Wednesday (07-June-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Walkabout in my wildflower garden with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 90 mm f/2 lens. Lots of red poppies, some large and some small. One series at different apertures (including a close-up crop). Still only one blue bachelor button (cornflower) blooming.

Pink Poppy flower. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 90 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 90 mm, f/11, 1/70 sec). (© 2017 David J Mathre)
Pink Poppy flower. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 90 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 90 mm, f/11, 1/70 sec). (© 2017 David J Mathre)
Bachelor button wildflower. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 90 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 90 mm, f/2, 1/5400 sec). (© 2017 David J Mathre)
Bachelor button wildflower. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 90 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 90 mm, f/2, 1/5400 sec). (© 2017 David J Mathre)


Ten-Years Ago (03-June-2007) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Insects and flowers from my daily backyard walkabout.

Pair of hover flies mating on wild raspberry flowers. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Pair of hover flies mating on wild raspberry flowers. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)


Wednesday (24-May-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I spent much of the day preparing a section on the west side of the house for a patch of “Lily of the Valleys” and some other wildflowers. The section is under a tree, and grass doesn’t do very well. There were “Lily of the Valleys” here before, but they were destroyed when the roof was redone a couple years ago. So I rototilled the section, added lime and fertilizer, then drilled ninety 2 inch holes and planted the newly arrived “Lily of the Valley” pips. I hope they make it to bloom next spring. In the past, the deer left them alone. One of the pips had a shoot with flower buds. I took that one inside under the LED grow lights to see if the flower buds would open.

"Lily of the Valley" flower buds. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon Df computer and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, 0EV) (David J Mathre)
“Lily of the Valley” flower buds. Image taken with a Nikon Df computer and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, 0EV) (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (23-May-2014) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Rhododendron blooms after a rainstorm. Composite of 17 stacked images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens. Images processed using Capture One Pro 7 and Helicon Focus.

Rhododendron Blooms. Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 17 stacked images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens. Images processed using Capture One Pro 7 and Helicon Focus. (David J Mathre)
Rhododendron Blooms. Composite of 17 stacked images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 60 mm f/2.4 macro lens. Images processed using Capture One Pro 7 and Helicon Focus. (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (17-May-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

It has been raining a lot. Nibbles, the rabbit in my wildflower garden started eating the Italian (Crimson) clover. The Italian clover was part of the wildflower seed mixture I planted in the section previously used as the kitchen garden. I also saw a groundhog brushing its teeth with some rebar in the far backyard, a robin in the rain, and a squirrel with a nut. All of the wildlife images were taken from within the house. Later on I went outside with a macro lens to capture some flower pictures.

Rabbit nibbling on a Italian clover flower. Backyard spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Rabbit nibbling on a Italian clover flower. Backyard spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)