Nature - David Mathre Photography

Monday (13-August-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Perseid Meteor Shower. I know that I said that I was going to go out to get more images of Clearwing Hummingbird moths, but the sky was finally clear last night and I had an opportunity to view the Perseid Meteor Shower. I set up two cameras on the back deck — a Nikon D4 camera with a 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye and a Nikon D800 camera with a 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens. Each was set to take 30 sec images (ISO 400, f/2.8). With the D800 camera and 14-24 lens I took the time to take a set of images to find out where I got the best focus for stars at infinity. For the 16 mm fisheye lens I just used infinity on the lens. This was a mistake. The images I got with the 14-24 lens where I spent the time to test the focus were a lot better, especially with the 32 MB sensor on the D800 camera.

The first image below is a single exposure with a meteor trail using the D800 & 14-24 mm lens. I really don’t understand the physics of other images on the internet of the Perseid Meteor Shower that show long exposures of the night sky (1-6 hours) that show multiple meteor trails where both the stars and the ground/landscape don’t move.

I have included several ~1 hour star trail images that are composites of the 30 second images (using the Startrails.exe program). The sky in New Jersey is not that dark, and the glow in the bottom of the image is the light from Princeton and Trenton. If you look close, several do show 1 or more meteor trails that were visible in New Jersey.

Perseid Meteor Trail. Summer Night Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). (David J Mathre) — Perseid Meteor Trail. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)

Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Summer Night Sky in New Jersey. Composite of images taken between 2113h and 2200h with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre) — Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Composite of images taken between 2113h and 2200h with a Nikon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Summer Night Sky in New Jersey. Composite of images taken between 2200h and 2300h with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre) — Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Composite of images taken between 2200h and 2300h with a Nikon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Summer Night Sky in New Jersey. Composite of images taken between 2300h and 2400h with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre) — Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Composite of images taken between 2300h and 2400h with a Nikon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Summer Night Sky in New Jersey. Composite of images taken between 0000h and 0100h with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre) — Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Composite of images taken between 0000h and 0100h with a Nikon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Summer Night Sky in New Jersey. Composite of images taken between 0100h and 0200h with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre) — Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Composite of images taken between 0100h and 0200h with a Nikon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Summer Night Sky in New Jersey. Composite of images taken between 0200h and 0313h with a Nikon D800 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre) — Startrails Looking For Perseid Meteors. Composite of images taken between 0200h and 0313h with a Nikon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec) using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

Sunday (12-August-2012) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey: Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth. I went for a walk at the Sourland Mountain Preserve today. I was looking to see if the thistles are now in bloom. I first noticed a Clearwing Hummingbird moth at a Joe Pye weed bloom. Further up the trail, I did find that the thistles are now in bloom. I saw many Monarch and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies — then more Clearwing Hummingbird Moths. If the weather is good, I will go back tomorrow with a bigger lens and full tripod.

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre) — Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre) — Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Thistle Bloom. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre) — Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Thistle Bloom. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre) — Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Friday (10-August-2012) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey: Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Harvey the Bullfrog. I took the same image of this bullfrog using a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 telephoto lens at different apertures. The camera and lens were mounted on a gimbal tripod. This version of the 400 mm lens does not have vibration reduction, but the heavy weight of the lens plus good long lens techniques minimized the impact of vibration due to mirror and shutter motion. The aperture was changed from f/2.8 to f/8 to see the impact on depth of view. The following are significant crops of the original images.

Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre) — Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 400 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre) — Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 400 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 280, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre) — Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 280, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 560, 400 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre) — Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 560, 400 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (08-August-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Bald-faced Hornet. I noticed a number of bald-faced hornets that seemed attracted to holly tree leaves. I don’t know if they are trying to get some of the wax off the leaves for their hive. I have not found the hive yet. A couple of years ago they built a basket-ball size hive in my backyard, and made a video. 24-July-2010 and images last year 23-July-2011 I understand that the bald faced hornet is easily upset, and unlike a honey bee is able to inflict multiple stings — so do want to find the hive.

Bald-faced Hornet on a Holly Leaf. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre) — Bald-faced Hornet on a Holly Leaf. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (07-August-2012) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey: Sourland Mountain Preserve.

The Lonely Goose. I’ve been watching this Canada goose at the Sourland Mountain Preserve for a while now. Unlike its siblings, it never left. I have a feeling that it can not fly. When ever threatened, it just moves into the pond. Other Canada geese stop by to visit, but this one never leaves. It gets enough to eat as it is almost fully grown. I will continue to watch it, but not sure that it will be able to survive a cold winter.

This was my first outing with my new Nikon D4 camera. I had it connected to a 400 mm f/2.8 lens. I forgot how heavy this lens is, and had it mounted on a gimble tripod. This is a pre-VR version of the lens, but it is heavy enough to absorb much of the camera shutter & mirror vibration.

The Lonely Goose. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 360, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre) — The Lonely Goose. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 360, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

GPS: N40°28’24 W74°41’39