Fine Art - David Mathre Photography

Tuesday (21-August-2012) — New Jersey to Canada

Travel Day – New Jersey to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

For this trip, I arranged for a car service to take me from my home to the airport. The Newark airport long-term parking has a 30 day limit (which can be extended as long as you call the day you leave the car in the lot), but would have ended up costing more than the car service.

I got a call from the driver about 45 minutes before he was scheduled to arrive at my house. I had a hard time understanding him, but it sounded like he wasn’t even in the right county. I provided some directions, and he finally said he would pull over and check the address on Google Maps. Ultimately he showed up about 10 minutes late, but then got me to the airport in record time. Normally, it takes me about 2 hours to get to the airport, park in long-term parking, and ride the shuttle bus to the terminal. It took the driver just over an hour to get me from my house to the terminal. The driver was not speeding – he just got the traffic right once I directed him to I-287.

The flight was out of terminal A. I breezed through check-in and security, ending up at the terminal gate 2 hours early. As soon as I sat down I received a text message that the flight was delayed for 1 hour, so ended up waiting 3 hours for the flight to board. The flight was on a commuter jet where I barely had room for my camera/computer bag. The flight itself took less time than getting to the airport and waiting to board the plane.

We arrived at the Halifax airport just after a jumbo-jet from London. This meant long lines at passport control. It was interesting to see how many college age folks with parents were on the flight. I wondered how many would be joining the Semester at Sea voyage. The Canadian immigration folks did detain several folks from the London flight for extra questioning. The ones being questioned appeared to be from India or Pakistan. The passport control official made a comment that I appeared to be the oldest student coming into Halifax to board the MV Explorer. The taxi ride from the airport to my hotel in Halifax cost $53 Canadian. As soon as I checked into the hotel I walked about 6 blocks down to the harbor to find something to eat and take some pictures. There were lots of young folks checking out the restaurants and bars in the tourist area near the harbor. I was surprised how many tourists were in town being that there were no cruise ships in port. I found the location where I needed to go for boarding the MV Explorer on Wednesday. The MV Explorer was not yet in port. I stayed in the harbor area until sunset, and then went back to the hotel. The bars near the hotel were busy until well after midnight, and it didn’t get quiet until 02:00.

Norway Memorial in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (ISO 125, 13.6 mm, f/4.7, 1/80 sec). The image includes the reflection of the photographer, Halifax Harbor, and a sailboat. (David J Mathre)

Canada Sea Fishing Boat on the Halifax Harbor at Sunset. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (ISO 400, 13.6 mm, f/4.7, 1/80 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS6, and the Topaz Painterly filter. (David J Mathre)

Thursday (28-June-2012) — New Jersey

Montgomery Township New Jersey Independence Day Fireworks.

Montgomery Township in New Jersey typically has an Independence Day fireworks celebration several days before the 4th of July. This year it was almost a week earlier. I have a great location near my house that has a view that is above the high school where the fireworks are launched. This was the first time I was able to use the new high-resolution Nikon D800 to photograph a fireworks display. In all I had five cameras set up to record the event. Individual images can be viewed here.

Montgomery Township Fireworks. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/11, 8 sec). (David J Mathre)

Monday (14-May-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

The Rhododendorn’s that the deer didn’t eat last winter are currently in bloom. The following five pictures are the same image processed differently. The first image is the straight out of the camera imbedded jpg image with no post processing. Next next four pictures were processed with Phase One Capture One Pro 6; Nikon Capture NX2; Adobe Lightroom 4; and Adobe Photoshop CS6.

I’m interested in comments which version you like or dislike.

One-Year Ago (27-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 8: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

Early Morning Panorama of the Sand Dunes at Mesquite Flats in Death Valley National Park. I used four images taken during the Spring Workshop in Death Valley last year to create a panorama view. The raw images were initially processed using Capture One Pro and then sharpened using Focus Magic. The first panorama was created using AutoPano Giga. The resulting file was 16205 x 3420 pixels (54″ x 11.4″ @ 300 dpi). The image was enhanced with NIK Color Efex Pro (Pro Contrast) and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5. When examined closely there was a problem at the transition between images. The second panorama was created using PTGui Pro. In this case the resulting file was 14539 x 3894 pixels (48.5″ x 13 ” @ 300 dpi). The image was enhanced with NIK Color Efex Pro (Pro Contrast) and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5. The third version was converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro (Fine Art) and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5. Images best viewed in full screen mode.

Early Morning Sand Dune Panorama. Composite of 4 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, AutoPano Giga, NIK Color Efex Pro 2, and converted for web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Early Morning Sand Dune Panorama. Composite of 4 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, AutoPano Giga, NIK Color Efex Pro 2, and converted for web with Photoshop CS5.

Saturday (24-December-2011) — Florida

Gone to See America. December 2011 Florida Road Trip. Day 5: St. Petersburg.

Sun Rising from under the Sunshine Skyway bridge viewed from Fort De Soto Park. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Sunrise Rising Under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge from Fort Desoto County Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-200 mm f/2 VRII lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/16. 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre) — Sunrise Rising Under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge from Fort De Soto Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-200 mm f/2 VRII lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/16. 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)