Sunday (09-February-2020) — New Jersey

Indoor Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Finally, one of the Red Poppy flowers has bloomed. It has taken about four days for the flower to open completely. There are a couple of other buds that I hope will open in the near future. It has been 96 days since the seeds for the Red Poppies were planted. I’ve also added images of Pink and White Zinnia flowers.

Red Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Red Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
White Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
White Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (75.2 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (43.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny most of the day. Actually, the most solar energy produced since 05-October-2019. Still not enough to completely power the indoor hydroponic gardens, keep the house warm, and power the Synology image servers. A deficit of 31.9 kWh.

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Saturday (14-April-2018) — New Jersey

Indoor Spring Nature in New Jersey.

The bright green version of the Stink Bug is new to me this year. It is smaller than the brown stink bug, but looks different from some of the ones I found in an online search.

Green Stink Bug. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) + flash. (David J Mathre)
Green Stink Bug. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) + flash. (David J Mathre)
Green Stink Bug. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec) + flash. (David J Mathre)
Green Stink Bug. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec) + flash. (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (27-May-2012) — New Jersey

Out of My Comfort Zone.

The second day of a Studio Lighting Workshop with Mike Hagen. I had never done photography with studio lighting before, and I don’t do portraits. Mike hired a model for the workshop. One of my best images of the day was taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera…

Portrait of Ellen at a Nikonians Profoto Studio Lighting Workshop with Mike Hagen in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 and 30-110 mm lens (ISO 400, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)
Portrait of Ellen at a Nikonians Profoto Studio Lighting Workshop with Mike Hagen in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 and 30-110 mm lens (ISO 400, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)

Friday (26-May-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

May has been cool and rainy. It was warmer in April this year. While it has been cool I have been able to expand the sections for my wildflowers. I didn’t spread any new seeds in the 15′ x 30′ section on the east side of the house planted last year to see which perennial, biennial, or self-seeding annual wildflowers would come back. This morning when I got up, it was way too bright outside — the sun was out!!! In addition I noticed the first red poppy flower for this year. Coincidentally, the American Legion has recommended that the Friday before Memorial day be designated National Poppy Day. In the Commonwealth nations, red poppies are used to commemorate Remembrance Day (11-November).

First Red Poppy flower this year. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Composite of 40 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df computer and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)
First Red Poppy flower this year. Composite of 40 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)
First Red Poppy flower this year. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Composite of 74 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df computer and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 7.4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)
First Red Poppy flower this year. Composite of 74 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 7.4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)

Sunday (07-May-2017) — New Jersey

Indoor Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

My house pet. I haven’t seen one of these for a long time. This one got caught in my bathtub and couldn’t get out. I’m told they eat other insects and spiders. After taking the picture, I let it go outside. Now that is starting to warm up outside, I am seeing a number of ants scouting the house for food. After my renovation and spring cleaning they are not finding much. Scutigera coleoptrata House Centipede (Not a Silverfish). Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) and SB-910 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 10, Focus Magic, and Silver Efex Pro.

Spring Indoor Nature in New Jersey. Scutigera coleoptrata House Centipede (Not a Silverfish). Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) and SB-910 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 10, Focus Magic, and Silver Efex Pro. (David J Mathre)
Scutigera coleoptrata House Centipede (Not a Silverfish). Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) and SB-910 flash. (David J Mathre)