Category: Landscape

Views of the land around the world

Five-Years Ago (23-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 6: Kona.

Five years ago I completed a photography workshop on the Big Island of Hawaii with Thom Hogan.  While on the way to the airport to catch our return flights, we stopped at Lighthaus Camera. Coincidentally, it was “Black Friday” and everything was on sale. We noticed that the store just received their initial shipment of the newly released Nikon D300 camera.  Three or four of the workshop participants purchased the cameras on the spot. I have to admit that mine was an impulse purchase. Over the next four years, I took nearly 55K images with the camera (2007: 3164 images; 2008: 20371 images; 2009: 29355 images; 2010: 919 images; 2011: 628 images). This was my last Nikon DX sensor camera. Since then all of my Nikon DSLR cameras had full frame FX sensors.

The last shooting location for the workshop on that day was at Hawaii Tropical Gardens. I reprocessed an image Onomea Water Falls using Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Onomea Water Falls, Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 105 mm f/2.8 macro (ISO 100, f/11, 1/1.6 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro 6, PhotoShop CS5, and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. (David J. Mathre)
Onomea Water Falls, Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 105 mm f/2.8 macro (ISO 100, f/11, 1/1.6 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro 6, PhotoShop CS5, and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. (David J. Mathre)

Thanksgiving (22-November-2012) — New Jersey

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. This is an image of three young wild turkeys in my backyard earlier this year.

Young Wild Turkeys. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Young Wild Turkeys. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Sunday (18-November-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Night Sky in New Jersey: Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails.

While processing through the images from the other night, I found three (maybe four) Leonid meteor trails in a star trail composite of 35 one minute exposures. The camera was facing south from my deck, and the sky was just starting to get light.

The Drobo disk array upgrade and data backups are finally complete (after almost three weeks). I can now start processing more images from my Fall 2012 Semester at Sea voyage, and the three-week trip to New Mexico and west Texas (including a week with the ANPAT 12 trip).

Late Fall Night Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails over New Jersey. Composite of 35 Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails over New Jersey. Composite of 35 Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)

Saturday (17-November-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Leonid Meteor Trails.

I had two cameras out all night last night. I captured images of a few Leonid Meteors. I now need to put together some time-lapsed movies of the night sky. It is clear again tonight, so will try again with some different angles.

Late Fall Night Sky and Leonid Meteors Trail over New Jersey. Composite of two images taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Sky and Leonid Meteors Trail over New Jersey. Composite of two images taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Sky and Leonid Meteors Trail over New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Sky and Leonid Meteors Trail over New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Sky and Leonid Meteors Trail over New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Sky and Leonid Meteors Trail over New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Sky and Leonid Meteors Trail over New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Sky and Leonid Meteors Trail over New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)

Friday (16-November-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Waxing Crescent Moon at Dusk.

I went out to check if the sky would be clear tonight for the Leonid Meteors, and saw the waxing crescent moon. I took this image with a Leica X2. The camera was set for black & white (natural). Since this camera does record raw (Adobe DNG) images, I was also able to process a color version. Let me know which image you like. Since the sky looks clear, I will have cameras out to capture some meteor images — and don’t expect to get much sleep tonight.

Late Fall Waxing Crescent Moon at Dusk. Image taken with a Leica X2 Camera (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). In camera B&W. (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Waxing Crescent Moon at Dusk. Image taken with a Leica X2 Camera (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). In camera B&W. (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Waxing Cresent Moon at Dusk. Image taken with a Leica X2 Camera (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec) (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Waxing Cresent Moon at Dusk. Image taken with a Leica X2 Camera (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec) (David J. Mathre)