Author: David Mathre

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time on home renovation and expansion of a wildflower garden/meadow.

Four-Years Ago (28-May-2012) — New Jersey

Springtime Nature in New Jersey. Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Canada Goose with Aquatic Grass in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 250, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec).

Canadian Goose with Aquatic Grass in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 250, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Canadian Goose with Aquatic Grass in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 250, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Thursday (26-May-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Last fall my contractor cleared a section of my backyard and started digging a depression for a small pond. We didn’t finish the pond before winter and my round the world Spring Semester at Sea Voyage. With all of the rain this spring the hole filled up with water. I now have a pond in progress. I was pleased to see that frogs (and turtles) have already discovered the pond. I managed to get a picture of this frog before it jumped into the water this morning. When you look closely you can see two mosquitoes on the back of the frog. I had hoped that the frogs (or tadpoles) would take care of the mosquito larva in the pond. I may need to get some goldfish to add to the pond.

Kermit the Bullfrog Near a Pond in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). [FOV Equivalent to ~ 810 mm on a 35 mm image sensor].

Kermit the Bullfrog Near a Pond in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). [FOV Equivalent to ~ 810 mm on a 35 mm image sensor]. (David J Mathre)
Kermit the Bullfrog Near a Pond in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (25-May-2013) — England

Gone to See Europe. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV with Michael Mariant. Day 29: Dover, England.

Replica of the South Foreland Lighthouse. St. Margaret’s Bay, Dover England. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/1320 sec).

Replica of the South Foreland Lighthouse. St. Margaret's Bay, Dover England. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/1320 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre)
Replica of the South Foreland Lighthouse. St. Margaret’s Bay, Dover England. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/1320 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre)

Friday (24-May-2016) — New Jersey

I’m Back in the Printing Game.

My last printer, a HP Photosmart B8190 recently died and the model was discontinued a few years ago so I have been on the lookout for a replacement for making Fine Art Prints. This Epson Stylus 4900 arrive last night from B&H. Four guys had to unload it from the delivery truck. The instructions state that two people need to lift the printer from the shipping crate. It was really heavy, and difficult to do by myself. Once I got it up onto the desk (morning long project) I ran through the setup, loaded all of the inks, and got it configured on my network. The colors in the initial test prints look great, even if I am using up some remaining HP paper from the last printer. Image of “Blue Eyes” taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, fill flash).

Epson P4900 Printer. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (indoors, computer and printer) (David J Mathre)
Epson P4900 Printer. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (indoors, computer and printer) (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (24-May-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC. In the past I used the startrails.exe program to process the images. This time I made the composite using Scripts/Statistics Stack Mode = Maximum within Photoshop CC 2015.

Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC. In the past I used Startrails.exe to process the images. This time I made the composite using Scripts/Statistics Stack Mode = Maximum within Photoshop CC 2015. (David J Mathre)
Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)