Tuesday (12-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime  Night Sky in New Jersey.

The last few nights were not good for firefly viewing due to rain and cool temperatures. I took a chance with three cameras last night and it didn’t rain. The brown in the second image is where the “mile-a-minute” invasive vine is being eliminated.

Firefly Trails. Composite of 546 mages taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1600, 200 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum) (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 546 images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1600, 200 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum) (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 615 mages taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 3200, 56 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum) (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 615 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 3200, 56 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum) (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 187 mages taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum) (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 187 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum) (David J Mathre)

Saturday (09-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

The sky was cloudy, but the weather report said it wouldn’t rain until tomorrow. This time I set up four cameras to record the fire flies. Let me know which ones you like/dislike. It took a lot longer to process the images than the time I slept while the pictures were being taken.

Firefly Trails. Composite of 435 images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1600, 200 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 435 images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1600, 200 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 172 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 172 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 637 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 3200, 56 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 637 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 3200, 56 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 102 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 35 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 102 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 35 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Sunday (25-June-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Early Summer Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

The weather held, and I got a second chance to capture an image of the fireflies flashing in my backyard. This time I set up two cameras, reduced the aperture (so a greater distance would be in focus), increased the ISO to increase the brightness (dealt with the increased noise in post processing), and set the focus distance to ~70 feet (locking the focus ring with gaffer tape). This time the composite images were better. I will try again tomorrow.

Fireflies at night from my backdoor. Summer nature in New Jersey. Composite of 250 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 200 mm f/2 telephoto lens (ISO 3200, 200 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Raw images processed using Capture One Pro and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Fireflies at night from my backdoor. Summer nature in New Jersey. Composite of 250 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 200 mm f/2 telephoto lens (ISO 3200, 200 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Raw images processed using Capture One Pro and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Fireflies at night from my backdoor. Summer nature in New Jersey. Composite of 70 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 300 mm f/4 telephoto lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/11, 120 sec). Raw images processed using Capture One Pro and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Fireflies at night from my backdoor. Summer nature in New Jersey. Composite of 70 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 300 mm f/4 telephoto lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/11, 120 sec). Raw images processed using Capture One Pro and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Six-Years Ago (25-June-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Summer Nature in New Jersey.

Fireflies in my backyard. Composite of 110 images taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. I liked this image, and have used the camera and lens parameters to help get better subsequent images.

Backyard Fireflies. Early Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 2500, 600 mm, f/13, 25 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, Startrails (used to stack 110 images), and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Fireflies. Early Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 2500, 600 mm, f/13, 25 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, Startrails (used to stack 110 images), and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Saturday (24-June-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Summer Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

It was relatively dark out, and I could see a large number of fireflies out my backyard. I set up a camera, and took a series of images which I used to create a nearly two-hour composite image. I am not happy that all of the fireflies were out of focus — I didn’t guess right with the distance from the camera and/or the focus dial moved as I was setting the camera up in the dark. Weather permitting I am going to try again tomorrow night.

Fireflies out my backdoor. Summer nature in New Jersey. Composite of 222 mages taken with a Nikon Df camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Fireflies out my backdoor. Summer nature in New Jersey. Composite of 222 mages taken with a Nikon Df camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)