Saturday (12-March-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Late-Winter Nature in New Jersey. Spring is Near.

As Promised, Snow Drops (and more Purple Crocuses). This morning the sun was out and lighting up the flowers across the street. Snow Drops, a field of Snow Drops, Snow Drops in a field of Purple Crocuses, a field of Purple Crocuses, etc. Spring is Coming!

Snow Drops -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Snow Drops — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec).
Field of Snow Drops and Purple Crocuses -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Field of Snow Drops and Purple Crocuses — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec).
Field of Purple Crocuses -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Field of Purple Crocuses — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec).
Purple Crocuses Bloom -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 19.2 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Purple Crocuses Bloom — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 19.2 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec).
Field of Purple Crocuses -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Field of Purple Crocuses — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec).

Friday (11-March-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Purple Crocuses Blooming — Spring is Coming!

These images of Purple Crocuses Blooming were taken across the street from my home. Weather permitting I will try to get some macro images of the Snow Drops tomorrow. The Daffodils are only a week away from blooming.

Purple Crocuses -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 7.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Purple Crocuses — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 7.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 sec).
Purple Crocuses -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 19.2 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Purple Crocuses — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 19.2 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec).
Purple Crocuses -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 19.2 mm, f/4.5, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Purple Crocuses — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 19.2 mm, f/4.5, 1/800 sec).
Purple Crocuses -- Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 7.5 mm, f/8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
Purple Crocuses — Spring is Coming. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 7.5 mm, f/8, 1/160 sec).

Thursday (03-March-2011) — New Jersey.

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Spring is Coming!!!

There is hope for spring. I saw these purple crocuses starting to bloom across the road when I got home tonight. The snow has mostly melted, but the temperature keeps going up and down. This morning it was 17° F when I left for work. Tomorrow if the weather is good I plan to go out with a macro lens. After taking the pictures, I walked the backyard for the first time since last December, and see that I have a lot of work to clean up more trees and branches down. Presumably the damage happened during the ice storm.

Purple crocus blooms peaking above the fall leaves. A sure sign that spring is coming. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 85 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 85 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Purple crocus blooms peaking above the fall leaves. A sure sign that spring is coming. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 85 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 85 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (26-February-2010) — California

Photography Workshop “Yosemite in Winter: A Season of Contrast” with Michael Mariant. Day 2: Yosemite National Park.

The following image is a combination of two NIK tools, HDR Pro and Silver Efex 2. The images were taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/11, various shutter speeds) during a photography workshop one-year ago in Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite Valley Winter Storm Building. Nikonians "Yosemite in Winter"2010 Workshop. HDR Composite. Images taken with a Nikon D3s and 14-24 mm f/2.8 (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/11) (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (25-February-2010) — California

Photography Workshop “Yosemite in Winter: A Season of Contrast” with Michael Mariant. Day 1: Yosemite National Park.

NIK just released version 2 of their Silver Efex Pro plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom. I have been using version 1 of Silver Efex since it was released for converting digital images to monochrome (black & white). The new version has the look and feel of NIK’s HDR plugin. The first image is the original taken a year ago during the “Yosemite in Winter: A Season in Contrast” photography workshop (RAW image processed with Capture One Pro, and sharpened with Focus Magic in Photoshop CS5), the second is the B&W version converted using the new Silver Efex 2.

Yosemite Valley in Winter. Nikonians 2010 Yosemite Winter Workshop Day 1. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, f/8, 1/40 sec). Capture One Pro 6. Adobe Photoshop CS5, Focus Magic. (David J Mathre)
Yosemite Valley in Winter. Nikonians 2010 Yosemite Winter Workshop Day 1. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, f/8, 1/40 sec). Capture One Pro 6. Adobe Photoshop CS5, Focus Magic.
Yosemite Valley in Winter. Nikonians 2010 Yosemite Winter Workshop Day 1. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, f/8, 1/40 sec). Capture One Pro 6. Adobe Photoshop CS5, Focus Magic, NIK Silver Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Yosemite Valley in Winter. Nikonians 2010 Yosemite Winter Workshop Day 1. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, f/8, 1/40 sec). Capture One Pro 6. Adobe Photoshop CS5, Focus Magic, NIK Silver Efex Pro 2.