Nine-Years Ago (29-November-2008) — New Jersey

Undocumented Domestic Help: “The Caretaker”.

One of the many trolls that take care of my house. I never know where I will find him, typically avoiding doing any work. You can find more of his friends — all members of the Trolls without Borders union at the Henning site in Norway.

The Caretaker, Henning Hand Carved Norwegian Troll. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 200 mm f/4 macro (ISO 200, f/11, 1/60 sec, flash). (David J Mathre)
The Caretaker, Henning Hand Carved Norwegian Troll. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200 mm f/4 macro lens (ISO 200, f/11, 1/60 sec, flash).

Tuesday (28-November-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Panorama at Dawn.

Contrail, clouds, and silhouettes of trees without leaves early this morning. Composite of eleven images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 28 mm f/1.8 lens. Let me know if you like the version in color with the pastel clouds, or the one converted to B&W.

Backyard Autumn Clouds at Dawn. Composite of 11 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 28 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/1.8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite produced with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Autumn Clouds at Dawn. Composite of 11 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 28 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/1.8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite produced with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Autumn Clouds at Dawn. Composite of 11 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 28 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/1.8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, composite produced with AutoPano Giga Pro, and converted to B&W with Nik Silver Efex Pro (David J Mathre)
Backyard Autumn Clouds at Dawn. Composite of 11 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 28 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/1.8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, composite produced with AutoPano Giga Pro, and converted to B&W with Nik Silver Efex Pro (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (28-November-2014) — Florida

Gone to See Florida Fall 2014 Road Trip. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Great Blue Heron appearing to walk on water as it comes in for a landing along Blackpoint Wildlife Drive. I’ve also included a slide show with some of the other wildlife present that day: Alligator, Anhinga, Black Vulture, Double-breasted Cormorant, Great Egret, Hawk, Orange Butterfly, Osprey, Ring-billed Gull, Roseate Spoonbill, Tricolored Heron, Turkey Vulture, and White Ibis. Note that some of the images are graphic.

Great Blue Heron Walking on Water. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 500 mm, f/7, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Great Blue Heron Walking on Water. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 500 mm, f/7, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)


Six-Years Ago (27-November-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey: Talking Doe.

I was testing the sharpness of the Nikon 600 mm f/4 lens coupled with a TC-E III 20 teleconverter (effective 1200 mm, f/8 aperture).

Talking Doe. Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens with a TC-EIII 2x teleconverter (ISO 1400, 1200 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Talking Doe. Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens with a TC-EIII 2x teleconverter (ISO 1400, 1200 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Sunday (26-November-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Archaeology in New Jersey: Silver Spoon.

I was out in the backyard using a rototiller to prepare a new section for the expanding wildflower meadow. The land had been a farm years ago, but this section had become overgrown with brush. The brush was cleared last year, and this summer the section was covered with a black tarp to solarize the soil (kill the weeds, especially the invasive “mile-a-minute” vine). The rototiller found lots of rocks, and roots from the brush. At one point, I noticed something silver being thrown back by rototiller. It turned out to be a spoon. The rototiller blades did a bit of damage to the spoon. I brought it inside, and washed it off. The only identification of the spoon was an imprint on the back of the handle “Oneida Silversmiths”. After doing some research online, I think I identified the design of the spool as Oneida silverplate “Clairhill-Fairhill (1978). One site had it on sale for less than eight dollars. So, not an antique 🙁 . The house was built around that time, but how the spoon got 200 feet behind the house is a mystery.

Oneida Silversmiths Spoon. Backyard Archaeology in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/3 sec) (David J Mathre)
Oneida Silversmiths Spoon. Backyard Archaeology in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/3 sec) (David J Mathre)
Oneida Silversmiths Spoon. Backyard Archaeology in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/3 sec) (David J Mathre)
Oneida Silversmiths Spoon. Backyard Archaeology in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/3 sec) (David J Mathre)