Category: Photo Techniques

Wednesday (01-August-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Rabbit Eating Clover in the Rain. My first day of Retirement. I’ve been working for Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, New Jersey; Boulder, Colorado; and West Point, Pennsylvania for the last 27 years. I can now spend more time with my new passion of photography and travel. I took a series of images of this rabbit in the rain. I was sitting in my car in my driveway while listening to “The Race” on SiriusXM. Now that I am not commuting 3+ hours a day I can photograph the local wildlife while listening to books on satellite radio.

Rabbit Eating Clover in the Rain. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Rabbit Eating Clover in the Rain. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (31-July-2008) — Colorado

Summertime Nature in Colorado. Rocky Mountain National Park.

I found some wild blue Columbine wildflowers while walking around Lily Lake. It wasn’t until I processed this image that I noticed a small grey spider lurking in the flower — waiting for a meal.

Blue Columbine Wildflower with a Small Spider at Lilly Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 800, 105 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec) with fill flash. (David J Mathre)
Blue Columbine Wildflower with a Small Spider at Lilly Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 800, 105 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec) with fill flash. (David J Mathre)

[bingMap width=600 location=”N40°18’21 W105°32’23” maptype=”AerialWithLabels” zoom=4 pp1=”N40°18’21 W105°32’23”]

GPS: N40°18’21” W105°32’23”

Sunday (29-July-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Red-Tailed Hawk Looking for Dinner. I was wondering why the rabbits and squirrels were being scarce this afternoon. The song birds were making a lot of noise, more than usual late in the afternoon. Then I saw this Red-tailed Hawk keeping watch above the backyard. I grabbed the first camera & telephoto lens I could find to capture it both watching the yard, then as it started a dive. It went behind some trees, so I didn’t see if it caught dinner.

Red Tailed Hawk Looking for Dinner in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Red Tailed Hawk Looking for Dinner in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Red Tailed Hawk Looking for Dinner in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Red Tailed Hawk Looking for Dinner in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)

Thursday (26-July-2012) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Bullfrog in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Recently there have been a lot of messages on the internet regarding some users of the New Nikon D800/D800e camera having issues with autofocusing. Specifically, that the left autofocus sensors are not focusing accurately. I tested my D800 camera with a test chart — comparing the CAM3500FX contrast based autofocus system with the Live View phase based autofocus system. I did not find any significant difference between right, left, and center contrast based autofocus, all being equivalent to the Live View based focus.

Rather than spending a lot of time testing each lens, I took the camera out to the local Sourland Mountain Preserve and took the following images of a Bullfrog. The images were taken with the D800 camera  and a 500 mm f/4 VRII lens. The lens was mounted on a tripod, and the images taken in “Mirror up” mode to minimize vibration. I was approximately 20 feet away from the bullfrog, which is near the minimum focus distance for this lens. The lens was wide open (f/4) which means a very narrow depth of field in sharp focus. I did the same shot with the head of the frog in the left, center, or right most autofocus sensor, each time re-focusing from infinity. If anything the image from the left sensor was the sharpest. I think the softness for the image from the right sensor is due to vibration.

Bullfrog in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VRII lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Crop of image taken with the left focus sensor. (David J Mathre)

Focused Using Left Sensor.

Bullfrog in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VRII lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Crop of image taken with the left focus sensor. (David J Mathre)

Focused Using Left Sensor (100% Crop)

Bullfrog in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VRII lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Center focus sensor. (David J Mathre)

Focused Using Center Sensor

Bullfrog in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VRII lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Crop of image taken with the center focus sensor. (David J Mathre)

Focused Using Center Sensor (100% Crop)

Bullfrog in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VRII lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Right focus sensor. (David J Mathre)

Focused Using Right Sensor

Bullfrog in a Pond at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VRII lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Crop of image taken with the Right focus sensor. (David J Mathre)

Focused Using Right Sensor (100% Crop)