One-Year Ago (19-October-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey

Stacked Waining Gibbous Moon (92%). Image 1: Composite of 10 images image taken with a Nikon D810a camera, 400 mm f/2.8 lens, and TC-E III 2x teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). Image 2: Stacked Waining Gibbous Moon (92%). Composite of 14 images image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated in Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum).

Composite stack of ten images of the waining Gibbous Moon (92%). Autumn Nights in New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens with TC-E III 2x teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec) (David J Mathre)
Composite stack of ten images of the waining Gibbous Moon (92%). Autumn Nights in New Jersey. Images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens with TC-E III 2x teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec) (David J Mathre)
Composite stack of fourteen images of the waining Gibbous Moon (92%). Autumn Nights in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 50-140 mm f2.8 lens or 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Composite stack of fourteen images of the waining Gibbous Moon (92%). Autumn Nights in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 50-140 mm f2.8 lens or 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (18-October-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

In addition to the wildflowers, I also planted some seeds for Water Bottle gourds (also known as Calabash, Opo, or Burma Boo Thee). It took nearly a month for the seeds to germinate inside. As such they didn’t get transplanted outdoors as soon as I would have liked. The plants started slow, but the electric fence kept the deer away. Finally, the vines started growing much faster and trying to climb as high as possible. At this point they produced some very big leaves. The first white flowers didn’t produce any fruit. The flowers opened at night, and closed once it got hot the next day. Finally, some of the flowers did develop some green gourds. When they got to be about the size of zucchini, the fruit turned brown and rotted. Finally, I did get a few that didn’t rot. They are not as long as the 40 inch long ones that my parents grew in Florida last year. The vines are still producing white flowers every night, but it is much too late in the season to expect anything larger. Once I turned off the electric fence, the deer came in and started eating the vines. Next year, I will try to germinate the seeds at least a month earlier, and make sure they get transplanted to a warm spot with lots of sunlight.

Fruit from a Water Bottle gourd. Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm zoom lens (ISO 800, 23 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (David J Mathre)
Fruit from a Water Bottle gourd. Also known as Calabash, Opo, and in Burma Boo Thee. Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm zoom lens (ISO 800, 23 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (David J Mathre)


Tuesday (17-October-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

I left part of the backyard wildflower garden/meadow intact until the fuel oil tank needs to be removed. Even though it is getting cooler at night there are still a lot of flowers in bloom. The bees and Painted Lady butterflies are busy working the flowers.

Bee on a pink Cosmos flower. Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (David J Mathre)
Bee on a pink Cosmos flower. Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (David J Mathre)


One-Year Ago (16-October-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky — Full Moon

The bright full moon woke up at 03:30 AM. The sky was crystal clear. I got up and took images of the moon with six different camera/lens combinations. All were shot on a tripod, with mirror up delay to minimize vibration.

(1) Nikon D810a camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec).
(2) Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec).
(3) Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec).
(4) Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec).
(5) Nikon D800 camera and 400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec).
(6) Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E 20 II teleconverter (ISO 100, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec).

The images were cropped so they would be the same size. I like (1) and (2) the best, but am interested in comments.

Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 80-400 mm VR II lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 80-400 mm VR II lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec) (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec) (David J Mathre)

 

Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 2x teleconverter (ISO 100, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (14-October-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

The doe does like to eat acorns.

Doe hunting for acorns. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 235 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Doe hunting for acorns. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 235 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Doe hunting for acorns. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 224 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Doe hunting for acorns. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 224 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)