Thursday (20-June-2019) — New Jersey

Last Day of Spring. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The rain continues… The sun did come out for a bit in the afternoon. Went on a walkabout with my Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm telephoto lens. Frogs and Dragonflies near the pond. The Yucca and Prickly Pear cactus are blooming, as well as other Cosmos and Baby Blue Eye wildflowers.

Kermit in the Grass. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Kermit in the Grass. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)





Daily Power Use (50.7 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (38.36 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Power use is up since I did laundry and the Geothermal A/C was running.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Friday (07-June-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I know, it has been a while. I’ve been dealing with Server Upgrades (running out of space to store my images), Lightroom Catalog Upgrades (needed to increase the size of the catalog images to match my new computer and monitor), home renovation, patio garden, and yard work. I am about caught up. I was taking pictures every day, which I will be posting. The wildflower gardens are starting to bloom. Lots of Red Poppy and Cosmos flowers. New flowers this year are Blue Spiderwort and a White Allium. I am starting to harvest Strawberries from the Grow Towers. Today’s bird pictures are a Female Cowbird. The Cowbirds have been laying their eggs in the Robins nests.

Tiny Green Grasshopper on a Daisy. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiny Green Grasshopper on a Daisy. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)





Strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


Daily Power Use (est 56 kWh) and Solar Production (64.95 kWh) from Sense. The power use is an estimate since there have been a number of data dropouts beginning about noon. I am waiting on a response from Sense regarding the problem.
Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Tuesday (05-March-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.






Nine-Years Ago (25-February-2010) — California

Photography Workshop “Yosemite in Winter: A Season of Contrast” with Michael Mariant. Day 1: Yosemite National Park.

I was the last person to occupy this cabin in Curry Village while attending the Nikonians ANPAT 8 (Annual Nikonians Photo Adventure Trip) in October of 2008 — Led by Michael Mariant. On that day, just after lunch we heard a loud noise. It first sounded like thunder or a very loud freight train, but the noise  continued and kept getting louder. The sky was clear when we were at lunch so I knew it couldn’t be a freak winter thunderstorm. Michael in the cabin next to me yelled “rock slide, run”.  The next thing we knew, Yosemite Valley was enveloped in a cloud of rock dust. Eighteen months later, the cabin still exists but stands empty in a closed area of Curry Village.

Curry Village Cabin #228. Nikonians 2010 Yosemite Winter Workshop Day 1. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)
Curry Village Cabin #228.  Yosemite Winter Workshop Day 1. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/100 sec).
Curry Village 2008 Glacier Point Rockfall Notice. Nikonians 2010 Yosemite Winter Workshop Day 1. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Curry Village 2008 Glacier Point Rockfall Notice.  Yosemite Winter Workshop Day 1. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/400 sec).