Monday (28-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Indoor Nature in New Jersey

One of the cactus plants I bought back inside started to bloom with tiny pink flowers. The following image is a focus-stacked macro image of the flower taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite created using Helicon Focus.

Tiny Cactus Flower. Composite of 30 focus stacked images taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiny Cactus Flower. Composite of 30 focus stacked images taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (60.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (26.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sun out in the morning, but then cloudy. At this time of the year the sun is lower, and the Sycamore tree leaves shadow the solar panels in the afternoon. Overall a net deficit of 33.9 kWh.

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Thursday (20-June-2019) — New Jersey

Last Day of Spring. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The rain continues… The sun did come out for a bit in the afternoon. Went on a walkabout with my Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm telephoto lens. Frogs and Dragonflies near the pond. The Yucca and Prickly Pear cactus are blooming, as well as other Cosmos and Baby Blue Eye wildflowers.

Kermit in the Grass. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Kermit in the Grass. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)





Daily Power Use (50.7 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (38.36 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Power use is up since I did laundry and the Geothermal A/C was running.

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Five-Years Ago (17-May-2014) — Texas

South Texas Birding Photo Safari with Jason Odell Day 1.

Northern Cardinal on a Cactus at Dos Venadas Ranch in Southern Texas. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 720, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec).

Northern Cardinal on a Cactus. Bobcat Blind at Dos Venadas Ranch in Southern Texas. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 720, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Northern Cardinal on a Cactus. Bobcat Blind at Dos Venadas Ranch in Southern Texas. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 720, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Sunday (06-January-2019) — New Jersey

Indoor Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

I noticed a hairy spider while checking the hydroponic herb garden. I hope it goes after the tiny bugs nibbling on my basil leaves. I am not sure if the tiny bugs are nymph forms of the stink bug or something else. I also got a shot of the small pink flower on the cactus.



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Pink Cactus Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/11, 1/15 sec). (David J Mathre)

Monday (10-December-2018) — New Jersey

Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

Most of the herbs I planted in a hydroponic garden have sprouted. This is day 10 since I set the system up. It will be interesting to see how big the herbs get. I am going to need a larger system for growing indoor lettuce this winter. A couple of the cactus plants have started to bloom after I moved them indoors for  the winter. The cactus flower images were taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens.



Individual images from the slide shows can be viewed here.