Five-Years Ago (05-October-2013) — Utah & Arizona

Gone to See America 2013. On the Road: Green River to Sedona.

Early DIY Car Cam time-lapse video. Driving from Green River to Sedona. Eight hours travel time compressed to two minutes 44 seconds. Images captured with a Nikon One V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens mounted on a tripod sitting in my passenger seat. The 3934 images were processed with Photoshop CC  and exported  into a 720p 24p time-lapse video. Fast-forward to today, and I am about to mount a Garmin VIRB camera on my dashboard so I can do 360 degree time-lapse videos on future road trips.

Ten-Years Ago (05-October-2008) — California

Gone to See America October 2008 Road Trip. Eighth Annual Nikonian Photography Adventure Trip. Day 1: Yosemite National Park.

Sunset Panorama of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. There were many photographers (in addition to the Nikonian group) lined up at the Tunnel View parking lot to photograph sunset. Many left thinking nothing was going to happen, then all of a sudden sunlight came in from the west under the clouds  to light up both sides of the valley with this incredible orange color.

Sunset Panorama from the Tunnel View Observation Point. Composite of 5 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens. Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using AutoPano Giga. (David J Mathre)
Sunset Panorama from the Tunnel View Observation Point. Composite of 5 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens. Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using AutoPano Giga. (David J Mathre)

Best viewed in full screen mode — double-click on the image.

Ten-Years Ago (05-October-2008) — California

Gone to See America October 2008 Road Trip. Eighth Annual Nikonian Photography Adventure Trip. Day 1: Yosemite National Park.

Reflections on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. Images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 1/30, 1/50, 1/80, 1/125, 1/200 sec). For many years I would take an exposure bracketed series of an image. For example with three images (-1 EV, 0 EV, +1 EV) or with five images (-1 1/3 EV, -2/3 EV, 0 EV, +2/3 EV, +1 1/3 EV). Then either pick the best exposure, or use a post processing program to combine two or more of the images to get a high-dynamic range (HDR) image. This allows more detail by recovering data from dark underexposed areas or blown-out overexposed areas in the image. This was especially important when dealing with digital images with 8-bits of dynamic range (i.e. jpg). The sensors in modern digital cameras are able to record images with 12 or 14 bit of dynamic range. This allows programs such as Capture One Pro to pull out more data from a single image to simulate a HDR image without needing to combine data from multiple images.


Raw image bracket (-1 1/3 EV, -2/3 EV, 0 EV, +2/3 EV, +1 1/3 EV)


Above images processed with Capture One Pro (Built in Style, Legacy, Landscape, Landscape Color 2)

Reflections on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 1/80 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (Built in Style, Legacy, Landscape, Landscape Color-2). Further adjustments with the High Dynamic Range Highlight and Shadow sliders. (David J Mathre)
Reflections on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 1/80 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (Built in Style, Legacy, Landscape, Landscape Color-2). (David J Mathre)

Best image with further adjustments using the High Dynamic Range Highlight and Shadow sliders

Thursday (04-October-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Yard Work in New Jersey.

There is a lot of yard work that needs to be completed before winter. I set up the Garmin VIRB-360 camera to record the day on the front of my Lawn Tractor.  I’ve ordered a powered mounting bracket to mount the camera in my car. A lot easier than when I mounted a camera on a tripod sitting in the passenger seat for recording time-lapse videos of cross country road trips.

Six-Years Ago (04-October-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Fungus Among Us!! Since I got back from the Fall Semester at Sea Voyage six years ago, everything had been damp and wet. I’ve never seen a blue mushroom before. This one had a slug feasting it. The images in this post are all from my driveway where mushrooms are abundant.

Blue Mushroom and Slug. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 60 mm, f/16, 1/13 sec) + SB-910 flash. (David J Mathre)
Blue Mushroom and Slug. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 60 mm, f/16, 1/13 sec) + SB-910 flash. (David J Mathre)


Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.