Four-Years Ago (10-June-2013) — Denmark

Gone to See Europe. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 45: Copenhagen, Denmark.

Equestrian statue of Frederik V (Friderico Quinto Clementi Pacifico) by the French sculptor Jacques-François-Joseph Saly at the Frederiksstaden Square in Copenhagen, Denmark. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). In camera conversion to B&W.

Equestrian statue of Frederik V (Friderico Quinto Clementi Pacifico) by the French sculptor Jacques-François-Joseph Saly in the Frederiksstaden Square in Copenhagen, Denmark. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). In camera conversion to B&W. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre)
Equestrian statue of Frederik V (Friderico Quinto Clementi Pacifico) by the French sculptor Jacques-François-Joseph Saly at the Frederiksstaden Square in Copenhagen, Denmark.  (David J Mathre)

Friday (26-May-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

May has been cool and rainy. It was warmer in April this year. While it has been cool I have been able to expand the sections for my wildflowers. I didn’t spread any new seeds in the 15′ x 30′ section on the east side of the house planted last year to see which perennial, biennial, or self-seeding annual wildflowers would come back. This morning when I got up, it was way too bright outside — the sun was out!!! In addition I noticed the first red poppy flower for this year. Coincidentally, the American Legion has recommended that the Friday before Memorial day be designated National Poppy Day. In the Commonwealth nations, red poppies are used to commemorate Remembrance Day (11-November).

First Red Poppy flower this year. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Composite of 40 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df computer and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)
First Red Poppy flower this year. Composite of 40 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)
First Red Poppy flower this year. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Composite of 74 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df computer and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 7.4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)
First Red Poppy flower this year. Composite of 74 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 7.4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (19-May-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

A Chipping Sparrow, a Carpenter Bee in flight, a cluster of Rhododendron flowers, a white wildflower, a Jack in the Pulpit flower, and a ball of Dandelion seeds. I ended the day taking some pictures of the Waxing Gibbous (nearly full) Moon. All but the chipping sparrow image were taken using a Fuji 100-400 mm OIS lens. I am really liking this lens as an alternative for the Fuji X series cameras to the Nikon 80-400 mm VRII lens. The Fuji 100-400 mm lens is about the same size as the Nikon 80-400 mm lens but lighter. Also, since the crop sensor on the Fuji X cameras is 1.5x smaller than a full frame 35 mm camera — the field of view for the Fuji 100-400 mm lens is equivalent to a 150-600 mm lens.


Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.

Friday (12-May-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

After several days of cold, cloudy skies, and rain things cleared up for a bit. The clouds turned pink at dawn (only for an instant). Later on I saw a robin hunting in my backyard. It found a caterpillar for breakfast. One less butterfly this year… (check out a similar image from three years ago 03-May-2014). I took a cluster of rhododendron flowers inside to practice focus stacking. It was too difficult outside with the wind moving the flowers. I used a 9-cm focus rack. For the first two, the images were taken after adjusting the camera in 0.5 cm increments. For the third one, the camera was adjusted 6 cm in 1 mm increments. The images were processed using Helicon Focus (ver. 5.3) software. Let me know if you like method A (weighted average), B (depth map), or C (pyramid) for processing the images

Pink clouds at dawn from my back door. Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm lens (ISO 100, 11 mm, f/3.5, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)
Pink clouds at dawn from my back door. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm lens (ISO 100, 11 mm, f/3.5, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)
Robin with a caterpillar. One less butterfly this year. Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon N1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Robin with a caterpillar. One less butterfly this year. Image taken with a Nikon N1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)


Individual images from the slideshow can be viewed here.

Three-Years Ago (01-May-2014) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

The water was still running heavy in the nearby Rock Brook. A tree had fallen into the stream and got caught by the bridge. The Dogwood trees were in bloom, and the Carpenter Bees were out looking to drill holes into the wood exterior of my house.  I’m not sure what type of tree or shrub it is where the leaves appear to be emerging from a pod. Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.