• Backyard Garden Gnomes Meditating in a Cloud of Fireflies (24-June-2026)

    The fireflies in my backyard are out in force this year. I set up two cameras to take a series of images of a pair of backyard garden gnomes from a distance of 75 and 200 feet to capture the firefly trails as they flashed during the night. The images were processed with Capture One Pro and composite created using Photoshop (scripts, statistics, maximum). Camera 1: Nikon Z9, 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, f/11, 30 sec). Camera 2: Nikon Zf, 500 mm f/5.6 (ISO 800, f/11, 30 sec). Each composite used ~ 480 images taken over 4.5 hours.


    Pair of Backyard Garden Gnomes Meditating in a Cloud of Fireflies.
    Pair of Backyard Garden Gnomes Meditating in a Cloud of Fireflies. Composite of 480 images taken by a Nikon Z9 camera and 600 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, f/11, 30 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop (scripts, statistics, maximum).

    Pair of Backyard Garden Gnomes Meditating in a Cloud of Fireflies.
    Pair of Backyard Garden Gnomes Meditating in a Cloud of Fireflies. Composite of 480 images taken by a Nikon Zf camera and 500 mm f/5.6 lens (ISO 800, f/11, 30 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop (scripts, statistics, maximum).


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

    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)

    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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  • Wildflower Meadow Selfie (16-June-2020)

    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)

    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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  • Emerging Mosquito (14-June-2018)

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

    I noticed a Mosquito emerging from some standing water in my backyard. I have seen mosquito larvae before, but not one emerging. After taking the picture, I drained all of the standing water I could find as there had been reports of the Dengue Fever, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and the Nile Virus being spread by mosquitos. And I don’t like being bitten by mosquitoes when I go out at night to watch the fireflies.

    
Mosquito emerging from the water. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens.
    Mosquito emerging from the water. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens.

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  • Firefly Trails (08-June-2018)

    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)

    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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  • Upright Alert Rabbit (30-May-2012)

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

    Harvey the backyard rabbit checking out if it was safe to have dinner in my vegetable garden. Harvey had part of its ear missing. I didn’t mind if he nibbled a bit. It was the deer that did the most damage.

    Harvey "Do I Smell Dinner?" Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 500 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec).
    Harvey “Do I Smell Dinner?” Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 500 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec).


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  • First to Fledge (27-May-2020)

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

    This was the first of the hatchlings to leave the Eastern Phoebe’s nest above my front door. Was it an Eastern Phoebe, or Brown-headed Cowbird. Since it was bigger than the other hatchlings, I think it was a Brown-headed Cowbird. The Cowbirds lay their eggs in other bird species nests.

    First fledgling from Eastern Phoebe nest -- Brown-headed Cowbird or Eastern Phoebe??? Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens and 1.4x teleconverter.
    First fledgling from Eastern Phoebe nest — Brown-headed Cowbird or Eastern Phoebe??? Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens and 1.4x teleconverter (ISO 500, 280 mm, f/2.8, 1/420 sec)

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