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

Autumn Nature in New Jersey: Sunday Walk in the Park.

Gone for a walkabout at the Rock Mill Preserve with the Montgomery Friends of Open Space. A local park within walking distance of my house.

Rock Mill Preserve Opening. Sunday in the Park. Montgomery Township, New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X2 Camera. (David J Mathre)
Rock Mill Preserve Opening. Sunday in the Park. Montgomery Township, New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X2 Camera. (David J Mathre)


Thursday (30-June-2011) — New Jersey

Summer in New Jersey: Independence Day Fireworks.

Montgomery Township in New Jersey typically has their Independence Day Fireworks celebration a few days before the 4th of July. This year it will be tonight. I have a great location to view the fireworks just down the road from my house. It is on a hill that looks down on the high school where the main event occurs.

Winston Hall  has published an online guide for Photographing Fireworks with a DSLR camera.

I set up one camera set to do time-lapsed images (D3x with 180 mm f/2.8 lens), and a second camera do DSLR Video (D3x with 85 mm f/1.4 lens). The following 12 images were from the D3x and 180 mm lens. I haven’t used the 180 mm f/2.8 prime lens for some time and forgot how sharp this lens can be.

Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6. (David J Mathre)
Montgomery Township Independence Day Fireworks 2011. Summer in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6.

Thursday (30-June-2011) — New Jersey

Summer in New Jersey. Independence Day Fireworks Video.

I finally had a chance to process the DSLR video of the 30-June-2011 Montgomery Township Fireworks display. The Nikon D3s camera is limited to 5 minute HD (720P) video segments. I ended up with three 5 minute segments. I left the in-camera sound recording on to get the sound effects of the fireworks. I also got commentary about the fireworks from a family sitting in front of my tripod. At one point you can hear a train whistle. The other clicking sound is the shutter of my other cameras. I used Adobe Premiere Pro to combine the first and third segments, zoomed in a bit so the firework display takes up more of the image, and increased the volume. I also used Premiere Pro to add a title page to the video.