Category: Nature

Views of nature and the natural world. Plants, animals, and wildlife from around the world.

Two-Years Ago (15-January-2016) — Pacific Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 11: Crossing the Pacific Ocean From Hawaii to Japan.

There were lots of storm clouds in the morning. The sun rose under the clouds producing some interesting electric orange colors. Later in the morning we had some rain squalls, but when the sun reappeared the conditions were right for some rainbows. Later that evening a Masked Booby decided to spend the night on the forward deck. Actually, I think after the bird landed, it found out that there was not enough room to take-off again. It is actually a pretty big bird. Before the students could harass it, or try to feed it bread some members of the crew came out with a blanket to cover the bird. They then took it to an aft deck where there was room for it take-off and fly away.



Individual images in the slide-show can be viewed here.



Individual images in the slide-show can be viewed here.



Individual images in the slide-show can be viewed here.

Two-Years Ago (14-January-2016) — Pacific Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 10: Crossing the Pacific Ocean From Hawaii to Japan.

There were a few folks out to work-out, photograph, or meditate for sunrise. The Masked and Brown Boobies continue to follow the ship. I think they are using the thermals created by our motion as they search for fish. I managed to get an image of a Brown Booby just after it caught a Flying Fish. Later on at sunset, the conditions were just right for us to see a “Green Flash” as the sun disappeared into the Pacific Ocean.

Brown Booby with a Flying Fish for Lunch. Image taken from the deck of the MV World Odyssey while crossing the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Japan. Semester at Sea -- Spring 2016 Voyage -- Day 10. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (147 mm, ISO 400, f/5.3, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Brown Booby with a Flying Fish for Lunch. Image taken from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (147 mm, ISO 400, f/5.3, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)



Individual images from the slide-show can be viewed here.



Individual images from the slide-show can be viewed here.



Individual images from the slide-show can be viewed here.

Two-Years Ago (13-January-2016) — Pacific Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 9: Crossing the Pacific Ocean From Hawaii to Japan.

Images from dawn to sunset from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. One thing that I noted on this voyage was the very red color of the sun at sunrise and sunset as we crossed the Pacific ocean. I wasn’t expecting smog in the middle of the ocean. The closer we got to Asia, it became even more pronounced. I normally do not try to take pictures of the sun without a very dark filter, especially through a telephoto lens. However, on this voyage the atmosphere near the horizon became that filter. For the two panorama images there are a few artifacts where the images were stitched together. The image was dark and the ship was moving, and rocking due to the waves and wind.

Orange colored sky and clouds over the Pacific Ocean just after sunrise. Composite of 10 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and stitched together with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Orange colored sky and clouds over the Pacific Ocean just after sunrise. Composite of 10 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and stitched together with AutoPano Giga Pro. Click on the image for a wider view. (David J Mathre)



Individual images in the slide-show can be viewed here.



Individual images in the slide-show can be viewed here.



Individual images in the slide-show can be viewed here.

Friday (12-January-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: A Newt.

The outdoor temperatures rose to the mid 60’s and it rained most of the day. I went outside and noticed a tiny newt on my doorstep. Only a couple of days ago there was snow on the ground. At first I wondered if it was alive, but saw it move. The arms and legs are very small. I got a small tripod and started taking pictures with a macro lens and flash. I was fortunate that it didn’t move long enough to take a series of images that could be processed with focus stacking software (Helicon Focus).

Tiny Newt on my Doorstep. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Tiny Newt on my Doorstep. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Tiny Newt on my Doorstep. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of seven focus stacked images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus (method B, radius 8, smoothing 4). (David J Mathre)
Tiny Newt on my Doorstep. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of seven focus stacked images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus (method B, radius 8, smoothing 4). (David J Mathre)