Month: August 2018

Five-Years Ago (12-August-2013) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Sourland Mountain Preserve

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 250, 500 mm, f/5, 1/600 sec). Lens mounted on a monopod.

I’ve visited the Sourland Mountain Preserve several times after returning from Iceland. There are a couple of patches of Joe Pye weeds that the Yellow (Tiger) Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail butterflies are attracted. I did see one Clearwing Hummingbird Butterfly, but wasn’t quick enough to get a picture. I only saw one thistle in bloom. Didn’t see any Praying Mantis (butterfly predators). Also, only one Monarch Butterfly.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 250, 500 mm, f/5, 1/600 sec). Lens mounted on a monopod. (David J Mathre)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 250, 500 mm, f/5, 1/600 sec). Lens mounted on a monopod. (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (07-August-2018) — Germany

Gone to See Germany. An Excursion to Luther & Bach Country with Pastor Walter Still. Day 1: Frankfurt to Eisenach.

After a long overnight flight to Frankfurt, Germany I met up with my parents and brother to begin the Luther and Bach tour. Just after we arrived there was a security issue at the airport closing the terminal. We joined the 36 folks in the tour group and had lunch at “Paulaner in the Squaire”. Since the terminal was closed we had a long outdoor walk to the bus (with all of our luggage). Germany is experiencing an extended heat wave (~ 90 °F). It was an initial test of the stamina of the group as many were exhausted, hot, and dehydrated by the time we got to the bus. Fortunately, the bus had water bottles for sale (1 $ or €). The bus driver managed to get all of our luggage loaded under the bus. Our tour bus for the next 10 days took us to Eisenach. After checking into the hotel (Stigenberger Hotel Thüringer Hof), I did a short walkabout where I found the statue of St. George Slaying the Dragon.

Statue of Saint George Slaying the Dragon outside the St. George's Church in Eisenach. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/4, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Statue of Saint George Slaying the Dragon outside the St. George’s Church in Eisenach. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/4, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Seven-Years Ago (07-August-2011) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Is this the buck that brought the invasive “Mile-A-Minute” vine into my yard? It is hard to believe how many trees were killed by this vine since then…

Young Buck. Backyard Nature -- Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/3.2, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/3.2, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Young Buck. Backyard Nature -- Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/3.2, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/3.2, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Young Buck. Backyard Nature -- Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/3.2, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/3.2, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Young Buck. Backyard Nature -- Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 250, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 250, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Young Buck. Backyard Nature -- Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 360, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 360, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Young Buck. Backyard Nature -- Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Young Buck. Backyard Nature -- Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 280, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 280, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Young Buck. Backyard Nature -- Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 280, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II lens (ISO 280, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.

Eight-Years Ago (06-August-2010) — California

Gone to See America August 2010 Road Trip. Day 6: Eastern Sierra Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant. Bodie State Historic Park.

Images taken on my second visit to Bodie State Park in 2010. California maintains the park in a state of arrested decay. The park is a National Historic District, and is known as a wild-west gold mining ghost town. I also got an image of the Schoolmarm’s hat on my first visit to Bodie.

Schoolmarm's Hat. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Schoolmarm’s Hat. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)





Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.

Five-Years Ago (05-August-2013) — Iceland

Gone to See Iceland 2013 Photography Safari with Mike Hagen. Day 7: Cape Ingolfshofdi (ingólfshöfði) Along the South East Coast.

Angry Great Skua letting me know that I was too close to its chick. These are very large seabirds, and we saw several Puffin skeletons near the nests. Cape Ingolfshofdi (ingólfshöfði) an isolated headland and private nature preserve on the coast half way between Skaftafell in Vatnajokull National Park and Jökulsárlón ice lagoon in Iceland. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 80-400 mm VR II lens (ISO 140, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec).

Angry Great Skua (David J Mathre)
Angry Great Skua. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 80-400 mm VR II lens (ISO 140, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)