Tag: summer

Eleven-Years Ago (04-July-2007) — Colorado

Summer in Colorado. Railroad to Pikes Peak.

Eleven-years ago on a lark I drove from Boulder to Colorado Springs and then to Manitou Springs to take the Cog Wheeled Railroad to the summit of Pikes Peak. Little did I know that you needed reservations for the cog rail trip to Pikes Peak, and that all trips were sold out for the day. I was very lucky that someone in line before me was unhappy that their party was not all sitting together and turned in their tickets. Once I got on board the train, I realized that I won the lottery since my ticket was for the front seat. This allowed me to set up a tripod and camera to capture images for a time-lapse video for the train ride. So as not to annoy the other passengers on the train I used a small Gitzo travel tripod, my smallest camera body, and a small lens. Going up the mountain I used a 18-200 mm lens at 18 mm. Going down the mountain my seat was now in the rear of the train looking back. For this I used a 10.5 mm fisheye lens. This was a case of being in the right place at the right time!!!

Steam Engine at Pikes Peak Cog Railroad. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Topaz Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Steam Engine at Pikes Peak Cog Railroad. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Topaz Define, and Photoshop CS5.

Tuesday (03-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Morning and afternoon walkabouts with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens. The afternoon set was after a thunderstorm leaving some of the flowers wet. I am really liking this lens. One note, when the lens is out of the camera, or attached to the camera when the camera is off there is an internal part of the lens that slides back-and-forth making a knocking noise. When the camera is powered on this does not happen. I have seen reports on the internet, but have been told that it is not a problem. Now that the Fuji X-H1 and X-T2 cameras have firmware updates that will allow the camera to do focus bracketing. I look forward to trying focus bracketing with this lens.


Steam rising off the street after a thunderstorm. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Steam rising off the street after a thunderstorm. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Monday (02-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens.  Flower & Wildflowers, Flower Beds, and the Grow Towers. Is this first plant a flower or weed?

Weed or Wildflower?. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Weed or Wildflower?. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)




Sunday (01-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout looking for flowers. Daisy, Baby’s Breath, Red Poppy, California Poppy, Cosmos (notice the spider), Zinnia, etc.

Cosmos. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Cosmos. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


Sunday (01-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Early Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Fledgling Day. This morning the House Wren parents would fly up to the nest, but not feed the chick. Initially one chick would stick its head out and beg for food, then another one would try to stick its head out above, and another one below the first chick. Eventually, the first chick went outside the entrance and the other two chicks blocked it from reentering the nest. It finally dropped down to the ground and started hopping around and begging to its parents “what do I do now???” Then it was just two birds looking out of the nest. Soon thereafter, the second one jumped out. I didn’t see it but presume the third one followed. Then it was a matter of learning to fly before becoming cat food.

House Wren Chick Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
House Wren Chick Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Two House Wren Chicks Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Two House Wren Chicks Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Two House Wren Chicks Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Two House Wren Chicks Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Three House Wren Chicks Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Three House Wren Chicks Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Two House Wren Chicks Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Two House Wren Chicks Looking Out of the Nest at My Front Door.. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)