Forget Me Not - David Mathre Photography

Friday (04-September-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Walkabout with a new Sigma 70 mm f/2.8 macro lens on the Leica SL2 camera. Flowers in the soft-pots on the patio. Zinnia, Cosmos, Coreopsis, Forget-me-not, Sunflower. Hand-held, but somewhat windy out. Narrow depth of field, so not all are completely in focus. Something I need to work on. This camera does have a higher resolution mode (but not a focus stacking mode). The higher resolution mode requires the camera be stabilized on a tripod. The same is true for the focus stacking mode on the Fuji X-H1 or Nikon D850.

Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Tropical Storm Isaias aftermath. Current status of the downed Oak trees after one month.

Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (57.4 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun. A surplus of 0.9 kWh.

Thursday (25-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: American Crow and Blue Jay.

American Crows in a tree. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Blue Jay. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Early Summer Wildflowers: Yellow Prickly Pear, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Onion Grass, Teasel, Pink Poppy, Red Poppy, Bachelor Button, Larkspur, Delphinium, and Forget-me-not.

Summer Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Leica recently updated the firmware for the SL2 camera. One of the new features is the ability to take a 187 megapixel (16736 x 11168) image using the sensor shifting capability. After taking the first image, the sensor is shifted in 1/2 pixel increments to take 8 additional images, then combine the date in camera. The native resolution of the sensor is 47 megapixels (8368 x 5584). To use this feature, the camera must be mounted on a stable platform (tripod), uses the electronic shutter, and turns off both lens and in-camera motion reduction. My first test of this feature is with the Prickly Pear Cactus flower image (full image and cropped 4507 x 3605 image).

Yellow Prickly Pear flowers. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens (ISO 400, 60 mm, f/16, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (65.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 9.7 kWh. The solar panels continue to produce more energy than required to keep the house cool with the energy efficient Geothermal HVAC system.

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Friday (19-June-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Common Grackle, Gray Catbird, American Goldfinch, Blue Jay, and Tufted Titmouse. The Eastern Phoebe continues to sit on the nest.

Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Northern Cardinal Portrait Session. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Two fawns with spots have been spending their days in the backyard.

Spots and his sister Spots. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Last day of Spring Flowers: Including Poppies (Red, Pink, Oriental, and California). Daisy, Foxglove, Cosmos, Delphinium, Bearded Tongue, Blanket Flower, Forget-me-not, Lemmon Mink, Sweet William, Cornflower, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Love-in-a-mist (seed pod), and Prickly Pear Cactus. The deer nibbled on the Yucca shoots this year before I could protect them.

Poppies (portrait mode). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Poppies (landscape mode). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Wildflowers (portrait mode). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Wildflowers (landscape mode). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (49.4 kWh) from Sense. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (65.2 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun than clouds. A surplus of 9.0 kWh.

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Thursday (28-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Pileated Woodpecker, and Eastern Phoebe. I haven’t seen the Pileated Woodpecker in my yard for some time. I’ve heard it working on the neighbors trees looking for grubs. The Eastern Phoebes are back to just feeding the two young chicks in the nest.

Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Pileated Woodpecker. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Spring flowers of the day — Poppies (California, Oriental, Red), Bachelor Button, Crimson Clover, Tulip Tree, Cornflower, Forget-me-not, Rhododendron, Baby Blue Eyes, and Johnny Jump Up, Evening Primrose, and Daisy.

Spring Flowers of the Day – Portrait. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Spring Flowers of the Day — Landscape. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

I got part of the yard mowed before it started raining. Time-lapse video recorded using a Garmin VIRB-360 camera

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.3 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (24.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Fog in the morning and clouds in the afternoon. A deficit of 22.4 kWh.

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Wednesday (27-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

While taking the trash out for the weekly pickup, one of the tiny hatchlings from the Eastern Phoebe nest jumped out of the nest. It could barely fly, mainly a controlled landing. I got some pictures of the bird on the ground. I have a strong suspicion that it is a Brown-headed Cowbird. The remaining two birds in the nest are much smaller. Also, the Eastern Phoebe parents didn’t seem to be too concerned about the bird down on the ground and continued to feed the two birds in the nest.

Eastern Phoebe or Brown-headed Cowbird?. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Birds of the Day — Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Chipping Sparrow, Carolina Wren, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. Many of the birds at the feeder these days are young and are trying to figure out the pecking order.

Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Spring flowers of the day — Poppies (California, Oriental, Red), Allium, Cosmos, Forget-me-not, Rhododendron, Baby Blue Eyes, and Johnny Jump Up.

Spring Flowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Poppies of the Day – Portrait. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Poppies of the Day — Landscape. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (43.0 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (58.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Fog in the morning, Sun and clouds in the afternoon. A surplus of 15.8 kWh.

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