Monday (08-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Back Wildflower Meadow. Last year this was a mixture of wildflowers and sunflowers. The sunflowers dominated. In the fall I used the brush mower to cut everything down. I didn’t plant additional seeds and this is the result. The plants that I have identified include Red Poppy, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Bachelor Button, Cornflowers (various colors — white, pink, purple), Sweet William (various colors — white, pink, red, dark-red), and Evening Primrose. I haven’t seen any sunflowers, so the birds and mice got all of those seeds.

Wildflower Meadow. Composite images taken with a Leica CL camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 400, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Wildflower Meadow. Composite images taken with a Leica CL camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 400, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)


Back Wildflower Meadow. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Birds of the Day — Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse and lots of immature/junior birds.


Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.1 kWh) from meter reading. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (89.3 kWh) from meter reading. Much more sun. A surplus of 39.2 kWh.


powered by Ambient Weather

Sunday (29-December-2019) — Florida

Gone to See Florida — 2019 Road Trip.

The sky lit up with colorful clouds just after sunset, so I ran outside with the first camera I found.

Colorful clouds after sunset. Andalusia Plaza in Granada Terrace. Historic Northeast St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 9 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 100, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Colorful clouds after sunset. Andalusia Plaza in Granada Terrace. Historic Northeast St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 9 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 100, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Colorful clouds after sunset. Andalusia Plaza in Granada Terrace. Historic Northeast St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 5 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 400, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Colorful clouds after sunset. Andalusia Plaza in Granada Terrace. Historic Northeast St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 5 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 400, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Colorful clouds after sunset. Andalusia Plaza in Granada Terrace. Historic Northeast St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 7 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 400, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Colorful clouds after sunset. Andalusia Plaza in Granada Terrace. Historic Northeast St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 7 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 400, 23 mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (28.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (7.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The outdoor temperatures went down and the sun was hiding. A deficit of 20.5 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.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Five-Years Ago (13-October-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Cloudy autumn 180 degree panorama view of my backyard five-years ago. This was before the siding was replaced and the deck removed and replaced with a patio. Thirty-six images were taken using an Astro programmable rotating head on my tripod. Thirteen of the images were used to create the composite panorama (14006 x 4044 pixels). In a separate set 120 were taken and used to create a rotating time-lapse video.

Backyard Panorama. Composite of 13 images taken with a Nikon D700 camera and 28 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 200, 28 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Panorama. Composite of 13 images taken with a Nikon D700 camera and 28 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 200, 28 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (04-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

After the sun went down I noticed thunderstorm clouds with flashes of lightning passing in the distance to the south. The clouds were high enough to catch some sunlight. We need some rain, as my pond is getting low

Distant Thunderstorm at Dusk. Composite of 5 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/2, 1/50 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Distant Thunderstorm at Dusk. Composite of 5 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/2, 1/50 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (52.0 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More clouds, and higher temperatures for a net surplus of only 1.5 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Thirteen-Years Ago (01-September-2006) — Wyoming

Gone to See America 2006 Driving Tour. Day 7: Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

After spending the night in Jackson Hole, I started the day at Jenny Lake. It was cold out as I got some pictures of the Grand Tetons and their reflections across the lake. Later on a panorama of the Grand Tetons, and then off to Yellowstone National Park for a quick visit to see Old Faithful geyser. In the afternoon I returned back via Jackson Lake and Jenny Lake to Jackson Hole. All of the images have been re-processed current tools (Topaz JPG to RAW and Capture One Pro).

Early Morning Jenny Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/180 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early Morning Jenny Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/180 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early Morning Jenny Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early Morning Jenny Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early Morning Jenny Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early Morning Jenny Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early Morning Jenny Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early Morning Jenny Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Grand Teton Panorama. Composite of three images taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Grand Teton Panorama. Composite of three images taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)



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


Jackson Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Jackson Lake Reflections. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Afternoon at Jenny Lake. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/10, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Afternoon at Jenny Lake. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/10, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Afternoon at Jenny Lake. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/10, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Afternoon at Jenny Lake. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/10, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Afternoon at Jenny Lake. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/7.1, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Afternoon at Jenny Lake. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-75 mm kit lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/7.1, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)