Year: 2017

Monday (21-August-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Astronomy in New Jersey. Partial Solar Eclipse.

Happy Eclipse Day! Some home renovation issues kept me in New Jersey for the eclipse. I set up a Nikon D810a camera with 45 mm f/2.8 lens and a 20 stop neutral density filter to take images every 4 minutes from just before the eclipse started. Unfortunately, clouds moved in just before the maximum (~78% coverage). The sun and moon reappeared shortly thereafter. The following image is a composite over the 160 minute period of the eclipse. The eclipse also reduced the amount of electricity produced by my solar panels. The two graphs show the hourly production of electricity for the day before the eclipse and during the eclipse. You can see a significant drop when the moon was blocking the sun. My brother Hans was in Tennessee with his family to observe the total eclipse. He sent me an image that he took with a Nikon D3 camera and a 200-400 mm f/4 lens and TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter at totality.

Partial Solar Eclipse in New Jersey. Composite of forty images taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 45 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec) and a 20-stop neutral density filter. (David J Mathre)
Partial Solar Eclipse in New Jersey. Composite of forty images taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 45 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec) and a 20-stop neutral density filter. (David J Mathre)

 

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Total Solar Eclipse in Tennessee. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200-400 f/4 telephoto zoom lens with a TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). (Hans K. Mathre, Hans K. Mathre)
Total Solar Eclipse in Tennessee. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200-400 f/4 telephoto zoom lens with a TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). (Hans K. Mathre)

Saturday (12-August-2017) — North Carolina

August Road Trip to North Carolina.

I stopped at the Arthur Morgan school near Burnsville, North Carolina to pick up three friends that spent eight weeks attending the the 2017 Arete project. We traveled north on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way back to New Jersey.

Tile dragon in the shower room at Arthur Morgan School near Burnsville, North Carolina. Composite of 5 mages taken with a Leica T camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
Tile dragon in the shower room at Arthur Morgan School near Burnsville, North Carolina. Composite of 5 images taken with a Leica T camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
Rest stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm wide-angle zoom lens (David J Mathre)
Rest stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm wide-angle zoom lens (David J Mathre)


Individual images from the slideshow can be viewed here.

One-Year Ago (12-August-2016) — New Jersey.

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Ever Wonder How a Deer Scratches its Ear? Then the Doe stuck her tongue out in response to me taking pictures of her fawn. Images taken through my screened kitchen window with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens.


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


Thursday (10-August-2017) — New Jersey

Home Renovation.

The well drilling company arrived early this morning to drill two holes for a closed-loop geothermal heat pump. The heat pump will replace my oil furnace, oil hot-water heater, and air conditioner. One more step to reduce my carbon footprint.

Two wells being drilled for a closed loop geothermal heat exchange pipe. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2.8 or 11-23 mm lens. (David J Mathre)
Two wells being drilled for a closed loop geothermal heat exchange pipe. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2.8 or 11-23 mm lens. (David J Mathre)


Individual images from the slideshow can be viewed here.

Seven-Years Ago (10-August-2010) — Nevada

Gone to See America August 2010 Road Trip. Day 10: Great Basin National Park, Nevada to Park City, Utah

Zombie hitch-hiker just outside Great Basin National Park.

Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 220 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 220 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/2.8, 1/4000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Zombie Sunflower Farmer. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/2.8, 1/4000 sec) (David J Mathre)