Category: Landscape

Views of the land around the world

Thursday (08-November-2012) — New Jersey

Autumn Weather in New Jersey: Nor’easter Athena.

An early winter. Not as much wind from Nor’easter Athena, but we did get 8-12 inches of snow last night. I didn’t know that nor’easters get names like hurricanes — social media or weather and news channels looking for ratings? Power was off for about 12 hours, so it was cold in the house this morning. Still not sure if the power was off due to ongoing power grid repairs, or new damage due to this storm.

PSE&G just sent an e-mail out that stated 70K users were still out due to hurricane Sandy, and another 90K users were out due to the nor’easter last night. The other comment was “Despite the snowstorm, the 4,000 out-of-state workers and 700 PSE&G linemen restored service to more than 120,000 customers affected by Hurricane Sandy in the past 24 hours. Many of our crews from the south have never worked in snow before, but have proven more than capable of handling this new challenge.”

Dawn after Nor'easter Athena, One+ Week Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Dawn after Nor’easter Athena, One+ Week Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snow Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snowy Dawn. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snow Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Birch Tree Bent Over by Snow. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snow Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Dawn after Nor’easter Athena, One+ Week Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snow Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Deer Tracks in the Snow. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)

Six-Years Ago (05-November-2006) — New Jeresy

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey.

Moonlit night sky with the clouds rolling in.


Four images taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-55 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/2.8, 6 sec)

Five-Years Ago (04-November-2007) — Colorado

Autumn Road Trip in Colorado: Rocky Mountain National Park.

  1. Panorama at Storm Pass Trail head in Rocky Mountain National Park (along the road to Bear Lake). Composite of 8 images taken with a Nikon D2xs and  28-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/11, 1/20 sec). Image processed using DxO, AutoPano Giga, and Photoshop CS5.
  2. Steller’s Jay in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec). Hand held, VR works! This was a new type of blue jay for me.
Panorama at Storm Pass Trailhead, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (David J Mathre)
Panorama at Storm Pass Trailhead, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (David J Mathre)
Panorama at Storm Pass Trailhead, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (David J Mathre)
Panorama at Storm Pass Trailhead, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (David J Mathre)

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Five-Years Ago (03-November-2007) — Colorado

Autumn Road Trip in Colorado: Great Sand Dune National Park.

I drove from Boulder to southwestern Colorado to visit Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge. It was late in the season and very dry, so not many birds remained. I then traveled to Great Sand Dunes National Park. The sky was clear and blue. I took some panorama images of the sand dunes and the dry Medano creek bed. Most of the other folks visiting the park that day were there to climb and slide down the large sand dunes. I need to revisit both locations in the spring to see the migrating birds at the wildlife refuge, and  to see Medano creek with water flowing.

  1. Great Sand Dunes Panorama taken from the Visitor Center. Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/11, 1/80 sec). Processed using DxO, AutoPano Giga, Photoshop CS5. 2.
  2. Walking to the dunes with sleds. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec).
  3. Walking to the dunes with sleds. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec).
  4. Panorama of the dry Medano creek bed, sand dunes, and Crestone peaks. Composite of 3 images taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/11, 1/40 sec). Processed using DxO, AutoPano Giga, Photoshop CS5.
Colorado Fall Nature; Grand Sand Dunes NP; Alamosa NWP (David J Mathre)
Colorado Fall Nature; Grand Sand Dunes National Park (David J Mathre)
Colorado Fall Nature; Grand Sand Dunes NP; Alamosa NWP (David J Mathre)
Colorado Fall Nature; Grand Sand Dunes NP; Alamosa NWP (David J Mathre)
Colorado Fall Nature; Grand Sand Dunes NP; Alamosa NWP (David J Mathre)
Colorado Fall Nature; Grand Sand Dunes NP; Alamosa NWP (David J Mathre)
Medano Creek Panorama, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. (David J Mathre)
Medano Creek Panorama, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. (David J Mathre)

Friday (02-November-2012) — New Jersey

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Day 4 — Power Still Out.

Before the power can be restored, there is a lot of cleanup work that needs to be done. One of the transformers that went down has been leaking oil for several days. It is not known if the oil contained PCBs. A PSE&G truck was sent out to put absorbent down to clean up the oil. Unfortunately, at least one driver (in the last image) had been giving the PSE&G worker a hard time because he wasn’t being allowed to drive through the oil and under the downed power lines. The PSE&G folks are working 16 hour days to restore power and need to be acknowledged – not hassled.

Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)