Day: August 23, 2019

Friday (23-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout, today with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens. It was cloudy with light rain. Also 20 degrees cooler than yesterday. The Fuji X-T3 camera is supposed to be weather resistant. [I did have a Fuji X-T1 camera fail six months after visiting Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and was told that the camera was not repairable due to water damage to the electronic circuits.] No butterflies or hummingbird moths out since it was raining, so today is all Sunflowers.


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


Daily Electric Energy Used (43.0 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (21.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler outside temperatures reduced the need for cooling, but much less sunlight reduced the solar energy generated, for a net deficit of 21.8 kWh. Cooler weather expected tomorrow!

One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 4 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 7 kWh. I tend to believe the Sense numbers since they more closely the energy being recorded at the external power company (PSE&G) meters. I’ve asked the WaterFurnace folks in the past about the discrepancy, but they didn’t have a good answer. The Sense folks told me they thought that the WaterFurnace/Symphony system was only measuring one phase of the energy even though the system is powered by the 220V circuit (using two phases). I wish an electrical engineer that understands this better would correct me here.

Current Weather Conditions

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Seven-Years Ago (23-August-2012) — Canada

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 01: Embark and Depart from Halifax, Canada.

The students boarded the MV Explorer in shifts beginning at 08:00. It was an efficient process, and most everyone was on board by 11:00. We were told that after lunch that there would be a mandatory evacuation drill. Everyone was supposed to get their life-jacket and report to their evacuation station wearing long pants, long shirt, shoes, and a hat. Once we got to our station, the ship staff did a roll call to make sure everyone was accounted for and present. The drill is required before the ship can leave port. After the drill was completed, we were ready to leave at 17:00. Most everyone lined up on the open decks to watch the departure. The parents and relatives that came were all lined up on the roof of the port terminal. Michael Mariant was set up to take a series of images from Deck 7 that will be combined into a time-lapse video for the entire Fall 2012 Voyage.

Weather permitting I plan to take an early morning image during dawn or sunrise, and an evening image at sunset or during dusk. I did this exercise during the previous two Enrichment voyages on the MV Explorer, and got images with great colors.

Sunrise over the Lighthouse Island in Halifax Harbor from the M/V Explorer. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10-30 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 16.3 mm, f/4.2, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunrise over the Lighthouse Island in Halifax Harbor from the MV Explorer. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10-30 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 16.3 mm, f/4.2, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sailboat and Lighthouse in the Halifax Harbor. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 30-110 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 93.5 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Watercolor effect applied using a Topaz Simplify/Painterly filter. (David J Mathre)
Sailboat and Lighthouse in the Halifax Harbor. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 30-110 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 93.5 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Watercolor effect applied using a Topaz Simplify/Painterly filter. (David J Mathre)
Evacuation/Lifeboat Drill. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (ISO 400, 4.3 mm, f/4, 1/15 sec) (David J Mathre)
Evacuation/Lifeboat Drill. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (ISO 400, 4.3 mm, f/4, 1/15 sec) (David J Mathre)
M/V Explorer Departure from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Image taken with a Nikon N1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 10 mm, f/4.5, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
MV Explorer Departure from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Image taken with a Nikon N1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 10 mm, f/4.5, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset Day 1 Fall Semester at Sea Voyage from Deck 7 of the M/V Explorer in the Atlantic Ocean. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 10 mm, f/4.5, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset from Deck 7 of the MV Explorer in the Atlantic Ocean. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 10 mm, f/4.5, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

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Eleven-Years Ago (23-August-2008) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

I didn’t see the crab-like spider hiding until processing the images. And then it wasn’t that sharp of an image. Reprocessed with Topaz Sharpen AI (stabilize). Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec).

Camouflaged Crab like Spider hiding on a Queen Anne's Lace. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Camouflaged Crab like Spider hiding on a Queen Anne’s Lace. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)