Sunday (09-December-2007) — New Jersey

Backyard Late Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Birds and seeds and berries I found while waking around my yard. All of the images were taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens.

New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Bittersweet berries. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Bittersweet berries. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec).
White-throated Sparrow. New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
White-throated Sparrow. New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec).
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Holly berries. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Holly berries. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec).
Northern Mockingbird. New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Northern Mockingbird. New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec).
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Grass Seed. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Grass Seed. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec).
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Pine Cone. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 160 mm, f/3.5, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Pine Cone. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 160 mm, f/3.5, 1/125 sec).
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Tree Seeds. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 175 mm, f/4, 1/80 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Tree Seeds. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 175 mm, f/4, 1/80 sec).
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Yucca Seed Pod. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Late Fall Backyard Nature. Yucca Seed Pod. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 70-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec).

Friday (07-December-2007) — Colorado

Final Sirna Boulder Site 2007 Holiday Celebration.

Snapshots taken during the final Merck-Sirna Boulder site Holiday Celebration at the St. Julien Hotel. The Sirna Boulder site was scheduled to close the following summer after operations were transferred to California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Sirna/Merck Boulder Site 2007 Christmas/End of Year Holiday Celebration. This was our final year in Boulder. (David J Mathre)
Sirna/Merck Boulder Site 2007 Christmas/End of Year Holiday Celebration. This was our final year in Boulder. (David J Mathre)
Sirna/Merck Boulder Site 2007 Christmas/End of Year Holiday Celebration. This was our final year in Boulder. (David J Mathre)
Sirna/Merck Boulder Site 2007 Christmas/End of Year Holiday Celebration. This was our final year in Boulder. (David J Mathre)


Sunday (02-December-2007) — Colorado

Winter in Rocky Mountain National Park

Although the season is officially still Autumn, at the higher elevations of Colorado it is winter. I drove to Rocky Mountain National Park on a sunny Sunday morning. It is only an hour from Boulder, Colorado. The first stop was to get a picture of the “Chapel on the Rock” with Mt. Meeker in the background. Then it was into the park to get more pictures. Winter view of the Big Thompson River in Moraine Park; Winter Trail to Storm Pass along road to Bear Lake; and a Winter Panorama of Longs Peak taken along Colorado Highway 7

Saint Catherine Chapel and Mt. Meeker, Rocky Mountain National Park. (David J Mathre)
Saint Catherine Chapel and Mt. Meeker, Rocky Mountain National Park. (David J Mathre)
Big Thompson River, Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with Nikon D300 an 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 20 mm, f/22, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Big Thompson River, Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with Nikon D300 an 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 20 mm, f/22, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Winter Trail to Storm Pass, Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with Nikon D300 an 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 17 mm, f/22, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Winter Trail to Storm Pass, Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with Nikon D300 an 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 17 mm, f/22, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Longs Peak Panorama from Colorado Highway 7 View Area, Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of 4 horizontal images taken with a Nikon D300 and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/22, 1/60 sec) processed with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Longs Peak Panorama from Colorado Highway 7 View Area, Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of 4 horizontal images taken with a Nikon D300 and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/22, 1/60 sec) processed with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

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Friday (23-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 6: Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.

We stopped at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens on our last day of the workshop. The Garden is located about 7 miles north of Hilo along the Old Mamalahoa Highway overlooking Onomea bay. This was a target rich environment. I do recommend mosquito repellent and possibly an umbrella. The hike down the trail from the gift center to Onomea bay takes a couple of hours, and is about a 500 foot elevation drop. Just remember you have to walk back up (although there is a golf cart for the physically challenged to take you back up). Thom spent some time helping me get the focus right for the image of the yellow orchid. I learned that Varilux glasses can be a problem when trying to get accurate/critical focus through the viewfinder.


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Friday (23-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 6: Kona.

The workshop team stopped at Lighthaus Camera in Kona before being dropped off at the Kona airport. This was “Black Friday” — the infamous shopping day after Thanksgiving. We noticed a pile of just delivered Nikon D300 cameras behind the counter, but assumed that they were all preordered by local camera enthusiasts. After some discussions, we found out that they were available for purchase and with a 5% discount as part of their “Black Friday” sales event. At least three of us walked out with a new D300 camera body that day. I wasn’t planning of getting a D300, and had to pay cash since they didn’t accept AMEX. In his D300 review, Thom did comment that he was the last of us to get a D300. I took a few pictures with the new camera while waiting for my plane back to the mainland at the Kona airport, and had many hours to read the manual.


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