Category: Nature

Views of nature and the natural world. Plants, animals, and wildlife from around the world.

Wednesday (12-December-2012) — New Jersey

Late-Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Sourland Mountain Preserve.

The mirror-less Nikon 1 V1 (N1V1) camera has been upgraded to the Nikon 1 V2 (N1V2). The first thing that I noticed about the N1V2 is that it is smaller than the N1V1. Ergonomically, it is easier to handle. The mode selector has been moved to the top — it was on the back of the N1V1 in a position that was too easy to accidentally change modes. A couple of negatives – the battery is new, and lower capacity than the battery in the N1V1. Also, the interval timer mode has disappeared. I won’t be able to take time-lapse videos with this camera. I took the camera out for a walk at the Sourland Mountain Preserve this morning and caught this Mallard duck taking off from the pond. I don’t know if it plans to stay for the winter, or is about to go south.

Male Mallard Duck Taking Off from a Pond in the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera FT1 adapter and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 160, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). TIFF image process with Capture One Pro 7. (David J. Mathre)
Male Mallard Duck Taking Off from a Pond in the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera FT1 adapter and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VRII lens (ISO 160, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). TIFF image process with Capture One Pro 7. (David J. Mathre)

Monday (10-December-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Late Fall in New Jersey: Misty, Moody, Monochrome Monday Morning.

It was foggy when I woke up this morning. I took this picture using the Leica X2 using the in camera high contrast B&W mode. I find this useful to envision what a scene will look like in B&W in real-time rather than waiting till I get back to my computer and start processing images. Thom Hogan mentioned in one of his recent blogs that he often does the same thing.

Foggy Morning. Late Fall in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Out of the camera B&W (high contrast) jpg image. (David J Mathre)
Foggy Morning. Late Fall in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Out of the camera B&W (high contrast) jpg image. (David J Mathre)

Sunday (09-December-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Late Autumn Nature in New Jersey: Young Doe.

I took this image from my back deck using a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens connected using the FT1 adapter. With the smaller sensor size in the N1V1 the effective field of view (FOV) is equivalent to using a 1350 mm lens on a 35 mm FX sensor camera. This image is not cropped — almost too much magnification to have the whole deer in the frame. The lens was supported on a monopod, and VR was turned on to help stabilize the image. The mass on the lower part of the doe’s neck appears to be a deer fibroma, thought to be caused by a papilloma virus infection. I am seeing more of these abnormalities on the local herd of deer.

Young Doe in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens connected with a FT1 adapter (ISO 400, 1350 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Young Doe in My Backyard. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens connected with a FT1 adapter (ISO 400, 1350 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (05-December-2012) — New Jersey

Indoor Autumn Nature in New Jersey: Cricket Dance.

A few days ago I noticed a number of crickets in my basement. They are a silent variety as I haven’t heard any chirping. Once I get them identified, I’ll figure out if they are harmful or if I just ignore them. For now they are a good subject for a time-lapsed video. I set up a camera and flash to take an image every 15 seconds overnight.

Monday (03-December-2012) — New Jersey

Late Fall Backyard Nature in New Jersey: Deer.

The deer are very skittish right now, between rutting season and hunting season. There were a few does in the backyard late Sunday afternoon. As soon as I got out onto the back deck to try to get some images, there was a series of shotgun blasts in the distance. White tail up and the deer quickly took off. I thought that hunting wasn’t permitted on Sundays for those of us that like to go walking in the woods.

I processed the raw image with a trial version of Capture One Pro 7, and then converted it using Nik Silver Efex Pro. The new version of Capture One is going to take some getting used too — some new features, but also some idiosyncrasies that will take some time to understand.

Late Fall Doe. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 7 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Late Fall Doe. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 7 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Late Fall Doe. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 7 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Late Fall Doe. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 7 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)