeth (Cunard Lines) Docking in Southampton, England. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/200 sec). In camera B&W.

Early in the morning I saw a large cruise ship all lit up from the window in my cabin. The ship passed us relatively quickly. Once we arrived in Southampton we saw that the large ship that passed us was the Queen Elizabeth.

Queen Elizabeth (Cunard Lines) Docking in Southampton, England. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/200 sec). In camera B&W. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J. Mathre)
Queen Elizabeth (Cunard Lines) Docking in Southampton, England. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/200 sec). In camera B&W. (David J. Mathre)