Eleven-Years Ago (23-August-2008) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

I didn’t see the crab-like spider hiding until processing the images. And then it wasn’t that sharp of an image. Reprocessed with Topaz Sharpen AI (stabilize). Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec).

Camouflaged Crab like Spider hiding on a Queen Anne's Lace. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Camouflaged Crab like Spider hiding on a Queen Anne’s Lace. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (24-August-2016) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

I visited the Sourland Mountain Preserve yesterday at 15:00. It was hot out, and I only lasted an hour. I saw a number of Monarch butterflies, but they were not staying still. I did catch both a Monarch butterfly and an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly feeding on a Queen Anne’s Lace flower. I don’t often see butterflies feeding on this flower.

Monarch Butterfly on a Queen Anne's Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Monarch Butterfly on a Queen Anne’s Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Queen Anne's Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Queen Anne’s Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (19-August-2011) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly Feeding on a Thistle Flower, and Small Bugs on a Queen Anne’s Lace Flower both at the Images taken with a Nikon D700 camera and 28-300 mm VR lens.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thistle Bloom. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Insect in a Queen Anne's Lace Flower at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D700 + 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Insect in a Queen Anne’s Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D700 + 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

Eight-Years Ago (09-August-2008) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Queen Anne’s Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Queen Anne's Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Queen Anne’s Lace Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)

Thursday (26-July-2012) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Queen Anne’s Lace Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Queen Anne's Lace Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VRII lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Queen Anne’s Lace Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VRII lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Ever since I had a third party GPS unit attached to my D3x camera cause an electrical fault within the camera, I have been afraid to use a connected GPS device. However, I did like having the GPS location included with the image metadata. Both Lightroom 4 and View NX2 now have options where GPS data collected by a separate GPS unit can be added to the metadata. This requires that the GPS unit can export the data (via a *.gpx file), and that the time in the camera be set relatively accurately. The programs then compare the time that the image was taken with the location from the GPS file at the same time. This location is then added to the image metadata. I do like the MAP feature within Lightroom 4. One issue with Lightroom 4 is that it will not add the data to RAW image files, but rather create a sidecar file with the location metadata. It will add the data to jpg and DNG image files. View NX2 (since it is a Nikon product) will add the data to the RAW image file. One problem with the View NX2 process is that the Google Map that is connected during the process is in Japanese. Both products require that you are connected to the internet since they use Google Maps.

[bingMap width=600 location=”N40 28.3401 W74 41.6544″ maptype=”AerialWithLabels” zoom=”11″ pp1=”N40 28.3401 W74 41.6544″]

[pw_map address=”40 28.3401, -74 41.6544″ width=”600px” height=”400px” enablecontrols=”true” “key=”AIzaSyDzSJfuf50JPAE5AllQz8iLyENq3jp1rR”]

GPS: N40 28.3401 W74 41.6544