Tuesday (22-September-2020) — New Jersey

Early Autumn Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Fourth consecutive night with dark (relative — this is New Jersey) clear skies. This time Night Sky Star Trails with a Nikon D850 camera with a 10.5 mm f/2.8 DX fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Note a full frame camera with a DX sensor lens, thus some of the sensor is not used. Star Trail composite image created with the jpg “out-of-the-camera” image files using PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). A lot fewer jet trails than in previous years. Clouds started coming in during the early morning hours.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Nighttime sky over New Jersey. Composite of images (21:45-04:29) taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)


Night Sky Composite Images (first one 45 min, others 60 min). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (36.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (50.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny with a few clouds. Geothermal HVAC system off. A surplus of 14.2 kWh.

Monday (30-December-2019) — Florida

Gone to See Florida — 2019 Road Trip.

Some 360 degree composite images of an urban garden and the Granada Terrace park in St. Petersburg. I’ve included composite 360 degree panorama, fisheye, little planet, tunnel view, and mirror ball views. The views were created using AutoPano Giga Pro software from a series of 21 images taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 160, 8 mm, f/16, 1/30 sec).


Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.



Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.



Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.


Daily Electric Energy Used (29.9 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (1.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. A very cloudy day in New Jersey. A deficit of 28.2 kWh. Most of the hydroponic gardens were off or only on for fewer hours. Also, the thermostat for the Geothermal heater and hybrid heat pump hot water heater were set for vacation mode.

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Monday (25-November-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Outdoor Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Dawn clouds and jet trails.

Clouds and Jet Trails at Dawn Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 64, 14 mm, f/5, 1/400 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Clouds and Jet Trails at Dawn Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 64, 14 mm, f/5, 1/400 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (71.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (30.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Overall a net deficit of 40.3 kWh.


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Friday (25-October-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

While taking the recycling out to the curb early in the morning I noticed the sky lighting up with colorful clouds and a waning moon. I went back in a picked up a camera with a fisheye lens to try and capture it all.

Colorful clouds and waning crescent moon at dawn. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 64, 15 mm, f/5.6, 5 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Colorful clouds and waning crescent moon at dawn. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 64, 15 mm, f/5.6, 5 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (59.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (29.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More clouds than yesterday. At this time of the year the sun is lower, and the Sycamore tree leaves shadow the solar panels part of the day. Overall a net deficit of 29.6 kWh.

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Tuesday (02-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Rainbow in New Jersey.

While eating dinner, it started getting dark outside with the rumble of thunder. I was happy when the rain started since it had been hot out, and all of my garden towers on the patio and the wildflower meadows needed water. A bit later when looking out the kitchen window while doing the dishes saw a rainbow. I dropped everything and first ran out with my Leica CL camera with the 11-23 mm wide-angle lens. After taking a bunch of pictures, I returned with a Nikon D810a camera with the 8-15 mm fisheye lens. I really like the Leica CL camera for travel, but the Nikon D810a camera has a  larger (full frame) and more sensitive sensor with greater dynamic range. Just compare the two images of the rainbow above my backyard weather station.  I then took a bunch of images to make a 360 degree panorama, little planet view, and inverse little planet view of the rainbow.

Backyard Evening Rainbow over the Weather Station. After the Thunderstorm. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 11-23 mm lens (ISO 100, 11 mm, f/4.5, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Evening Rainbow over the Weather Station. After the Thunderstorm. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 11-23 mm lens (ISO 100, 11 mm, f/4.5, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Evening Rainbow over the Weather Station. After the Thunderstorm. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 15 mm, f/7.1, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Evening Rainbow over the Weather Station. After the Thunderstorm. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 15 mm, f/7.1, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard 360 Panorama View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard 360 Panorama View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)


Little Planet View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Little Planet View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Inverse Little Planet View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Inverse Little Planet View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (54.9 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (66.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The outside temperatures were high, so the geothermal HVAC system was working hard.

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