Sunday (11-March-2018) — New Jersey

Late-Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The deer keep getting closer to the house looking for food as winter winds down. They have already clipped the yucca plants. Now all that is left is the grass.

Doe looking for a meal in the snow in the afternoon sun. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 80-400 mm VRII telephoto zoom lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)
Doe looking for a meal in the snow in the afternoon sun. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 80-400 mm VRII telephoto zoom lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)
Doe looking for a meal in the snow in the afternoon sun. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 80-400 mm VRII telephoto zoom lens (ISO 500, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)
Doe looking for a meal in the snow in the afternoon sun. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 80-400 mm VRII telephoto zoom lens (ISO 500, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (10-March-2015) — Argentina

Gone to See Patagonia 2015 Photography Tour with Thom Hogan. Day 9: Estancia Cristina, Argentina.

I went for an early morning walkabout at Estancia Cristina and was rewarded by the sky being lit up at dawn. I am always amazed by the colors of the clouds at dawn and dusk in Patagonia.

Dawn in Patagonia at Estancia Christina. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Dawn in Patagonia at Estancia Cristina. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Dawn in Patagonia at Estancia Christina. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Zeiss 12 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 12 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Dawn in Patagonia at Estancia Cristina. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Zeiss 12 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 12 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)

Thursday (08-March-2018) — New Jersey

Late Winter Backyard Morning Nature in New Jersey.

Dawn colors as viewed from my rear patio door. The snow is nearly knee-deep. It will be a few days before this all melts. Composite of six images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens. The colors in the eastern sky disappeared within a few minutes. Four trees, lots of branches and my last Rhododendron were lost due to the heavy snow and strong winds. During the rest of the day, there were several power glitches. A little after 23:00 the power went out completely for about an hour while the PSE&G crews reconnected some of the neighbors houses.

Dawn view out my patio door after the Nor'easter storm. Composite of six images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Dawn view out my patio door after the Nor’easter storm. Composite of six images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (07-March-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Late Winter in New Jersey. Nor’easter Two.

Winter finally arrived with the second nor’easter in a week. This time with lots of snow. The snow started last night. By mid-day it was coming down pretty fast. I was surprised when I had an Amazon Prime – Prime Pantry delivery. In the past, UPS or USPS would hold the delivery if it was snowing. The independent Amazon delivery folks came through. The driver did indicate he was having issues with the GPS on his phone not working, and had to use a map.  During the afternoon I heard thunder, and several trees falling. I took these images just before 17:00 while it was still light out. In some places the snow was up to my knees. It will be a while before I can get the car up the driveway. It looks like I lost 3 or 4 trees, and my last Rhododendron bush. I will miss the Rhododendron flowers since they attracted both bees and hummingbird moths. By evening the power was spiking several times. It only went out once, but I did have to reset several devices.


Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

Saturday (03-March-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey.

It took all night before the power line burned through the tree. I was fortunate that my power was restored after about 2 hours. Those further down the street had to wait. Later on, as the sun was setting the western sky lit up. It looks like light from the sun came in under some remnant clouds from the Nor’easter just before setting. I don’t really have a good western view from my backyard. I ended up going all the way back to the section I have cleared for a wildflower meadow. After all the rain and snow for the storm the section is now a muddy field. The sunset panorama is a composite of six images taken with a Leica CL camera and stitched together using AutoPano Giga Pro. Best viewed in full screen mode.

Tree after being burned by power line. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 100, 133 mm, f/4.5, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Tree after being burned by power line. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 100, 133 mm, f/4.5, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Colored Clouds at Sunset. Composite of six images taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Colored Clouds at Sunset. Composite of six images taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)