Sunday (31-December-2017) — Florida

Gone to See Florida 2017/2018 Road Trip. Day 11: Big Cypress National Preserve.

The trees are too close together at Clyde Butcher’s retreat to get a good view of the full sky for sunrise or sunset. I found a nearby location near the northern entrance of the Loop road for sunset last night, so I returned for dawn and sunrise. I was not disappointed as the colors in the clouds developed just before sunrise.

Inverse Little-Planet View of Colorful Dawn Clouds. Begining of the Loop road through Big Cypress National Preserve. Winter Nature in Florida Composite of 21 mages taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Inverse Little-Planet View of Colorful Dawn Clouds. Begining of the Loop road through Big Cypress National Preserve. Winter Nature in Florida Composite of 21 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

I went back to Clyde Butcher’s “Swamp Bungalow” for breakfast. The baby (one-year old) alligators were out next to the pond. Then it was back to the Loop road in Big Cypress National Preserve, with two goals — more birds and alligators, and pictures of the Cypress swamp. The swamp pictures were taken with a Leica T camera and then converted to B&W.





Thirteen-Years Ago (30-December-2006) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Fisheye View

My fourth Nikon lens was a 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. I had never used a fisheye lens before, so these were some early experiments with the lens.

Red Ivy Berries. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
Red Ivy Berries. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
Small Pine Cones. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/90 sec). (David J Mathre)
Small Pine Cones. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/90 sec). (David J Mathre)
Large Pine Cones. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Large Pine Cones. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (12-December-2012) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Turkey Vulture in a Tree Waiting to Warm in the Morning Sun. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 160, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec).

Turkey Vulture in a Tree Waiting to Warm in the Morning Sun. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 FT1 adapter and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 160, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec). (David J Mathre)
Turkey Vulture in a Tree Waiting to Warm in the Morning Sun. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 160, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec). (David J Mathre)

Two-Years Ago (05-December-2015) — New Jersey

Late-Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Jets Through the Star-trail Vortex

These are not fireworks. The challenge here is for someone to explain how I created this star-trail image… The Fuji X-T1 camera and 18 mm f/2 lens was mounted on a tripod just outside my backdoor.

Star-trails with jets going through the vortex. Composite of images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 18 mm f/2 lens (ISO 400, 18 mm, f/4, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star-trails with jets going through the vortex. Composite of images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 18 mm f/2 lens (ISO 400, 18 mm, f/4, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (05-December-2013) — New Jersey

Troll Family: Holiday Card

Edited images from 2013 for a Holiday Card. Troll family portrait with a background of Northern Lights from Tromsö, Norway.

Troll Family visiting Norway for the Northern Lights. The entire sky just exploded just after midnight. (David J Mathre)
Troll Family visiting Norway for the Northern Lights. The entire sky just exploded just after midnight. (David J Mathre)