Weather - David Mathre Photography

Sunday (28-August-2011) — New Jersey

Hurricane Irene. Central New Jersey Sunday Afternoon.

By mid-afternoon, I still was not able to report the downed power lines in my yard. I drove to the nearby High School where there I could get much better ATT wireless Internet reception. I logged onto the PSE&G site and reported that I didn’t have power and that I had downed wires in the yard. The automated response let me know that they would have power restored by 8 PM 04-September (next Sunday). I figured that I would be living in my RV for the week. By the time that I got back to the house, I was very surprised to see 3 PSE&G trucks pulling up. It took them some time to free the downed wire from the trees and vines. It was right around this time that the wind and a small amount of rain started up from the back side of the hurricane. I commend the PSE&G workers for their dedication to be out working before the storm had passed. After they completed here, they fixed some other local problems and were able to restore power before it got dark. I feel lucky this time that power was restored this quickly. I know that there are many others still without power and the PSE&G crews will be busy for the next several days. The following images were taken with a Leica X1 camera. Images taken with a Nikon D700 camera will be included in another post.

PSE&G Truck and Crew Getting Set Up oo Repair the Downed Power Line. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

PSE&G Workers Viewing the Downed Power Line. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Downed Power Line. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

PSE&G Truck and Crew Working on the Downed Power Line. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

PSE&G Worker Working to Free the the Downed Power Line from Trees and Vines. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Sunday (28-August-2011) — New Jersey

Hurricane Irene. Central New Jersey, Sunday Morning.

I spent Friday and Saturday getting prepared for Hurricane Irene. The storm intensity started increasing late Saturday night. At about 11:30 PM, I heard a crash and the lights went out. When I got up Sunday morning the wind and rain had decreased significantly. I guess this was when the eye of the hurricane was moving up the coast of New Jersey directly east. When I went out I saw that a tree had fallen next to the road and took down the power, cable, and phone lines. I tried to call in the fallen lines to PSE&G, but couldn’t get past the automated emergency reporting system. My wireless Internet connection also didn’t work. A lot of branches and tree limbs were down in the yard, but thankfully no damage to the house or vehicles. The following images are of the nearby Rock Brook and local woods. Normally at this time of the year, the brook is almost dry. The road closed sign was right in front of my driveway.

Road Closed. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Rock Brook Flooding. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Monday (25-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Deck Garden and Jersey Tomatoes.

For the last several years I have not been keeping a kitchen garden for a combination of reasons — mainly too many deer and too much work or photography related travel during the summer. This year I already used much of my vacation for my photography trips to Patagonia and then Central America so I am home this summer. I didn’t get the garden ready during the spring so didn’t expect to be doing any gardening again this summer. However, a few weeks ago one of my neighbors told me that he had excess tomato plants that he didn’t have room for. I decided to try to grow them on my deck (away from the deer) in some small high density self watering containers and self watering container soil (obtained, but not used several years ago from Gardener Supply Company). Yesterday I took images of some of the first tomato flowers, and some green tomatoes. As long as the critters stay away, I should have some fresh tomatoes soon. Although the containers are supposed to be “self watering” with the excess heat we have been going through, I have been watering each container with about 2 gallons of water each day.

Summer New Jersey Tomato Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens plus TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with a SB-900 Flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Summer New Jersey Tomato Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens plus TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with a SB-900 Flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.

Green Tomato Fruit. Summer New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens plus TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with a SB-900 Flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Green Tomato Fruit. Summer New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens plus TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 210 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with a SB-900 Flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.

Saturday (23-July-2011) — New Jersey

Summertime Heat Wave. “Let it Snow” in July.

The Carrier Clinic in nearby Belle Mead put this wishful thinking inflatable display up. They usually have it up in December and January. It has been in the upper 90’s and even over 100°F for the last several days. Anything to think cold is helpful.

Let it Snow -- July and 98Â°F in New Jersey. Wishful Thinking Inflatable Display in Front of the Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, NJ. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Out of the camera jpg image. (David J. Mathre) — Let it Snow — July and 98°F in New Jersey. Wishful Thinking Inflatable Display in Front of the Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, NJ. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Out of the camera jpg image.

Tuesday (19-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Hot Summer Evening. While out sitting on my deck, I took some images of a Doe. I also caught an image of a distant commercial jet passing in front of a rapidly growing storm cloud.

Doe. Outdoor Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 500 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro 6, and Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Doe. Outdoor Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 500 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro 6, and Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.

Distant Jet Passing a Growing Thunder Cloud. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/4, 1/1250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Silver Efex Pro, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre) — Distant Jet Passing a Growing Thunder Cloud. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/4, 1/1250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Silver Efex Pro, and Photoshop CS5