Month: October 2017

Two-Years Ago (11-October-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky — Star and Jet Trails

View looking south from my backyard. Composite of 120 images taken from 20:00 to 23:59 with a Nikon D4 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro. Star trails composite processed using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum).

Autumn Night Sky and Star and Jet Trails. View looking south from my backyard. Composite of 120 images taken from 20:00 to 23:59 with a Nikon D4 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Autumn Night Sky and Star and Jet Trails. View looking south from my backyard. Composite of 120 images taken from 20:00 to 23:59 with a Nikon D4 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (10-October-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

Although the growing season is winding down, there are still a lot of viable flowers in bloom.

Autumn flowers in my garden. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/420 sec). (David J Mathre)
Autumn flowers in my garden. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/420 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Red Dahlia Bloom. Autumn flowers in my garden. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/140 sec). (David J Mathre)
Red Dahlia Bloom. Autumn flowers in my garden. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/140 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Pink Dahlia Bloom. Autumn flowers in my garden. 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). (David J Mathre)
Pink Dahlia Bloom. Autumn flowers in my garden. 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). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (10-October-2016) — New Jersey

Home Renovation — Installation of Solar Panels

The team to install the solar panels on my roof arrived. It only took a few days to install the panels and DC/AC inverter. It a lot more time before the building inspector approved the work to cross-connect the power generated by the sun to my house electric panel. To date, the solar panels have generated 65% of the electricity that I have consumed. I have also received nearly $1,600 in SREC credits which more than covers the 35% of the electricity I had to pay PSE&G. For two months this summer, I produced more electricity than I consumed.

Solar Panel Installation. Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (David J Mathre)
Solar Panel Installation. Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (David J Mathre)

 


One-Year Ago (08-October-2016) — New Jersey.

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

While cutting up some cardboard for recycling, I felt something go by my feed. At first I thought it was a rat, but then saw it was a big fat toad. Once I realized what it was, I went and got the first camera I could find to take its picture. The toad was probably looking for a warm space in my garage to spend the winter. I wonder how many crickets it had to eat to get this big???

Toad trying to get into my garage. Fall Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 800, 60 mm, f/5, 1/60 sec) + popup flash. (David J Mathre)
Toad trying to get into my garage. Fall Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 800, 60 mm, f/5, 1/60 sec) + popup flash. (David J Mathre)

Saturday (07-October-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

For the last few days, I have been seeing Monarch Butterflies in my wildflower garden/meadow. They seem to like the marigold flowers. I don’t have any milkweed left (too late in the season).

Monarch Butterfly on a Marigold Flower. Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 12800, 400 mm, f/13, 1/1800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Monarch Butterfly on a Marigold Flower. Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 12800, 400 mm, f/13, 1/1800 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Monarch Butterfly on a Marigold Flower. Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)
Monarch Butterfly on a Marigold Flower. Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR telephoto zoom lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)