Ten-Years Ago (25-August-2009) — North Dakota

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 04: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.

I woke up early for a sunrise shoot. A thick fog enveloped the campground where I parked the RV. I packed up and drove the scenic drive towards the River Bend, and Oxbow overlooks hoping to get above the fog. It was still dawn when I arrived at the River Bend viewpoint where there is a stone building overlooking the Little Missouri river valley. The valley was still covered with fog, but the sky above had some beautiful pastel colors (Belt of Venus, and the earth shadow). I drove a bit further until the sun started to be visible, and got several shots of the sun rising above the fog filled valley. When I arrived at the Oxbow overlook, there was a faint rainbow because of the fog. I find rainbows always difficult to photograph. Then remembering something Winston Hall taught me “always look behind you, because that is where the best picture is” — and sure enough there was a Bighorn Ram coming over a grass covered ridge. Quickly switching for a camera with a telephoto lens, I got some great silhouette images including one with the Bighorn in midair as it started to run away. Once the show was done, I drove back to the park entrance. The fog was beginning to rise when I came upon some Bison crossing the road, and into the fog.


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Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


Fog Rainbow and Photographer's Shadow. Little Missouri river overlook. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-28 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Fog Rainbow and Photographer’s Shadow. Little Missouri river overlook. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-28 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)


Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.



Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


Saturday (03-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Foggy Morning. Looking out my bedroom window, I could barely see beyond the Sunflower. As soon as the sun came up, the fog started to dissipate. For my morning walkabout I took a Leica TL-2 camera with a 35 mm f/1.4 lens because of the fog and lower light levels.  Mainly flowers (Sunflowers, Zinnia, Cosmos, Pokeweed, Coreopsis, Coneflower, Larkspur, Chicory, Four O’Clock) since it was still foggy with great diffuse lighting. A few bumblebees were out, but they seemed to be frozen on the Sunflowers. Maybe they spent the night there.

Back side of a Sunflower from my bedroom window on a foggy morning. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/1.4, 1/200 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Back side of a Sunflower from my bedroom window on a foggy morning. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/1.4, 1/200 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Foggy Morning Backyard View. Composite of two images taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Foggy Morning Backyard View. Composite of two images taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

 


Sunflowers. Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


 


Cosmos. Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.



Zinnia. Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.



Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


Daily Electric Energy Used (58.4 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (67.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Net Surplus 8.9 kWh.

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Sunday (20-January-2019) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The predicted snow didn’t happen. Instead heavy rain last night (~ 1.8 inches. When I woke up it was foggy out and warm (~ 45 °F). During the day the temperature is forecast to drop 30-40 degrees with heavy winds. During the day the sky cleared so I plan to see and photograph the lunar eclipse (“Wolf Blood Moon”). It will be cold, and I will need to tie down the camera tripods.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Foggy Winter Morning. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 3200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)



Individual images from the slideshow can be viewed here.

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

Early Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Morning Reflection and Silhouette at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS5.

Morning Reflection Silhouette at Sourland Mountain Reserve. Early Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Morning Reflection Silhouette at Sourland Mountain Preserve. Early Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

 

Five-Years Ago (06-January-2013) — Florida

Gone to See Florida 2013 Road Trip. Day 3: Foggy Morning in St. Petersburg.

The view from the Vinoy hotel was foggy. At first  could only see a lonely chair on my balcony.