Photo Techniques - David Mathre Photography

Sunday (23-July-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

We had a lot of rain last night. Good for the small wildflower meadows, and good for the few tomato plants that haven’t been nibbled by the deer. I did an early morning walkabout to view the wildflowers. I am still getting a lot of Poppy blooms, as well as Cosmos, Coreopsis, Zinnia, Blackeyed Susan, and others that I don’t know the ID. Some of the Sunflowers are starting to bloom (those that the deer didn’t find). I also saw that the Burma (Bottle Gourd) bloomed last night with a big white flower.

The kitchen renovation is progressing. All but one of the IKEA cabinets have been assembled. Still lots of work to do. After the contractor left, I went back out to the wildflower meadow and saw a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth. It made my day knowing that the work to create the trial wildflower garden/meadow was worth it…

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth approaching a Pink Cosmos wildflower. Backyard summer nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (© 2017 David J Mathre)

Saturday (22-July-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

The first Sunflower to bloom in my wildflower meadow. Somehow it escaped the deer that have nibbled many of the sunflower plants before they were able to bloom. The deer don’t seem to mind the electric fence. My neighbors tell me that I need to put up an 8-10 foot fence. That won’t keep the ground-hog from digging below the fence.

First Sunflower Bloom. Backyard summer nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 60 mm, f/6.3, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (27-June-2014) — Spain

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 27: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Getxo, Spain.

Sidewalk Skaters in Getxo Spain. Images taken with a Leica X2 camera. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, and Photoshop CC 2014

Sidewalk Skaters in Getxo Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/6.3, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, and Photoshop CC 2014 (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (27-June-2014) — Spain

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 27: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Getxo, Spain.

Sunrise and Lighthouse Upon Arrival at Getxo, Spain. From the deck of the Semester at Sea MV Explorer, Summer Semester Voyage. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Gexto Harbor Lighthouse at Sunrise from the Deck of the MV Explorer. Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Voyage. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 len (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8 and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre) — Gexto Harbor Lighthouse at Sunrise from the Deck of the MV Explorer. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 len (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Sunday (25-June-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Early Summer Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

The weather held, and I got a second chance to capture an image of the fireflies flashing in my backyard. This time I set up two cameras, reduced the aperture (so a greater distance would be in focus), increased the ISO to increase the brightness (dealt with the increased noise in post processing), and set the focus distance to ~70 feet (locking the focus ring with gaffer tape). This time the composite images were better. I will try again tomorrow.