Thursday (26-May-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Last fall my contractor cleared a section of my backyard and started digging a depression for a small pond. We didn’t finish the pond before winter and my round the world Spring Semester at Sea Voyage. With all of the rain this spring the hole filled up with water. I now have a pond in progress. I was pleased to see that frogs (and turtles) have already discovered the pond. I managed to get a picture of this frog before it jumped into the water this morning. When you look closely you can see two mosquitoes on the back of the frog. I had hoped that the frogs (or tadpoles) would take care of the mosquito larva in the pond. I may need to get some goldfish to add to the pond.

Kermit the Bullfrog Near a Pond in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). [FOV Equivalent to ~ 810 mm on a 35 mm image sensor].

Kermit the Bullfrog Near a Pond in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). [FOV Equivalent to ~ 810 mm on a 35 mm image sensor]. (David J Mathre)
Kermit the Bullfrog Near a Pond in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (25-May-2013) — England

Gone to See Europe. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV with Michael Mariant. Day 29: Dover, England.

Replica of the South Foreland Lighthouse. St. Margaret’s Bay, Dover England. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/1320 sec).

Replica of the South Foreland Lighthouse. St. Margaret's Bay, Dover England. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/1320 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre)
Replica of the South Foreland Lighthouse. St. Margaret’s Bay, Dover England. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/1320 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (24-May-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC. In the past I used the startrails.exe program to process the images. This time I made the composite using Scripts/Statistics Stack Mode = Maximum within Photoshop CC 2015.

Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC. In the past I used Startrails.exe to process the images. This time I made the composite using Scripts/Statistics Stack Mode = Maximum within Photoshop CC 2015. (David J Mathre)
Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)

Monday (23-May-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Afternoon stretch following the thunderstorms. Image taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 250, 400 mm, f/2.8, 1/800 sec). This rabbit is pushing the minimum focus distance for this lens…

Afternoon Stretch Following the Thunderstorm. Image taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 250, 400 mm, f/2.8, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Afternoon stretch following the thunderstorm. Image taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 250, 400 mm, f/2.8, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (22-May-2013) — Ireland

Gone to See Europe. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV with Michael Mariant. Day 26: Dublin, Ireland.

North Bull Lighthouse at the Entrance to Dublin Harbor at the End of Bull Wall (most of which is now underwater). Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 6 camera (ISO 100, 17.7 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 sec).

North Bull Lighthouse at the Entrance to Dublin Harbor at the End of Bull Wall (most of which is now underwater). Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 6 camera (ISO 100, 17.7 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre)
North Bull Lighthouse at the Entrance to Dublin Harbor at the End of Bull Wall (most of which is now underwater). Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 6 camera (ISO 100, 17.7 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre)