David Mathre Photography

This Day of the Year

  • Independence Day Fireworks (26-June-2025)

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    David Mathre
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    Montgomery Township New Jersey. Independence Day Fireworks.

    Montgomery Township typically celebrates Independence Day with fireworks several days before the 4th of July. I live near a great location that overlooks the high school where the township holds the Independence Day celebration. It is away from the crowds. I got there just before sunset. One car arrived before me but there was still plenty of space to set up the tripods and cameras. In 2023, one camera wasn’t in focus, so I made sure all of the cameras were set up, framed and focused. I confirmed that the memory cards were inserted, and the batteries fully charged. Also, since the cameras were all on tripods, I made sure that the “vibration reduction/stabilization” was turned off. As it got dark a few fireflies were visible, but since the fireworks are orders of magnitude brighter than the fireflies you won’t see both in the images. I set the cameras up as follows: Base ISO (50, 64, or 100 depending on the camera), f/11, and 8 second exposures with the intervalometer set to repeat until stopped. It appeared that the folks running the show waited for a train to pass before starting. The fireworks started just before 21:25. It took a little bit of time to confirm the framing, focus, and to start the interval timers.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Montgomery Township Fireworks from previous years. 27-June-2024, 29-June-2023, 30-June-2022, 28-June-2018, 28-June-2012, 30-June-2011

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  • Whitetail Dragonfly on a Stick (20-June-2008)

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    David Mathre
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    Seventeen-Years Ago Today. Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

    I noticed this dragonfly on a stick while on my afternoon backyard walkabout. This was on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. It is a male Common Whitetail Dragonfly (Plathemis lydia) also known as a longtail skimmer. I see them quite often in the back yard, more so now that I have enlarged the pond. I consider them valuable since they consume mosquitoes (both adult and mosquito larvae). This one seems to have part of its rear wing damaged. You can spend hours watching their aerial acrobatics while guarding their territory.

    Dragonfly on a stick. Backyard spring nature in new Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200 mm f/2 telephoto lens and TC-E II 2x teleconverter (ISO 900, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec).
    Dragonfly on a stick. Backyard spring nature in new Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200 mm f/2 telephoto lens and TC-E II 2x teleconverter (ISO 900, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec).

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  • Wrong Side of the Fence (19-June-2019)

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    David Mathre
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    Six-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    Garden Gnome caught on the wrong side of the electric deer fence. It looks like the American Crow was on guard duty. The electric deer fence was not effective keeping the deer out and ultimately was replaced with an eight-foot-tall deer fence. A project completed while staying at home during the Covid-19 period.

    American Crow and Garden Gnome. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec).

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  • Hairy Spider (18-June-2018)

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    David Mathre
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    Seven-Years Ago Today. Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    I noticed this hairy spider with some iridescent green at my front door. It stuck around long enough for me to get a camera with a macro lens. I think it is fascinating how many eyes spiders have. I just wish it would do a better job keeping the stink-bug population down.

    Hairy Spider at my Front Door. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 160, f/4, 1/160 sec).
    Hairy Spider at my Front Door. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 160, f/4, 1/160 sec).

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  • Wildflower Meadow Selfie (16-June-2020)

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    Five-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    Back in the days of Covid-19 I had the backyard wildflower meadow as my own private outdoor retreat. This is a Little Planet selfie view of the wildflower meadow. The main flowers at that time were the yellow Lance-leaf Coreopsis. There are also a few Red Poppies, Larkspur, and Blue Cornflowers (Bachelor Buttons). This was before the new 8-foot deer fence. Back then I was using a lower electric fence that the deer would jump over. So, the main wildflowers were the ones that the deer didn’t eat. I wore the overalls to protect myself from the deer ticks.

    Wildflower Meadow — Little Planet View. Image taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera (ISO 100, 1 mm, f/2, 1/1996 sec).

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  • Honeysuckle Flowers (15-June-2018)

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    David Mathre
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    Seven-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    I love the smell of the Honeysuckle flowers. I used to have a lot of the vines growing in my backyard. In recent years I haven’t seen as many of the flowers. This week I did see a vine and some of the flowers on the deer fence which I will leave and hope more return.

    Honeysuckle Flowers. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens.
    Honeysuckle Flowers. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens.

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  • Question Mark Butterfly (11-June-2012)

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    David Mathre
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    Thirteen-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    At first, I thought this Question Mark Butterfly was a dead leaf. Then it started moving along the old deck railing. It is very well disguised or camouflaged as a dead leaf although more so for in the fall, not the spring when most leaves are green. If you look closely, you can see the tiny white question mark on the back wing.

    Question Mark Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 110, 300 mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec).

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  • Firefly Trails (08-June-2018)

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    David Mathre
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    Seven-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    Composite image of the fireflies flashing in my backyard. The composite was created from 564 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 3200, 56 mm, f/8. 30 sec). The raw images were processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). I use the same method to create star trails.

    Firefly Trails. Composite of 564 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 3200, 56 mm, f/8. 30 sec).

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  • My Little Planet (07-June-2015)

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    David Mathre
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    Ten-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    A Little Planet View of my backyard. The image is a composite of 37 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Bower 8 mm fisheye lens and then processed with AutoPano Giga Pro. AutoPano Giga is no longer available/supported so I now use PTGui Pro to create little planet images. The two Sycamore trees no longer exist, the deck was replaced with a patio, and there are now solar panels on the roof of the house. Much of the backyard grass has been converted to a wildflower meadow.

    Little Planet View of My Backyard. Composite of 37 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Bower 8 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/16, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro.

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  • Scutigera Coleptrata (06-June-2011)

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    David Mathre
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    Fourteen-Years Ago Today. Indoor Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    Scutigera Coleptrata also known as a House Centipede crawling on one of my walls. It is not a silverfish. Apparently, they eat spiders and other small insects, so I leave them alone. This image was taken with a macro lens and a flash. It was late at night, and I normally do not see them during the day.

    Scutigera Coleptrata (House Centipede) — Not a Silverfish. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR Macro + TC-E 20 (ISO 800, 210 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec) with SB-900 Flash.

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About the author

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time observing and photographing the plants and animals while expanding a wildflower garden/meadow in the backyard. When the sky is clear, I have telescopes viewing the night sky.

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