Month: August 2018

Friday (24-August-2018) — New Jersey

Summer Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

Composite of nearly full moon images. Rather than an in-camera composite image (as I have done in the past), these were created during post processing (Photoshop CC Pro, statistics, maximum). I set a Nikon D5 camera up with a 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens to take images every 1 second. I was hoping to catch a jet pass in front of the moon, as I had seen the previous night — but no joy. When I get some time I will make a time-lapse video of the moon crossing the screen.

Seven Moons. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Seven Moons. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)


Three-Years Ago (24-August-2015) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/4 VR lens. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth feeding on on Thistle flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/4 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth feeding on on Thistle flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/4 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Thursday (23-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summer Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

For the first time since I returned from Germany, the sky was predicted to be clear overnight.  I have been wanting to try the 8-15 mm fisheye lens (that I borrowed from my brother) for doing some star trail images, and night sky time-lapse videos. I did have an issue with condensation on the very wide lens in the early morning hours. I have had the condensation problem on other wide lenses (14 mm, 14-24 mm) in the past, and may need to fashion a small tape heater on the lens.


Star trails over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 100, 8 mm, f/4, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Thursday (23-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

I finally discovered that it is the Grey Catbirds that are pecking at the tomatoes in my patio garden. Over half of the ripe tomatoes that picked today had been eaten by the Catbirds. Too bad the neighborhood cats that patrol my patio haven’t caught onto this opportunity.

Grey Catbird pecking at my tomatoes. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (ISO 450, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Grey Catbird pecking at my tomatoes. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (ISO 450, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Tuesday (21-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Morning walkabout in the yard with a macro and telephoto lens. Flowers, wildflowers, black swallowtail butterfly, and the immature American Goldfinch that has been pulling the petals off the Zinnia flowers.



Goldfinch that has been pulling the petals off the Zinnia flowers. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Goldfinch that has been pulling the petals off the Zinnia flowers. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (DAVID J MATHRE)