Five-Years Ago (05-September-2006) — Washington

Gone to See America 2006 Driving Tour. Day 11: North Cascade National Park, Lake Chelan, Washington.

Five years ago I took the Lady of the Lake ferry from Chelan to Stehekin and back. It was about two weeks since I purchased a Nikon D200 camera. This was my first DSLR, and I barely knew how to use it. I took this image of a female mallard with a 80-400 mm VR lens. I really liked the look, and it became one of the reasons that I have been spending much of my time learning how to be a better photographer. There are three images, the original and two crops. My sister also made a print of this image that I have in my dining room.

Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)
Female Mallard Duck on Lake Chelan. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J. Mathre)

Saturday (19-January-2008) — New Jersey

Winter Nature in New Jersey.

Great Blue Heron and a pair of Mallard Ducks in the pond at the nearby Sourland Mountain Preserve. I guess they decided to spend the winter here rather than in Florida.  Some years this pond freezes over.

Great Blue Heron and Mallards. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 400 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Great Blue Heron and Mallards. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 400 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec)