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 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. (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.
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

Sunday (03-July-2011) — New Jersey

Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

I got up early this morning to drive to the High Point monument in northern New Jersey. It was raining when I left, but I hoped that it would clear up by the time I got there. Just the opposite — heavy rain when I got there. Furthermore, the front gate was still locked. I gave up and drove back the long route along the Delaware River. Because of the rain there was very little traffic. I’ve used up most of my vacation this year between the Patagonia workshop with Thom Hogan and the Central America & Panama Canal Enrichment Voyage – Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop II with Michael Mariant. As such, I know that I am not going to be able to do a cross-country road trip this year so it was good to get a long drive in this holiday weekend.

When I got home there was a lull in the rain and I saw that the wild raspberries were starting to ripen. In order to get an image of a cluster of the berries in focus with everything else out of focus I took a series of images using a focus rail to adjust the camera to subject distance over a 3 cm distance with a macro lens. I then used Helicon Focus to make a composite image from the 20 images. The first image is the result. The next three images are the first (front focus), mid (middle focus), and last (back focus) images. Even though there was some (not much) movement due to wind, Helicon Focus did a great job adjusting the images so all of the composite images were correctly registered.

Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. Helicon Focus composite of 20 images. (David J Mathre)
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. Helicon Focus composite of 20 images.
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.

Saturday (25-June-2011) — New Jersey

Early Summer Nature in New Jersey.

Two views of a local farmer’s wheat field this morning. The sun was just coming out from behind some low clouds and there was still a bit of mist.

Wheat Field at Morning in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Wheat Field at Morning in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.
Wheat Field at Morning in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Wheat Field at Morning in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.

Friday (24-June-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Early Summer Nature in New Jersey.

Image of a Yellow Prickly Pear Cactus flower taken just after an early summer thunderstorm. Unlike the White Yucca flowers, the deer don’t appear to be interested in the Prickly Pear Cactus flower.

Yellow Prickly Pear Flower after Rain. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 80, 19.2 mm, f/3.3, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Yellow Prickly Pear Flower after Rain. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 80, 19.2 mm, f/3.3, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.

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