• Canada Goose Family out for a Swim (18-May-2008)

    Seventeen-Years Ago Today. Spring Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey.

    Two Canada Geese parents with six gooselings swimming in the pond at the local Sourland Mountain Preserve. I used to stop by the preserve on a regular basis to see and photograph the birds, frogs, turtles, butterflies, and flowers. There are several hikes out from the pond that go into the woods, or you can follow the natural gas line right-of-way path up the “mountains”. A mountain in New Jersey isn’t that high.

    Canada Geese. Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens.

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  • American Robin with a Grub (15-May-2019)

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

    During my afternoon backyard walkabout, I saw an American Robin with a large grub in its mouth. I think the nest is in the nearby Ceder tree. The Fuji camera does emphasize the Robin’s bright orange breast colors.

    American Robin with a large grub. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens + 1.4x teleconverter (280mm, ISO 320, f/4, 1/420 sec).

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  • Barrel Cactus Flowers (13-May-2017)

    Eight-Years Ago Today. Indoor Cactus Garden in New Jersey.

    I take the cactus in for the winter and rarely see them blossom. I was about to move them outside when I noticed one of the small barrel cacti had small flowers. I couldn’t get the level of detail I wanted with a single macro image. Instead, I made a composite of 24 focus stacked images using a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec) and SB-910 flash (EV -2). The images were processed using Helicon Focus: [Method B (depth map, R = 8, S = 4)].

    Small barrel cactus flowers. Composite of 24 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec)

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  • Jumping Rabbit (09-May-2007)

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

    In the late afternoon, I watched two young rabbits playing and chasing each other in the backyard. They only came out into the open away from the hedge row just before dusk. I set up a tripod with a camera and a long lens on my deck and started taking pictures. All of a sudden one of the rabbits jumped straight up as I captured this image. I didn’t know a rabbit could jump straight up so high. While hovering the rabbit is looking right at me. For years, I have been unsuccessful trying to capture an image like this again. I still have rabbits in the yard despite a healthy red fox. So maybe this straight up jumping behavior is part of their escape behavior.

    Jumping Rabbit. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens with a TCE-II 1.4 x teleconverter (ISO 400, 420 mm, f/4, 1/160 sec).

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  • Backlit Maple Leaf (08-May-2007)

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

    Although I was looking for birds to photograph, I was attracted by the backlit glow of the leaf while on a late afternoon backyard walkabout.

    Spring Afternoon Backlit Maple Tree Leaf. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/5.3, 1/125 sec).

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  • Shy Young Fawn with Spots Trying to Hide (05-May-2020)

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

    While on an afternoon walkabout in my backyard I came upon a small fawn with spots trying to hide behind some weeds. Its mother apparently considered my backyard a safe daycare center. A decade earlier, a fawn was left at my doorstep (20100514). I haven’t seen any fawns yet this year. The deer fence is doing a good job of keeping the deer out and away from the fruit trees and wildflower meadow. The deer continue to patrol the fence looking for a way in.

    Shy young fawn with spots trying to hide. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 211 mm, f/6.4, 1/90 sec).

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  • Dogwood Tree Flowers (01-May-2014)

    Eleven-years ago today. Backyard springtime nature in New Jersey.

    The Dogwood tree was blooming, but the flowers were so far up the tree I needed to use a big telephoto lens to capture this image. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 320, 600 mm, f/4, 1/2500 sec). Today, I found another Dogwood tree outside the deer fence with flowers. As before, the flowers were high up in the tree. I’ll try to get an image on my next backyard walkabout.

    Dogwood Flowers Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 320, 600 mm, f/4, 1/2500 sec).


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