Photo Techniques - David Mathre Photography

Tuesday (30-August-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Fawn Checking Out a Fallen Tree Branch Post Hurricane Irene.

Doe Checking out a Downed Limb After Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 500 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Doe Checking out a Downed Limb After Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 500 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Monday (29-August-2011) — New Jersey & Pennsylvania

Lambertville Station Inn with the Delaware River at Near Flood Stage, Post Hurricane Irene.

I took these images of the Lambertville Station Inn with the waters from the Delaware River up to the level of the parking lot. The Lambertville Station Inn is right next to the Lambertville — New Hope bridge, which I cross on my way to work in Pennsylvania. This bridge remained open. These images were taken just after the river peaked at about 12 feet above normal. The official NWS flood stage is 13 feet. The USGS has a website where you can see a graph of the river level at this location.

Lambertville Inn. Delaware River at Near Flood Stage after Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 36 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Silver Efex 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Lambertville Inn. Delaware River at Near Flood Stage after Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 42 mm, f/8, 1/800 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Lambertville Inn. Delaware River at Near Flood Stage after Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 28 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Lambertville Inn. Delaware River at Near Flood Stage after Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 42 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Lambertville Inn from the Lambertville New Hope Bridge. Delaware River at Near Flood Stage after Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 28 mm, f/8, 1/800 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Dead Tree Floating Down the Delaware River after Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 180 mm, f/8, 1/800 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Crow on the Lambertville New Hope Bridge. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (24-August-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Late August Star Trails. Since it looked like the sky was going to be clear last night, I left a camera out on the deck to get some star trail images. The first one was before midnight, and the second one after midnight. I did this set with a fisheye lens to get as much of the sky as possible. There is a tree in the front of the house that is blocking the northern star. I also used the images to create a time-lapsed video of the night sky.

North View Star Trails. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 800, 16 mm, f/5.6, 30 sec). Composite of 326 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

Monday (22-August-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

The fawn and doe were in my backyard. I took this with a 300 mm f/2.8 lens @ f/2.8 so the fawn is in focus and the doe is out of focus.

Fawn and Doe. Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Sunday (21-August-2011) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey: Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Life and Death in Nature. It was a great day to photograph nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Many Butterflies, Clearwing Hummingbird Moths, Dragonflies,Summertime Nature in New Jersey: Sourland Mountain Preserve. Robberflies, and a few Praying Mantis carnivores. I went in with two cameras, a D3s camera with a 300 mm f/2.8 VR with an TC-E III 20 teleconverter and a D3x camera with a 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro. Humidity was high, and I had to spend the first 15 minutes equilibrating the lenses so they were not fogged. The first place I went to was the location I observed a Praying Mantis eating a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth yesterday. The first image is a Black Swollowtail Butterfly on a Thistle bloom. Soon thereafter a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth started checking out the Thistle blooms. DANGER! DANGER! It didn’t see the Praying Mantis. Minutes later the moth was breakfast for the Praying Mantis. Later, another Black Swollowtail Butterfly was breakfast to a brown Praying Mantis.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thistle Bloom. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 640, 600 mm, f/16, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 640, 600 mm, f/16, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Danger! Danger! Clearwing Hummingbird Moth being Stalked by a Praying Mantis. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Danger! Danger! Clearwing Hummingbird Moth being Stalked by a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth as a Meal for a Praying Mantis. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 320, 600 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Clearwing Hummingbird Moth as a Meal for a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 320, 600 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth as a Meal for a Praying Mantis. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 320, 105 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Clearwing Hummingbird Moth as a Meal for a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 320, 105 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Praying Mantis full after a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth Meal. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 800, 105 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Praying Mantis full after a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth Meal. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 800, 105 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Brown Praying Mantis. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 220, 105 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Brown Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 220, 105 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Black Swallowtail Butterfly as a Meal for a Brown Praying Mantis. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 160, 105 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Black Swallowtail Butterfly as a Meal for a Brown Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 160, 105 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)