Four-Years Ago (31-March-2016) — Ghana

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 86: Depart Tema, Ghana.

This was our last day in Ghana. Prior to departing the ships chef and cooks created an artistic display of carved fruits and vegetables. Rooky mistake on the images, I had the ISO cranked up to 6400 from my early morning Sunrise Breakfast Club photoshoot. As a result, the aperture was nearly wide open with a shutter speed of 1/4000 second. Significant noise reduction via Nik Define, and tonal adjustments via Nik Color Efex.

The Cooks display their creative food art. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35mm f/1.4 (ISO 6400, 35 mm, f/2.8, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
The Cooks display their creative food art. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35mm f/1.4 (ISO 6400, 35 mm, f/2.8, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
The Cooks display their creative food art. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35mm f/1.4 (ISO 6400, 35 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
The Cooks display their creative food art. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35mm f/1.4 (ISO 6400, 35 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
The Cooks display their creative food art. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35mm f/1.4 (ISO 6400, 35 mm, f/4.5, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
The Cooks display their creative food art. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35mm f/1.4 (ISO 6400, 35 mm, f/4.5, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
The Cooks display their creative food art. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35mm f/1.4 (ISO 6400, 35 mm, f/3.6, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
The Cooks display their creative food art. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35mm f/1.4 (ISO 6400, 35 mm, f/3.6, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (28-March-2016) — Ghana

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 83: Takoradi, Ghana

While docked at the port in Takoradi, Ghana I saw this large crow like bird with a white chest and neck. Later identified as a Pied Crow.

Pied Crow on the MV World Odyssey while docked in Takoradi, Ghana. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 212 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Pied Crow on the MV World Odyssey while docked in Takoradi, Ghana. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 212 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Pied Crow on the MV World Odyssey while docked in Takoradi, Ghana. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 212 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Pied Crow on the MV World Odyssey while docked in Takoradi, Ghana. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 212 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four Years Ago (06-March-2016) — Indian Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 61: Neptune Day while crossing the Indian Ocean.

Neptune Day celebration. Time-lapse video of the shellback initiation for those crossing the equator their first time. Over 50 of the students and life-long learners had their heads shaved.

I feel for the Semester at Sea voyagers this year as they miss several ports to avoid the COVID-19 virus. I wish them well, and hope the program is able to continue in the future.

 

Friday (14-February-2020) — New Jersey

Valentine’s Day Special

German Chocolate, Strawberries, and Hot Peppers. The Strawberries were grown in my indoor AeroGarden hydroponic farm. Also the flowers (Dianthus, Snapdragon, Coreopsis, Zinnia) are growing in the hydroponic farm. The Red Poppy flower didn’t quite open in time.

Valentine Special -- Chocolate, Strawberries, and Hot Peppers. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 35 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1250, 35 mm, f/16, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Valentine’s Day Special — Chocolate, Strawberries, and Hot Peppers. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 35 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1250, 35 mm, f/16, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)


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


Images from Valentine’s Day Past

Turkey Vulture. Image taken with a Nikon D5 Camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Turkey Vulture. Image taken with a Nikon D5 Camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Sunrise Breakfast Club. Photographer looking into the sun for birds. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec) (David J Mathre)
Sunrise Breakfast Club. Photographer looking into the sun for birds. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec) (David J Mathre)
Sunrise Breakfast Club. Silhouette sunrise portrait. MV World Odyssey At Sea. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/10, 1/4000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Sunrise Breakfast Club. Silhouette sunrise portrait. MV World Odyssey At Sea. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/10, 1/4000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Reflections of the Sunrise Breakfast Club. MV World Odyssey At Sea. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/15 sec) (David J Mathre)
Reflections of the Sunrise Breakfast Club. MV World Odyssey At Sea. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/15 sec) (David J Mathre)
Sunrise Breakfast Club. Silhouette sunrise portrait. MV World Odyssey At Sea. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/10, 1/4000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Sunrise Breakfast Club. Silhouette sunrise portrait. MV World Odyssey At Sea. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/10, 1/4000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Lonely Trees on Balsfjorden Near Tromsø. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). In camera B&W. (David J. Mathre)
Lonely Trees on Balsfjorden Near Tromsø. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). In camera B&W. (David J. Mathre)
Northern Lights in Norway. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 3200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 2 sec).. (David J Mathre)
Northern Lights in Norway. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 3200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 2 sec).. (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (77.4 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (45.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of sun, but much colder outside. A deficit of 31.9 kWh.

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Four-Years Ago (30-January-2016) — At Sea

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 25: At Sea, Traveling from Kobe, Japan to Shanghai, China.

There were a lot of fishing boats out in the East China Sea as we proceeded to Shanghai. Along with the fishing boats many Seagulls followed our ship. I think that I was able to identify Black-tailed Gull and Black-legged Kittiwake. I previously miss identified some Black-Tailed Gulls as Slaty-backed Gull. I admit gulls are difficult to identify since they go through several morphs over four years before getting to their adult state. I look at images in several books and internet sources.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Black-tailed Gull viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 149 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Black-tailed Gull viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/4.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Black-legged Kittiwake viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/4.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Black-legged Kittiwake viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/4.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Black-legged Kittiwake viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/4.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Black-tailed Gull viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Black-legged Kittiwake viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Black-legged Kittiwake viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Group of Black-tailed Gull viewed from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)