Month: June 2018

Saturday (30-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey.

Earlier this spring I noticed a tiny bird, smaller than a sparrow entering a small hole near my front door. The hole had been the access point for an intercom system that was removed when I installed a new Ring video door bell. I covered the hole with gaffer tape, and was going to fill it with wood putty, but the bird took the tape off and built a nest. When the bird flew into the nest it would often set off the Ring motion detector. The bird would also fly out of the hole when a delivery person rang the door bell. I finally got some images of the birds feeding the new hatchling(s). I also think that I have identified the bird as a house wren. The head of the young bird is almost as big as the parents, and this evening I noticed both of the parents dancing around, fluttering their wings, and chirping loudly on my door step. I think they are trying to convince junior that it is time to leave the nest…

House Wren Nest at My Front Door. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1600, 80 mm, f/11, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
House Wren Nest at My Front Door. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1600, 80 mm, f/11, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
House Wren Nest at My Front Door. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1600, 80 mm, f/11, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
House Wren Nest at My Front Door. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1600, 80 mm, f/11, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
House Wren Nest at My Front Door. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1600, 80 mm, f/11, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
House Wren Nest at My Front Door. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1600, 80 mm, f/11, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)


Seven-Years Ago (30-June-2011) — New Jersey

Summer in New Jersey. Independence Day Fireworks Video.

DSLR video of the 30-June-2011 Montgomery Township Fireworks display. The Nikon D3s camera is limited to 5 minute HD (720P) video segments. I ended up with three 5 minute segments. I left the in-camera sound recording on to get the sound effects of the fireworks. I also got commentary about the fireworks from a family sitting in front of my tripod. At one point you can hear a train whistle. The other clicking sound is the shutter of my other cameras. I used Adobe Premiere Pro to combine the first and third segments, zoomed in a bit so the firework display takes up more of the image, and increased the volume. I also used Premiere Pro to add a title page to the video.

Friday (29-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Harvey Jr. trying to hide in the tall grass. This is the first rabbit I have seen this year. Normally, I will have photographed many by now. This one is pretty young, and doesn’t appear to have ticks in its ear. Also, the ears have not been chewed on, so no fighting between rabbits yet.

Harvey Jr Hiding in the Tall Grass. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/210 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Harvey Jr Hiding in the Tall Grass. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/210 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Thursday (28-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Afternoon walkabout with my new Nikon D850 camera and a 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens. Looking to see if there were any new wildflowers. There still are no where as many wildflowers as last year… I may have to go back to the electric fence as my security video show the deer coming by every night and trimming most of the wildflowers before they bloom. Individual images can be viewed here.


Thursday (28-June-2018) — New Jersey

Montgomery Township New Jersey Independence Day Fireworks.

My local township typically has an Independence Day fireworks celebration several days before the 4th of July. This year it was almost a week earlier. We had heavy rain in the morning, but by the afternoon things pretty much cleared up. I have a great location near my house that has a view that is above the high school where the fireworks are launched. In all I had five cameras set up to record the event. Individual images can be viewed here. While waiting for the fireworks to start, we watched the “Strawberry” full moon rise through some low clouds. Unfortunately, it was too late to find a different location where the full moon would be in the images with the fireworks.

Strawberry Full Moon Rising Through the Clouds over Montgomery Township. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/11, 6 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre)
Strawberry Full Moon Rising Through the Clouds over Montgomery Township. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/11, 6 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 64, 105 mm, f/11, 8 sec) (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 64, 105 mm, f/11, 8 sec) (David J Mathre)