Tuesday (30-July-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

It’s hot outside so only a short walkabout with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. Lots of flowers. The sunflowers look amazing. Butterflies including Monarch, Tiger Swallowtail, Silver-spotted Skipper, Common Buckeye, Painted Lady, and Peck’s Skipper (?). Only one Snowberry Clearwing Moth.

Purple Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)
Purple Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)
Red Coreopsis. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)
Red Coreopsis. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)


Sunflowers. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images.



Butterflies. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images.


Snowberry Clearwing Moth in Flight above a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)
Snowberry Clearwing Moth in Flight above a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (68.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (73.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The temperatures have been going up outside, resulting in more energy (~29 kWh) needed for the Geothermal HVAC system to keep the house cool. Also, ran a load of laundry (3.3 kWh). Still a small daily surplus of 4.3 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

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Eight-Years Ago (28-August-2010) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey: Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on a Thistle Bloom. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200 mm f/2 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on Thistle Bloom. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200 mm f/2 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on Thistle Bloom. Sourland Mountain Preserve, Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200 mm f/2 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 8, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)

Friday (26-August-2016) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

American Goldfinch Really Like Thistle Seeds.  Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/7, 1/800 sec).

Goldfinch Eating Thistle Seeds. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/7.1, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Goldfinch Eating Thistle Seeds. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/7.1, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

It was too hot Wednesday when I did my walkabout through the Sourland Mountain Preserve. I didn’t try it yesterday, but gave it a short try today as I am still recovering from Lyme disease. I told myself that I wouldn’t stay out more than an hour, but ended up spending almost two hours. I have three goals at this time of the year: 1) Monarch Butterflies, 2) Hummingbird Clearwing Hummingbird Moths, and 3) Praying Mantis. Bonus points for Praying Mantis with prey. I got all three plus a couple of  bonus images I wasn’t expecting today. I ended up spending nearly two hours out on my walkabout and was really overheated when I got home. A short list of images I took : 1) Turtle; 2) Fritillary butterfly; 3) Hummingbird Clearwing moth; 4) Praying Mantis; 5) Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly mating; 6) Monarch butterfly; 7) Praying Mantis with a Tiger Swallowtail for lunch; 8) American Goldfinch; 9) Frog in the pond; and 10:) American Bittern. I ended up spending two hour in the Sourland Preserve, and was exhausted after getting home. It was way too hot.

Question for those that actually read this far. Should I only do single image in a post, or are albums/collections OK? If albums/collections are OK, only 4 images (so all will be seen, and users understand how to see the image in full screen mode) or as many images as I feel are good? Is it OK when I post images from this day of the year (going back 10 years)? Should they be as processed when first posted, or reprocessed using current photo editing tools (or both)? Is it OK when I post time-lapsed videos? It doesn’t seem like anyone views the time-lapse videos.

Both my “Image of the day” photo blog https://david.mathre.com
and my photo gallery http://davidmathre.com need significant updates and/or redesign. I am interested in comments about what does and doesn’t work as I start on a redesign project.

Friday (26-August-2016) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Danger, Danger – Praying Mantis Waiting For a Meal in a Thistle Bush. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 235 mm, f/5.6, 1/75 sec).

Praying Mantis on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/75 sec). (David J Mathre)
Praying Mantis on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/75 sec). (David J Mathre)

It was too hot Wednesday when I did my walkabout through the Sourland Mountain Preserve. I didn’t try it yesterday, but gave it a short try today as I am still recovering from Lyme disease. I told myself that I wouldn’t stay out more than an hour, but ended up spending almost two hours. I have three goals at this time of the year: 1) Monarch Butterflies, 2) Hummingbird Clearwing Hummingbird Moths, and 3) Praying Mantis. Bonus points for Praying Mantis with prey. I got all three plus a couple of  bonus images I wasn’t expecting today. I ended up spending nearly two hours out on my walkabout and was really overheated when I got home. A short list of images I took : 1) Turtle; 2) Fritillary butterfly; 3) Hummingbird Clearwing moth; 4) Praying Mantis; 5) Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly mating; 6) Monarch butterfly; 7) Praying Mantis with a Tiger Swallowtail for lunch; 8) American Goldfinch; 9) Frog in the pond; and 10:) American Bittern. I ended up spending two hour in the Sourland Preserve, and was exhausted after getting home. It was way too hot.

Question for those that actually read this far. Should I only do single image in a post, or are albums/collections OK? If albums/collections are OK, only 4 images (so all will be seen, and users understand how to see the image in full screen mode) or as many images as I feel are good? Is it OK when I post images from this day of the year (going back 10 years)? Should they be as processed when first posted, or reprocessed using current photo editing tools (or both)? Is it OK when I post time-lapsed videos? It doesn’t seem like anyone views the time-lapse videos.

Both my “Image of the day” photo blog <a href=”https://david.mathre.com”>https://david.mathre.com</a>
and my photo gallery <a href=”http://davidmathre.com”>http://davidmathre.com</a> need significant updates and/or redesign. I am interested in comments about what does and doesn’t work as I start on a redesign project.

Friday (26-August-2016) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) on a Thistle Bloom.  Image taken with a Fuji X-t1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/680 sec).

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/680 sec). (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/680 sec). (David J Mathre)

It was too hot Wednesday when I did my walkabout through the Sourland Mountain Preserve. I didn’t try it yesterday, but gave it a short try today as I am still recovering from Lyme disease. I told myself that I wouldn’t stay out more than an hour, but ended up spending almost two hours. I have three goals at this time of the year: 1) Monarch Butterflies, 2) Hummingbird Clearwing Hummingbird Moths, and 3) Praying Mantis. Bonus points for Praying Mantis with prey. I got all three plus a couple of  bonus images I wasn’t expecting today. I ended up spending nearly two hours out on my walkabout and was really overheated when I got home. A short list of images I took : 1) Turtle; 2) Fritillary butterfly; 3) Hummingbird Clearwing moth; 4) Praying Mantis; 5) Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly mating; 6) Monarch butterfly; 7) Praying Mantis with a Tiger Swallowtail for lunch; 8) American Goldfinch; 9) Frog in the pond; and 10:) American Bittern. I ended up spending two hour in the Sourland Preserve, and was exhausted after getting home. It was way too hot.

Question for those that actually read this far. Should I only do single image in a post, or are albums/collections OK? If albums/collections are OK, only 4 images (so all will be seen, and users understand how to see the image in full screen mode) or as many images as I feel are good? Is it OK when I post images from this day of the year (going back 10 years)? Should they be as processed when first posted, or reprocessed using current photo editing tools (or both)? Is it OK when I post time-lapsed videos? It doesn’t seem like anyone views the time-lapse videos.

Both my “Image of the day” photo blog https://david.mathre.com
and my photo gallery http://davidmathre.com need significant updates and/or redesign. I am interested in comments about what does and doesn’t work as I start on a redesign project.