David Mathre Photography - David's Images of the Day Photoblog

Thursday (24-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 5: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

Before the workshop started, I joined Michael as he reconnoitered and GPS tagged a path to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park. We would be going out to this location Friday and Sunday morning well before sunrise in the dark. The following images are of Michael going out to the sand dunes taken with a Leica X1 camera. The temperatures were cool by Death Valley standards, notice Michael wearing a green vest.

Michael Mariant Marking a GPS Trail to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/6.3, 1/800 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and converted to jpg for web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Michael Mariant Marking a GPS Trail to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/6.3, 1/800 sec).

Michael Mariant Marking a GPS Trail to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and converted to jpg for web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Michael Mariant Marking a GPS Trail to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec).

Tuesday (22-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 3: Working in South San Francisco.

Before going to work, I took some images of a sailboat at anchor in Oyster Bay. Two of the images were combined using the Photoshop CS5 HDR module.

Sunrise with Sailboat at Anchor in Oyster Bay. Images taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4.5, 1/250 + 1/2000 sec). Two image HDR processed with Photoshop CS5 HDR module (photorealistic). Noise reduction with Nik Define 2.0. (David J Mathre) — Sunrise with Sailboat at Anchor in Oyster Bay. Images taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4.5, 1/250 + 1/2000 sec).

Monday (21-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 2: Working in South San Francisco.

A couple of images from my office while working in San Francisco on the first day of Spring. Although there was heavy rain last night and this morning, the sky cleared later in the day. The site where I am working near the UCSF campus looks over a large construction site for a new Hospital. I needed to work on the white balance since the image was taken through a window tinted green (auto white balance within the camera 6008 K) . The 2nd version has the white balance corrected (6514 K). Later on when I returned to my hotel I saw this sailboat at anchor in Oyster Bay.

View of Hospital Construction Site Looking Toward San Francisco Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre) — View of Hospital Construction Site Looking Toward San Francisco Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec).

Sailboat at Anchor in Oyster Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre) — Sailboat at Anchor in Oyster Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec).

Sunday (20-March-2011) — New Jersey to California

Gone to See California. Day 1: Flight from New Jersey to San Francisco.

Aerial Photography — Somewhere over the middle of the country at 30,000 feet. I don’t know where we were, but it looks like a small town and farm land. This is the last day of winter. A lot of brown, not much green yet. I didn’t have a window seat, so only had this one chance to take an image while the person sitting next to the window was in the restroom. The flight was totally booked, and I was in the very last row. Sitting in the back row has many problems. I couldn’t lean the seat back and I now have a backache. They ran out of food, and I now have a bad headache, and I was right next to the very busy restroom. I prefer driving, even if it is all the way across the United States.

Middle America from 30k Feet. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre) — Middle America from 30k Feet. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec).

Saturday (19-March-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Late-Winter Nature in New Jersey. Two Days to Spring — Daffodils in Bloom.

The weather report for next week indicates the possibility of rain, sleet, and snow. I would rather be in a desert viewing spring wildflowers — hint, hint.

Daffodils in Bloom -- Two Days from Spring. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/3.2, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre) — Daffodils in Bloom — Two Days from Spring. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/3.2, 1/1000 sec).