Road Scholar “Photography in the Southwest” Workshop Day 0. Mesa Verde National Park.
I wasn’t sure that I would be able to make the trip from Boulder to southwestern Colorado because of a winter storm that passed through during the previous days. The roads were clear, and there were not many vehicles on the road. I made it to Mesa Verde National Park in time to meet my father and brother before attending an Road Scholar/Elderhostel photography workshop. It was still snowing when I arrived at the National Park.
Winter panorama in Colorado from Mesa Verde National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/11, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling in the winter. Mesa Verde National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-300 mm VR lens (ISO 360, 50 mm, f/8. 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Mesa Verde National Park winter panorama. Composite of 10 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/4.5, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)Square Tower House cliff dwelling. Mesa Verde National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/4.5. 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)Cliff Palace in the winter. Mesa Verde National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 270 mm, f/5.3, 1/80 sec). (David J Mathre)
Blue Jay in the Morning Sun. Image taken with a Nikon D5 Camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 180, 600 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)Blue Jay in the Morning Sun. Image taken with a Nikon D5 Camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 360, 600 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
It snowed today. We got about an inch. Lots of birds at the bird feeder. Some getting feisty or territorial because it was snowing.
Mourning Dove. Image taken with a Nikon D5 Camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (David J Mathre)Chipping Sparrow. Image taken with a Nikon D5 Camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (David J Mathre)
Individual images in the slide shows can be viewed here.
Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 14: Tromsø.
As the wormhole began to open clouds appeared, reducing the intensity of the burning green rays. This provided some cover and protection for earthlings below….
Northern Lights in Tromvik, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 1000, 16 mm, f/2.8, 15 sec). (David J Mathre)
After leaving the two French Photographers at the Ferry to take them to Finnsnes, I decided to spend the next three nights outside of Tromsø to maximize my chance of viewing and photographing the Northern Lights. There were at least 20 vendors offering trips in Tromsø specifically to view Northern Lights. The most famous one is booked a year in advance (after being featured on a BBC TV program for finding a place to view the Northern Lights when the BBC film crew all but struck out). I eliminated the big tour bus, dinner boat, and dog sled northern light tours, and selected 3 based on recommendations at the Tromsø tourist information center. I am glad that I stopped at the tourist information center when the northbound Hurtigruten voyage stopped in Tromsø as the tours do get booked and fill up in advance. They all claim to find somewhere that is clear with a good chance of seeing northern lights – whether it is along the coast, up a mountain, or all the way to Sweden or Finland. One even tells you to bring your passport along if they do cross the border.
The first trip was “Aurora Photo Tour with Professional Photographer” from Creative Vacations, led by Vidar Dons Lindrupsen. He picked a group of seven up in front of the Blu Radisson Hotel and brought us to his house. There we had a workshop on the basics for successfully capturing Aurora images with a digital camera. Vidar is fluent in several languages. Our group included folks from France, Germany, Brazil, Spain plus myself from the United States. For those that needed, he provided tripods and warm arctic outerwear as we were about to spend the next several hours outdoors photographing the Northern Lights. We stopped at several locations and I got some great images These were some of the best northern light displays that I had ever seen, but probably average for folks that live in this region. When the clouds started to come in and we only were getting diffuse images through the clouds, Vidar served some hot lentil soup — very welcome after standing for several hours in the cold.
First stop was to Ersfjord, Kvaløya (Whale Island). I used a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens. Other than some yellow (sodium) lights from a small village, the sky was very dark. Slide show, star trails, and a time-lapse video. We moved a bit and the band of green crossed the sky. I needed to switch to a wider angle lens — 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye. From the same location I also tried using the Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens to see how Northern Lights would be captured with a smaller digital sensor. The images were rather noisy and needed extra processing with Topaz Define 2. Switched back to the Nikon D800 camera with the 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens in portrait mode
Star Trails and Northern Lights. Chasing the Northern Lights. Ersfjord, Kvaløya (Whale Island). Composite of 148 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/1.4, 8 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails. Chasing the Northern Lights. Ersfjord, Kvaløya (Whale Island). Composite of 23 images taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 1600, 16 mm, f/2.8, 15 sec). (David J Mathre)
Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Blast from the Past — Snowed In
The snow was deep enough to keep me from even getting my Range Rover up the driveway to the road in front of my house. I dug a walking path to the road in case the mail got delivered. Being stuck at home gave me a chance to take some pictures out in the snow. This year very little snow.
Pine needles peaking up from the snow. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/9, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)Drip, drip, drip. Icicles above the front doorway. The gutter is frozen. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)It snowed last night. This vehicle is covered and won’t be going anywhere soon. I dug a path from the house to the street (but the street hadn’t been cleared yet). Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 48 mm, f/13, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)It snowed last night. The RV is covered and won’t be going anywhere soon. The propane tank in the RV is full in case the power goes out. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 31 mm, f/7, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
