Five-Years Ago (05-September-2006) — Washington

Gone to See America 2006 Driving Tour. Day 11: North Cascade National Park, Lake Chelan, Washington.

Five years ago I took the Lady of the Lake ferry from Chelan to Stehekin and back. It was about two weeks since I purchased a Nikon D200 camera. This was my first DSLR, and I barely knew how to use it. I took this image of a female mallard with a 80-400 mm VR lens. I really liked the look, and it became one of the reasons that I have been spending much of my time learning how to be a better photographer. There are three images, the original and two crops. My sister also made a print of this image that I have in my dining room.

Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)

One-Year Ago (10-August-2010) — Nevada

Gone to See America August 2010 Road Trip. Day 10: Great Basin National Park, Nevada.

Zombie Sunflower Farmer. On the highway just outside of Great Basin National Park.

Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 220 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 220 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/2.8, 1/4000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/2.8, 1/4000 sec)

Saturday (06-August-2011) — New Jersey

United States 2011 Commemorative Quarter:  Glacier National Park, Montana

The newest of the National Park Commemorative Quarters, this one for Glacier National Park in Montana is out and in circulation. This is the first one I got as change at a grocery store. Two macro images — one using ambient and incandescent light, and the other converted to B&W.

Macro Image of Glacier NP 2011 United States Quarter Coin. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR Macro Lens (ISO 400, 105 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of Glacier NP 2011 United States Quarter Coin. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR Macro Lens (ISO 400, 105 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Macro Image of Glacier NP 2011 United States Quarter Coin. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR Macro Lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/8 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Macro Image of Glacier NP 2011 United States Quarter Coin. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR Macro Lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/8 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.

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Images of Previous America the Beautiful Commemorative Quarters

Mount Hood National Park, Oregon (18-December-2010)

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (08-November-2010)

Yosemite National Park, California (08-November-2010)

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (08-November-2010)

One-Year Ago (05-August-2010) — California

Gone to See America August 2010 Road Trip. Day 5: Eastern Sierra Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Examples (HDR Express, Photomatix Pro, NIK HDR Efex, Photoshop CS5 HDR).  A year ago, I attended the Eastern Sierra Photography Workshop led by Michael Mariant. I knew I was going to be late traveling from work in South San Francisco. Michael gave me the GPS coordinates to meet at the Red Canyon Petroglyphs. The following  is an image of the petroglypths processed with Capture One Pro, Topaz, Nik Color Efex Pro, and Photoshop CS5. This is followed by a series comparing different HDR programs (HDR , Photomatix Pro, Nik HDR Efex Pro, Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro)

Let me know which if any HDR images you like or don’t like.

Red Canyon Petroglyphs. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed using Capture One Pro 6, Topaz Detail 2 (color jump), Nik Color Efex Pro, Nik Define 2, Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed using Capture One Pro 6, Topaz Detail 2 (color jump), Nik Color Efex Pro, Nik Define 2, Photoshop CS5
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using HDR Express (David J Mathre)
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using HDR Express
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using Photomatix Pro (tonal contrast) (David J Mathre)
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using Photomatix Pro (tonal contrast)
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using Photomatix Pro (tonal contrast strong) (David J Mathre)
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using Photomatix Pro (tonal contrast strong)
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using NIK HDR Efex Pro (David J Mathre)
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using NIK HDR Efex Pro
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using Photoshop CS5 (photorealistic) (David J Mathre)
Red Canyon Petroglyphs. HDR Composite of 7 images taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, various). HDR Processed using Photoshop CS5 (photorealistic)

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Previous Images from this Day in the Past:

Red Canyon Petroglyphs. Nikonians Eastern Sierra Photography Workshop — Day 1 (05-August-2010).

 

Friday (15-July-2011) — Florida

The Photographic Art Society of Florida. “Black & White and One Color” Exhibition.

I just got word that a print of my image “Girl with Yellow Pants Running” won First Place at the The Photographic Art Society of Florida exhibition last night. The theme of the show was “Black & White and One Color”. I took this image while on the second Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop (UTPW-II) earlier this spring while returning by bus from a field trip to the Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala (02-May-2011) in the town of San Francisco de Sales. The image was processed with Capture One Pro 6 using the inverse color selection tool to select the yellow color of the pants and notebook and decreasing the saturation of all other colors to black and white. Other processing was performed with Nik Viveza, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. I thank my sister Kari Sheppard for persevering while printing the image for the exhibition since it kept coming out too dark.

Girl with Yellow Pants Running into Building with UNE Party Sign in San Francisco de Sales. Pacaya Volcano National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 280, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Viveza 2, Nik Define 2 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Girl with Yellow Pants Running into Building with UNE Party Sign in San Francisco de Sales. Pacaya Volcano National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 280, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Viveza 2, Nik Define 2 and Photoshop CS5.

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