summer - David Mathre Photography

Monday (26-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

There were more than a dozen deer in my yard this morning. Lots of teenage fawns, still with spots. They spend their time nibbling on the wildflowers just outside the electric fence. At one point I saw one jump back after touching its nose to the electric fence. A bit later, I saw one of the fawns with “mile-a-minute” vine sticking to its side. Helping to spread this invasive vine.

Early morning Doe and two Fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 640, 200 mm, f/2, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Early morning Doe and three Fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/2, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Two Fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 1000, 200 mm, f/2, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Fawn checking out the electric fence and the flowers behind. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 320, 200 mm, f/2, 1/850 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Fawn (with mile-a-minute vine on its side). Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 320, 200 mm, f/2, 1/2500 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (40.6 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (62.10 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler outside and more sun for a net surplus of 21.5 kWh.

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Three-Years Ago (26-August-2016) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Praying Mantis vs. Butterflies.

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)

Pair of Spicebush Swallowtail Butterflies (Mating?). Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec). (David J Mathre)

Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/70 sec). (David J Mathre)

Darwin Award Winner. This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Got Too Close to the Praying Mantis in the Thistle Bush. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Twelve-Years Ago (26-August-2007) — Colorado

Summertime Nature in Colorado.

Summer Morning Reflections at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 140, 14 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). Three versions — as originally processed, reprocessed three-years ago (Capture One Pro, Photoshop CC, Focus Magic, and NIK Color Efex and NIK Define), and reprocessed today. Let me know which you like better (or why I save all images — to learn from my mistakes and to used newer image processing tools).

Summer Morning Reflections at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/22, 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)

Summer Morning Reflections at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 140, 14 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Photoshop CC, Focus Magic, and NIK Color Efex and NIK Define. (David J Mathre)

Sunday (25-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

More yard work. Continued installation of a drip hose to water both these shrubs and the daffodil patch (using rainwater collected in barrels). Also lots of mile-a-minute vine weeds needed to be pulled. Time-lapse video recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera and the video processed with Photoshop CC (including the Little Planet view).

After the yard work I did my daily walkabout with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. The Nikon Df is the lightest of my full frame DSLR cameras. It uses the same sensor as the Nikon D4. Butterflies (Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and Common Buckeye), and Moths (Hummingbird Clearwing — the one with white legs). It was windy so the butterflies and moths needed to work harder while feeding on the Zinnia and Marigold flowers.

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

Daily Electric Energy Used (41.9 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (54.0 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler outside but clouds blocking the sun part of the day for a net surplus of 12.1 kWh. Weekly totals Electric Energy Used (380 kWh), Solar Electric Energy Produced (378 kWh) for a weekly net deficit of 2 kWh.

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Twelve-Years Ago (25-August-2007) — Colorado

Summertime Nature in Rocky Mountain National Park.

It only took me twelve years to figure out what type of bird this was. Clark’s Nutcracker. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec).

Clark's Nutcracker. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre) — Clark’s Nutcracker. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 400 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)