Pictures of a squirrel in my backyard after finding a nut. The images were taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens. I prefer the squirrels outside rather than doing damage in my attic. I’ve put up flashing Christmas lights and ultrasonic noisemakers in my attic to try keeping them outside. That worked for a while, but they ultimately came back. Finally it took traps and the physical removal of 8 nests. All of the insulation in the attic needed to be replaced, as well as the electrical wiring that had been chewed. The cedar shake siding on house was replaced with a concrete composite, and the soffits all replaced. Now all of the ways into the attic have been blocked.
Squirrel with a nut on a sunny winter day. Backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)Squirrel with a nut on a sunny winter day. Backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)Squirrel with a nut on a sunny winter day. Backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)Squirrel with a nut on a sunny winter day. Backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 450, 200 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)Squirrel with a nut on a sunny winter day. Backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 500, 200 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Photographic Techniques. Resolution and Focus Testing.
I must have been bored, so spent an afternoon doing some autofocus and resolution testing with some of my cameras and lenses. The goal was to see which combination would be able to focus and provide the highest resolution image of Alexander Hamilton. Ideally, sharp enough to make out the microprint security feature on his shoulder. All of the images were taken with a Nikon D300 camera. The lenses used include a 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro, 200 mm f/2 VR, 300 mm f/2.8 VR, 400 mm f/2.8, and 200-400 mm f/4 VR.
Alexander Hamilton. Autofocus test. Can you find the microprint? Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Alexander Hamilton. Autofocus test. Can you find the microprint? Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/4, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)Alexander Hamilton. Autofocus test. Can you find the microprint? Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Alexander Hamilton. Autofocus test. Can you find the microprint? Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Alexander Hamilton. Autofocus test. Can you find the microprint? Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 200, 105 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 14: Tromsø.
Wintertime walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Part 2: Ships and boats. With its long coastline, Norway is a nautical seafaring nation. I arrived in Tromsø on the MS Nordkapp, a Hurtigruten line ship three days earlier and would leave on a different Hurtigruten ship. On this day there were fishing trawlers, combination passenger ferry/Ro-Ro (roll on, roll off) cargo ships, and a fire/rescue boat named the Wanny Woldstad. Later in the day, the Hurtigruten MS Kong Harald stopped in Tromsø. I had been on that ship the winter of 2007. On the way back to the hotel, we watched a combination passenger ferry/Ro-Ro cargo ship be winched out of the water to into a dry dock shipyard.
Haugagut H-50-AV fishing trawler docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Kamaro fishing trawler docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Vensøy — passenger/Ro-Ro cargo ship docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Lenvik fishing trawler docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Wanny Woldstad — Tromsø fire and rescue boat. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Hurtigruten line MS Kong Harald docked in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/25 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W and one color). (David J Mathre)Stallovarre — passenger/Ro-Ro cargo ship being winched into a dry dock in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)Aft rudder and screw on the Stallovarre. A passenger/Ro-Ro cargo ship being winched into a dry dock in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)
Home Renovation: Prototype Wall Hanging System for Prints.
Wall hanging system for prints being prototyped in my laundry room — A work in Progress. The goal was to design and build a simple system to display prints on walls in my house, and then deploy the system in many rooms as the house is renovated. I wanted something that would allow me to easily move or change the prints being displayed, and not need to use picture frames, or picture hanging hardware. The first attempt used a map hanging system. This limited me to rows of the same size [letter – 8-1/2″ x 11″; B+ – 13″ x 19″; or C – 17″ x 22″]. One other idea was to hold the prints up with magnets. This was first attempted using parallel strips of flexible 3M magnetic tape attached to the drywall. I tried a number of small magnets, but none were strong enough to hold prints larger than 8 1/2″ by 11″ and especially prints on thick archival papers. Looking for other options I found that cold-rolled steel had a stronger magnetic attraction. For the prototype I mounted thirteen 1″ x 0.125″ x 72″ steel bars on the wall. These were attached by drilling holes in the steel bars and then screwing into the studs behind the drywall. An image of the prototype is shown below. I used a series of different sized images from the day before starting the Spring 2016 Semester at Sea voyage. Future work will be optimizing the placement of the steel bars to work with letter, B+, and C sized prints. The steel bars will be painted the same color as the wall, and the round ceramic magnets will be painted white. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/125 sec) pop-up flash bounced off the ceiling.
Work in Progress. Wall hanging system for prints being prototyped in my laundry room. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/125 sec) pop-up flash bounced off the ceiling. (David J Mathre)
Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 19: Arrival in Yokohama, Japan.
After 10 days long days crossing the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii and taking classes every day it was good to see land. The MV World Odyssey arrived at the port of Yokohama early in the morning and docked at the Osanbashi Pier.
Anticipating Japan after a Long 10 days Crossing the Pacific Ocean on the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)The MV World Odyssey about to pass under the Yokohama Bay Bridge as we arrived in Yokohama, Japan. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)Yokohama Skyline Panorama at Dawn from the Deck of the MV World Odyssey while Docked at the Osanbashi Pier. Composite of six images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
