Six-Years Ago (10-May-2008) — Colorado

Gone to See America. May 2008 Colorado Road Trip. Day 1: Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Black-Billed Magpie in Medano Creek. Most of the year this creek is dry, but in the spring the snow melt from the nearby mountains keeps it flowing.

Black-Billed Magpie in Medano Creek. Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Black-Billed Magpie in Medano Creek. Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Friday (09-May-2014) — New Jersey

Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey.

Volunteer Azalea Blooms. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/16, 1/6 sec). For years the deer have decimated my Azalea plants during the winter. This spring I removed the old dead plants. Yesterday, I noticed these blooms only a couple of inches off the ground on some volunteer Azalea plants. If you look close in the left flower, there is a caterpillar looking for lunch.

Volunteer Azalea Blooms. Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/16, 1/6 sec). For years the deer have decimated my Azalea plants during the winter. This spring I removed the old dead plants. Yesterday, I noticed these blooms only a couple of inches off the ground on some volunteer Azalea plants. If you look close in the left flower, there is a caterpillar looking for lunch. (David J Mathre)
Volunteer Azalea Blooms. Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/16, 1/6 sec). (David J Mathre)

Seven-Years Ago (08-May-2007) — New Jersey

Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey.

Backlit spring afternoon maple leaf. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/5.3, 1/125 sec).

Spring Afternoon Maple Leaf. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/5.3, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Spring Afternoon Maple Leaf. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/5.3, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (06-May-2013) — Morocco

Gone to See Europe and North Africa. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer.  Day 10: Atlas Mountains in Morocco.

Wheat Field in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Image taken with an Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10-100 mm lens (ISO 160, 72 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014.

Wheat Field in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco. . (David J Mathre)
Wheat Field in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Image taken with an Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10-100 mm lens (ISO 160, 72 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre)

Thursday (01-May-2014) — New Jersey

Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey.

Carpenter Bee in Flight. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 300 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). This is a crop from the full image. I did this hand-held, and had to manually focus. No VR with this lens. So lots of out of focus images to get one or two in focus.

Carpenter Bee in Flight. Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 300 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). This is a crop from the full image. I did this hand-held, and had to manually focus. No VR with this lens. So lots of out of focus images. (David J Mathre)
Carpenter Bee in Flight. Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 300 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)