Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey — Early Flowers and Bees.
An Early sign, spring is coming!! The crocus and daffodil flowers across the street had their first blooms today. A few days ago I saw my neighbor raking the leaves off the section facing the south side of his stone wall. There were a few daffodil plants pushing out of the ground. Today, the first ones started to bloom, along with the purple crocus flowers. The honey bees noticed that there was some saffron to harvest. My daffodil’s are just coming out of the ground — however I noticed that the deer are nibbling on the early sprouts. I thought deer didn’t like daffodil’s — but I guess they are hungry…
Later in the afternoon, the NOAA weather alert on my Garmin radio/GPS went off and announced that a severe thunderstorm was imminent. I set up a camera to record the storm coming through and got one image of some lightning. Soon after the storm, the temperature dropped over 20 degrees.
First Hint of Spring — Early crocus flower with a honey bee across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 235 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — Early crocus flowers across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 148 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — Early crocus flowers across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — Early crocus flower with a honey bee across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — Early crocus flower with a honey bee across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — Early crocus flower with a honey bee across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — First daffodil flower across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — Early crocus flowers across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 153 mm, f/5.6, 1/210 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — First daffodil flower across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 148 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — Early crocus flower with a honey bee across the street. Winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)First Hint of Spring — Thunderstorm. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/18, 4 sec). (David J Mathre)
Elderhostel “Photography in the Southwest” Workshop Day 1. Kelly Place & Canyon of the Ancients National Monument.
The first full day of an Elderhostel/Road Scholar photography workshop at Kelly Place — a Bed & Breakfast near Cortez, Colorado. I was attending the workshop with my Father and Brother. I went out on my own in the morning to take some pictures of Sleeping Ute mountain. After lunch walked around the site to look at some of the historical buildings and then went for a short hike into Canyon of the Ancients National Monument which is right next to Kelly’s Place. After it got dark, I set up a camera to take some star trail images.
Sleeping Ute Mountain and moon panorama on an early winter morning at Kelley’s Place near Cortez, Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 20 mm, f/16, 1/1.7 sec). (David J Mathre)
Larger size images from the slide show can be viewed and purchased here.
Larger size images from the slideshow can be viewed and purchased here.
Elderhostel “Photography in the Southwest” Workshop Day 0. Mesa Verde National Park.
I wasn’t sure that I would be able to make the trip from Boulder to southwestern Colorado because of a winter storm that passed through during the previous days. The roads were clear, and there were not many vehicles on the road. I made it to Mesa Verde National Park in time to meet my father and brother before attending an Elderhostel/Road Scholar photography workshop. It was still snowing when I arrived at the National Park.
Winter panorama in Colorado from Mesa Verde National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/11, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling in the winter. Mesa Verde National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-300 mm VR lens (ISO 360, 50 mm, f/8. 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Mesa Verde National Park winter panorama. Composite of 10 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/4.5, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)Square Tower House cliff dwelling. Mesa Verde National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/4.5. 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)Cliff Palace in the winter. Mesa Verde National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 270 mm, f/5.3, 1/80 sec). (David J Mathre)
Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Turkey Vultures.
Images taken while on a walkabout in my backyard with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens. The picture of the Turkey Vulture passing the moon was a lucky “grab shot”. I’ve tried to repeat the shot many times, but have never been successful.
Turkey Vulture soaring past the first quarter moon. Backyard winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)Turkey Vulture soaring in the afternoon sun. Backyard winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)Turkey Vulture soaring in the afternoon sun. Backyard winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)Male Northern Cardinal enjoying the sun. Backyard winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)Pine cones in the late afternoon sun. Backyard winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 14: Tromsø.
Wintertime walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Part 2: Ships and boats. With its long coastline, Norway is a nautical seafaring nation. I arrived in Tromsø on the MS Nordkapp, a Hurtigruten line ship three days earlier and would leave on a different Hurtigruten ship. On this day there were fishing trawlers, combination passenger ferry/Ro-Ro (roll on, roll off) cargo ships, and a fire/rescue boat named the Wanny Woldstad. Later in the day, the Hurtigruten MS Kong Harald stopped in Tromsø. I had been on that ship the winter of 2007. On the way back to the hotel, we watched a combination passenger ferry/Ro-Ro cargo ship be winched out of the water to into a dry dock shipyard.
Haugagut H-50-AV fishing trawler docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Kamaro fishing trawler docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Vensøy — passenger/Ro-Ro cargo ship docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Lenvik fishing trawler docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Wanny Woldstad — Tromsø fire and rescue boat. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Hurtigruten line MS Kong Harald docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/25 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W and one color). (David J Mathre)Stallovarre — passenger/Ro-Ro cargo ship being winched into a dry dock in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Aft rudder and screw on the Stallovarre. A passenger/Ro-Ro cargo ship being winched into a dry dock in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)
