Three-Years Ago (20-December-2017) — Atlantic Ocean

Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5 Day 5: At Sea on the Hurtigruten MS Fram Between Ushuaia and Falkland Islands

During the day we observed several types of seabirds (Southern Giant Petrel, Coast Petrel, and an Albatross). that seemed to follow the ship. I am not sure if they were hunting and using the ship’s wake to stir the fish, or if they were using air currents behind the ship to provide lift. We also had several dolphins show up on both sides of the ship. I have included a sequence of images of a Southern Giant Petrel that had trouble taking-off after landing in the ocean. These are really big birds and need a lot of wind to help them get airborne.

Albatros in Flight from the Deck of the MS Fram. (ISO 800, 140 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Albatross in Flight from the Deck of the MS Fram. (ISO 800, 140 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Cape Petrel in Flight from the Deck of the MS Fram. These birds flew along the ship during most of the voyage. This image was taken before the shutter on my Nikon Df died (ISO 800, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Cape Petrel in Flight from the Deck of the MS Fram. These birds flew along the ship during most of the voyage. This image was taken before the shutter on my Nikon Df died (ISO 800, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Southern Giant Petrel. Viewed from the deck of the MS Fram in the South Atlantic between Ushuaia and the Falkland Islands. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 4000, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8 and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre)
Southern Giant Petrel. Viewed from the deck of the MS Fram in the South Atlantic between Ushuaia and the Falkland Islands. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 4000, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8 and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre)
Dolphins alongside the ship. Viewed from the deck of the MS Fram in the South Atlantic between Ushuaia and the Falkland Islands. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 1100, 110 mm, f/4.8, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8 and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre)
Dolphins alongside the ship. Viewed from the deck of the MS Fram in the South Atlantic between Ushuaia and the Falkland Islands. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 1100, 110 mm, f/4.8, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8 and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre)


Eight-Years Ago (16-December-2009) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii, Maui Day 1: Surfer Girl at Hookipa Beach

This turns out to be one of my most stolen images on the internet. Every now and then I do a search with Google Images to find out who is using it without permission. When I find one, I’ll send out a Digital Millennium Copyright Act Take-down Notice. Sometimes it is effective, but if the server posting the image is outside of the US there is not much you can do. Link to the original post (16-December-2009)

Surfer Girl at Hookipa Beach Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)
Surfer Girl at Hookipa Beach Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)

Ten-Years Ago (18-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 1: Kailua Kona.

Ten years ago, I arrived in Hawaii to attend a photography workshop with Thom Hogan. It was hard to believe the day before I was in Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge in northern Colorado. At that time, I had only been taking pictures with a DSLR camera for just over one year. Soon after getting the camera, I found Thom’s web site which became a very helpful resource as I was learning to use the camera (much more useful than the Nikon manual provided with the camera). I purchased his guides for the D200 (and subsequently the guides for all of the new Nikon cameras I have used. These guides are by far the best resource for understanding the capabilities of the Nikon digital cameras. I saw a note in Thom’s web site that there was a late opening for his Hawaii workshop over Thanksgiving week. I signed up right away since I knew that there was a lot more that I needed to learn to become a better photographer. The first evening in Hawaii, we went down to the beach for sunset. I took these two pictures of boats with the sun setting behind them. Little did I know, it would become a contest between some friends on a Semester at Sea voyage to get images of boats or ships in front of the setting sun.

Sunset and Sailboat off Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan's 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset and Sailboat off Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset of Kailua Harbor from Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan's 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/9, HDR 9 images 1/800 to 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset at Kailua Harbor from Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii.  Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/9, HDR 9 images 1/800 to 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (10-November-2016) — Cape May

Road Trip to Cape May.

Canadian 43′ Ketch SV Maitre “D” at anchor off the Coast Guard Station in Cape May. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm lens.

Canadian 43' Ketch SV Maitre "D" at anchor off the Coast Guard Station in Cape May. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm lens (ISO 200, 276 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Canadian 43′ Ketch SV Maitre “D” at anchor off the Coast Guard Station in Cape May. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm lens (ISO 200, 276 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Canadian 43' Ketch SV Maitre "D" at anchor off the Coast Guard Station in Cape May. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm lens (ISO 200, 347 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)
Canadian 43′ Ketch SV Maitre “D” at anchor off the Coast Guard Station in Cape May. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm lens (ISO 200, 347 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)

Thursday (05-October-2017) — Ellis Island

Liberty State Park, Ellis Island National Monument, and Statue of Liberty.

A friend from Virginia stopped by on his way to the fall Nikonian ANPAT trip in Maine. We spent the day doing a pre-ANPAT visit to Liberty State Park, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.

Little Planet View. Flag at half-mast and Manhattan skyline from Ellis Island. Composite of 33 images taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 18-55 mm zoom lens (ISO 200, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/4700 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Little Planet View. Flag at half-mast and Manhattan skyline from Ellis Island. Composite of 33 images taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 18-55 mm zoom lens (ISO 200, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/4700 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)


Individual Images in the Slideshow can be viewed here.