Monday (24-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

I spent the morning working on the patio (time-lapse little planet video). The Grow Towers are doing well. I’ve been harvesting large radishes, broccoli rabe, Swiss chard, and dill. Zinnia and Coreopsis are blooming in the outer cloth pots. I planted Marigold and Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) in the inner set of cloth pots. No Marigold flowers yet, and five of the Roselle are growing fast. Several volunteer tomatillo and/or ground cherry plants also sprouted in the inner set of cloth pots.

A herd of deer passed through the backyard just before it started to rain. Then before the sun went down I noticed a partial double rainbow.


Deer in the Backyard. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Partial Double Rainbow. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (62.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (62.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun and a bit of rain. A deficit of 0.7 kWh.

Monday (09-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

It had been overcast and cool much of the day. In the late afternoon we finally got some much needed rain. Not enough, but something. The clouds started clearing from the west and I noticed sunlight coming in my bedroom window. When I looked outside I saw a double rainbow. I ran outside with the first camera I found with a wide-angle lens. Three views — a 360 degree panorama, a little planet view, and an inverse little planet/tunnel view.

Rainbow. 360 Pano View. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 19 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Rainbow. 360 Pano View. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 19 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Rainbow. Little Planet View. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 19 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Rainbow. Little Planet View. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 19 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Rainbow. 360 Tunnel View. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 19 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Rainbow. 360 Tunnel View. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 19 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (36.4 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (35.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy much of the day. Still cool enough that the windows can be left open and no need to run the Geothermal HVAC. Overall a net deficit of 0.9 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

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Tuesday (02-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Since I knew it was going to be hot out, I went out early to pull the invasive “mile-a-minute” vine from the section planted with daffodils. The daffodil flowers are long gone for this year and the section is getting full of weeds. While working outside, I wear a cotton jumpsuit to avoid being bitten by a tick. Been there, done that, don’t want it to happen again. I filled up a wagon load of the “mile-a-minute” vine before I got too hot. While pulling the weeds, I came across a toad that was living under the weeds. I decided to use a Leica CL as my main camera for the day. The following two images were taken using the 18-56 mm lens. The wildflower, and wildflower with insects images were taken with the 55-135 mm lens, and finally the rainbow image was taken with the 11-23 mm lens.

Mile-a-minute Vines. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18-55 mm, 55-135, or 11-23 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Mile-a-minute Vines. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18-55 mm, 55-135, or 11-23 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Toad. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18-55 mm, 55-135, or 11-23 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Toad. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18-55 mm, 55-135, or 11-23 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Click on the above image to access individual images in the wildflower gallery.


Click on the above image to access individual images in the insect gallery.


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)

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.

Current Weather Conditions

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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.

Current Weather Conditions

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Three-Years Ago (15-January-2016) — Pacific Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 11: Crossing the Pacific Ocean From Hawaii to Japan.

Aft Deck Statue Catching  the Rainbow.  Later that evening a Masked Booby decided to spend the night on the forward deck. Actually, I think after the bird landed it found out that there was not enough room to take off. The Masked Booby is a big bird. Before the students could harass it, or try to feed it bread crew members came out with a blanket to cover the bird. They then took it to an aft deck where there was room for it to take off and fly away.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Catching the Rainbow on the deck of the MV World Odyssey.  Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm lens (ISO 100, 11 mm, f/14, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)


Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.