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

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Carnivore Robber Fly Eating a Black Wasp. Unlike a dragonfly, this insect only has one pair of wings. Image taken with a Nikon D700 camera and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.

Robber-Fly Eating Black Wasp.This insect looks like a dragonfly but only has one pair of wings. 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, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Robber-Fly Eating Black Wasp. Image taken with a Nikon D700 and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 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)

Thursday (18-August-2016) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Four Images of Hummingbird Clearwing Moths at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Images taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Thistle Flower.. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Thistle Flower.. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (18-August-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Bat in Flight at Dusk.  I am looking for suggestions how to better capture images of flying bats. This image was taken with a Nikon D3s camera  and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 12800, f/2.8, 1/320 sec). The bats were moving too fast and it was too dark to autofocus. So I manually set the focus for about 10 meters (~33 feet), followed the bats, and tried to press the shutter button when they were in focus.


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


Wednesday (17-August-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Robber Fly on a “Mile a Minute” Vine. Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 sec).

The “Mile a Minute” vine is now my most hated plant. It is invasive and is invading the North East as the Kudzu has invaded the South. It is able to grow 6 inches a day, and out competes every other plant. I have lost many trees and bushes. Even if you spray, the small blue seeds remain viable for 5-6 years. The plant has spines, and I have pictures from several years ago with the vine stuck to a deer, that probably brought it to my yard.

Robber Fly on a "Mile a Minute" Vine. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Robber Fly on a “Mile a Minute” Vine. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)