Tag: summer

Thursday (23-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summer Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

For the first time since I returned from Germany, the sky was predicted to be clear overnight.  I have been wanting to try the 8-15 mm fisheye lens (that I borrowed from my brother) for doing some star trail images, and night sky time-lapse videos. I did have an issue with condensation on the very wide lens in the early morning hours. I have had the condensation problem on other wide lenses (14 mm, 14-24 mm) in the past, and may need to fashion a small tape heater on the lens.


Star trails over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 100, 8 mm, f/4, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Thursday (23-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

I finally discovered that it is the Grey Catbirds that are pecking at the tomatoes in my patio garden. Over half of the ripe tomatoes that picked today had been eaten by the Catbirds. Too bad the neighborhood cats that patrol my patio haven’t caught onto this opportunity.

Grey Catbird pecking at my tomatoes. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (ISO 450, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Grey Catbird pecking at my tomatoes. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (ISO 450, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Tuesday (21-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Morning walkabout in the yard with a macro and telephoto lens. Flowers, wildflowers, black swallowtail butterfly, and the immature American Goldfinch that has been pulling the petals off the Zinnia flowers.



Goldfinch that has been pulling the petals off the Zinnia flowers. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Goldfinch that has been pulling the petals off the Zinnia flowers. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Monday (20-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Current wildflowers in bloom. Chinese Forget-Me-Not, Delphinium/Larkspur, Cosmos, Zinnia, Black-eyed Susan, Four O’clock, and Phlox.


Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

Sunday (19-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

It rained most of the morning, so I wasn’t able to get out until the afternoon to check out the garden towers on the patio. Between the timed sprinklers and all of the rain while I was in Germany, most of the plants survived. Indeed lots of invasive weeds and vines. I was able to pick  the ripe Italian and Cherry tomatoes. I had to discard a bunch of the tomatoes that had rotted. There were some giant cucumbers that I missed before traveling. A number of the hot peppers turned red, so I also picked them. There were flowers blooming on the morning-glory vines growing up the trellis on my chimney.

Monarch Butterfly on a Pink Zinnia Bloom. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Pink Zinnia Bloom. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Garden Tower Harvest (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Hot Peppers). Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Garden Tower Harvest (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Hot Peppers). Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Garden Tower Harvest (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Hot Peppers). Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Garden Tower Harvest (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Hot Peppers). Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Morning Glory Blooms on the Chimney Trellis. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Morning Glory Blooms on the Chimney Trellis. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tree Fungus. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tree Fungus. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Horned Worm remnants after being eating by tiny wasp parasites. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Horned Worm remnants after being eating by tiny wasp parasites. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)