Two-Years Ago (03-July-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Harvey the Rabbit. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 160, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/20 sec). Note that this is equivalent to 1080 mm on a 35 mm sensor, and was hand-held. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Harvey the Rabbit in My Backyard. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 160, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/20 sec). Note that this is equivalent to 1080 mm on a 35 mm sensor, and was hand-held. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Harvey the Rabbit in My Backyard. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 160, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/20 sec). Note that this is equivalent to 1080 mm on a 35 mm sensor, and was hand-held. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)

Friday (10-August-2012) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey: Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Harvey the Bullfrog. I took the same image of this bullfrog using a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 telephoto lens at different apertures. The camera and lens were mounted on a gimbal tripod. This version of the 400 mm lens does not have vibration reduction, but the heavy weight of the lens plus good long lens techniques minimized the impact of vibration due to mirror and shutter motion. The aperture was changed from f/2.8 to f/8 to see the impact on depth of view. The following are significant crops of the original images.

Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 400 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 400 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 280, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 280, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 560, 400 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bullfrog in a Pond. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 560, 400 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (01-August-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Rabbit Eating Clover in the Rain. My first day of Retirement. I’ve been working for Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, New Jersey; Boulder, Colorado; and West Point, Pennsylvania for the last 27 years. I can now spend more time with my new passion of photography and travel. I took a series of images of this rabbit in the rain. I was sitting in my car in my driveway while listening to “The Race” on SiriusXM. Now that I am not commuting 3+ hours a day I can photograph the local wildlife while listening to books on satellite radio.

Rabbit Eating Clover in the Rain. Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Rabbit Eating Clover in the Rain. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (20-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Harvey the Backyard Rabbit. Another hot summer evening in New Jersey. Each of my tomato pots on the deck took 2 gallons of water. As I was sitting out on my deck I took some images of a young fawn, a grey cowbird, and Harvey the backyard rabbit. All were taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. Because the D3x camera has a 24 MP sensor, I was able to do significant crops and still retain significant detail. I will break this into 3 posts (one for each animal) because of the number of images.

Harvey the Rabbit Looking at you. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Harvey the Rabbit Looking at you. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Harvey the Rabbit Looking at you. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Harvey the Rabbit Looking at you. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Harvey the Rabbit Looking at you. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Harvey the Rabbit Looking at you. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Harvey the Rabbit. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Harvey the Rabbit. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.
Harvey the Rabbit Resting after Dinner. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Harvey the Rabbit Resting after Dinner. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.