David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Praying Mantis With an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail for Sunday Brunch. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 300 mm f/4 lens.
Pastel Sky at Dawn. Composite of 13 Images taken with a Leica X2 camera and 24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 125, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the panorama generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. The program had a bit of a problem the the dark right bottom corner. To take the images I pulled over to the side of the road and took the pictures holding the camera out of the driver side window. I haven’t used this camera for a while, but keep it with me in the car for just this type of opportunity.
Click the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.
A Shy immature Green Heron in a Tree Next to the Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 300 mm f/4 lens. Every time I walked around the pond this bird flew to the other side of the pond or up into a tree. It is so well camouflaged that I never see it until it flies away. I now know why the frogs are so skittish.
[Note I originally thought this was an American Bittern, now think it is an immature Green Heron.]
I am beginning to think that I have been taking pictures of two different species of Clearwing or Hummingbird Moths. So looking things up on the web did indicate that there are two similar Hummingbird Moths. Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) and Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis). According to the references the Hummingbird Clearwing moth is a bit bigger. Coloration varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back, and white or yellow and burgundy on the underside. Its wings are transparent with a reddish-brown border. It has light-colored legs, which combined with the lack of striping on the underside is diagnostic. The Snowberry Clearwing moth is a bit smaller. The thorax is golden or olive-golden in color, abdomen is black dorsally with 1-2 segments just prior to terminal end being yellow to various extent, while black ventrally. The legs also tend to be quite dark and there is a black mask running across the eye and along the sides of the thorax. It can be difficult to see the differences in the field, and I have to go by examining the images when I get back to my computer. Even then, I am not sure I am right all of the time.
Today it was mainly the Snowberry Clearwing Moth (with black legs). I am going to have to do some more investigating. The images from the walkabout in the Sourland Mountain Preserve this morning were taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 300 mm f/4 lens. A compromise kit that is not too heavy that I can still hand-hold and provides high quality images that I can crop.
Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.
RV EGS Pioneer at Sunrise in the English Channel from the Deck of the MV Explorer. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic and Photoshop CC 2014.
