Month: June 2015

Friday (26-June-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

After the rain stopped last night I put two cameras out to capture some firefly trails early this morning. The first one is a composite of 300 images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and a 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 3200, 600 mm, f/8, 30 sec). The second one is a composite of 90 images taken with a Nikon D810A camera and a 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 3200, 200 mm, f/8, 60 sec). You really need to look at the 2nd one in full-screen mode.

One trick for doing the firefly trails is picking the aperture and focus distance. This impacts the number of fireflies that are in or out of focus. I really like the D810a camera since I can do exposures longer than 30 seconds without an intervalometer. Also, the sensor seems to be able to handle longer exposures without generating excess noise (even when it is warm outside).

Firefly Trails. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 3200, 600 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro 8, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 3200, 600 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro 8, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 3200, 200 mm, f/8, 60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro 8, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 3200, 200 mm, f/8, 60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro 8, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)

Friday (26-June-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Puff Ball — Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 400, 135 mm, f/4.4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Puff Ball -- Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 400, 135 mm, f/4.4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Puff Ball — Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 400, 135 mm, f/4.4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (25-June-2014) — Portugal

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 25: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Departing Lisbon, Portugal.

Sleeping in the LUX Night Club Vestibule (6:30 AM on a Wednesday Morning). From the deck of the Semester at Sea MV Explorer docked just across from the night club in Lisbon, Portugal. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/4, 1/25 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Define 2, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Sleeping in the LUX Night Club Vestibule (6:30 AM on a Wednesday Morning). Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/4, 1/25 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Define 2, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Sleeping in the LUX Night Club Vestibule (6:30 AM on a Wednesday Morning). Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/4, 1/25 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Define 2, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (25-June-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summer Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

Backyard Fireflies.  Composite of 110 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 2500, 600 mm, f/13, 25 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, Startrails (used to stack the images), and Photoshop CS5.

Backyard Fireflies. Early Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 2500, 600 mm, f/13, 25 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, Startrails (used to stack 110 images), and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Fireflies. Early Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 2500, 600 mm, f/13, 25 sec). (David J Mathre)

Six-Years Ago (25-June-2009) — California

Working at SIRNA in South San Francisco.

During the day we heard that Michael Jackson had died. That evening while looking for dinner in San Francisco we saw that the Wax Museum already had a Michael Jackson display.

Michael Jackson Memorial at the San Francisco Wax Museum. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 1600, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with DxO 6.5, Capture One Pro, Topaz DeNoise, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Michael Jackson Memorial at the San Francisco Wax Museum. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 1600, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with DxO 6.5, Capture One Pro, Topaz DeNoise, and Photoshop CS5.
Andrew with the Gimme Some Chocolate Bear in front of Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop in San Francisco. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 1600, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with DxO Optics Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Andrew with the Gimme Some Chocolate Bear in front of Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop in San Francisco. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 1600, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with DxO Optics Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.