Year: 2017

Tuesday (24-October-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

Another rainy autumn day, but then a view of some colorful clouds at sunset from my patio.

Colorful storm clouds at Sunset. Autumn backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-55 mm zoom lens (ISO 100, 30 mm, f/4.5, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Colorful storm clouds at Sunset. Autumn backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-55 mm zoom lens (ISO 100, 30 mm, f/4.5, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (24-October-2016)

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

One of the backyard Nisse found a new mushroom. I don’t often see him out during the day. Composite of 24 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 60mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/3, 1/640 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the image stack processed with Helicon Focus.

Backyard Nisse with a new autumn mushroom. Composite of 24 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 60mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/3, 1/640 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the image stack processed with Helicon Focus. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Nisse with a new autumn mushroom. Composite of 24 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 60mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/3, 1/640 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the image stack processed with Helicon Focus. (David J Mathre)

It was too windy to take wildflower pictures outside, and was about to freeze overnight. So I cut six of the remaining wildflowers (Coreopsis, Cosmos, and Black-eyed Susan) and took them inside to shoot. The images were taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens. Slide show with 6 images.


 

The wildflower garden was successful last year, so I expanded it significantly this year. Some areas worked, others didn’t. The deer and rabbits nibbled at the edges, but left me enough to take a lot of pictures of the wildflowers. I needed to add an electric fence this year. I think my favorites have been the poppies where I tried many times to do time-lapsed videos of them opening in the morning. It will be interesting to see what comes back next spring. I also cleared two more large sections that will be seeded once the ground gets colder.

One-Year Ago (23-October-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

Squirrel on an Empty Fountain in my Backyard. I am OK with the squirrels as long as they stay out of my attic. With the new roof I don’t think there is a way for them to get in (fingers crossed). Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec).

Squirrel on an Empty Fountain in my Backyard. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (David J Mathre)
Squirrel on an Empty Fountain in my Backyard. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (22-October-2016) — New Jersey

Home Renovation Project – Wall Print Mounting System

I was testing some ideas for a wall system for mounting fine-art prints in my house. The goal was a system where prints could easily be exchanged and moved around. I first tried using flexible 3M magnetic tape. The magnetic strength for the tape was not enough to hold up 13″ x 19″ prints. I then tried strips of cold-rolled steel (1″ x 0.125″ x 72″). This is the prototype system that I installed in my laundry room worked. Since then I made some modifications, and have installed seven (2 to 4 meter) sections  in other rooms as part of the home renovation project.

Prototype wall system for mounting prints. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO , 14 mm, f/2.8, 1/ sec) (David J Mathre)
Prototype wall system for mounting prints. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO , 14 mm, f/2.8, 1/ sec) (David J Mathre)