Month: June 2019

Saturday (08-June-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey — Firefly Trails.

I noticed that the fireflies are out. I haven’t done a firefly trails image since last year. It wasn’t be best conditions since the moon was out (waxing crescent) and it was pretty bright. I set up my night time camera Nikon D810a with a 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec) to take a series of 174 images. Even though I tried to manually focus the lens, I didn’t get it right. The images were processed with Capture One Pro and a composite created using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). There was a lot of out of focus blur. I tried both Focus Magic and the “Out of Focus Blur” tool within Photoshop. This helped but I still wasn’t happy. I then tried the new Topaz Sharpen-AI tool. This did a much better job than I expected. Still it would be better if I got the focus correct to begin with. Tomorrow nights project.

Firefly Trails. Composite of 174 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 174 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 174 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Focus correction with Focus Magic (20). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 174 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Focus correction with Focus Magic (20). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 174 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Focus correction using PhotoShop Fix Out of Focus Blur. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 174 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Focus correction using PhotoShop Fix Out of Focus Blur. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 174 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Focus correction using Topaz Sharpen-AI (focus, max). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 174 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 105 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Focus correction using Topaz Sharpen-AI (focus, max). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Best to view the images in full screen mode.

Daily Power Use (est 51 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (80.63 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The power use is an estimate since there have been a number of data dropouts since Friday about noon. I am waiting on a response from Sense regarding the problem.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Friday (07-June-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I know, it has been a while. I’ve been dealing with Server Upgrades (running out of space to store my images), Lightroom Catalog Upgrades (needed to increase the size of the catalog images to match my new computer and monitor), home renovation, patio garden, and yard work. I am about caught up. I was taking pictures every day, which I will be posting. The wildflower gardens are starting to bloom. Lots of Red Poppy and Cosmos flowers. New flowers this year are Blue Spiderwort and a White Allium. I am starting to harvest Strawberries from the Grow Towers. Today’s bird pictures are a Female Cowbird. The Cowbirds have been laying their eggs in the Robins nests.

Tiny Green Grasshopper on a Daisy. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiny Green Grasshopper on a Daisy. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)





Strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


Daily Power Use (est 56 kWh) and Solar Production (64.95 kWh) from Sense. The power use is an estimate since there have been a number of data dropouts beginning about noon. I am waiting on a response from Sense regarding the problem.
Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Eleven-Years Ago (01-June-2008) — Colorado

Springtime Nature in Colorado.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E II 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. The Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds arrive first in the spring to define their territories.  Spring comes late at nearly 9000 feet to Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. You hear the hummingbirds long before you finally see them (even with the car windows closed).

Male Broad-tailed Humming Bird at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E II 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
Male Broad-tailed Humming Bird at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E II 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)