Day: August 27, 2019

Tuesday (27-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

While harvesting some carrots from my Grow Tower garden several very large grasshoppers jumped out. This one is almost 2 inches long.

Spur-throated Grasshopper. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spur-throated Grasshopper. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spur-throated Grasshopper. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spur-throated Grasshopper. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spur-throated Grasshopper. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 250 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spur-throated Grasshopper. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 250 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spur-throated Grasshopper. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spur-throated Grasshopper. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (39.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (42.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Still cool outside but more clouds for a net surplus of 3.7 kWh.

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Three-Years Ago (27-August-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Star and jet trails plus clouds. Images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). One problem I continue to have is moisture condensing on the lens as temperature cool over the night. Especially with wide angle lenses with lots of glass surface area. You can see how the condensation blurs things in the final image. I’ve read about adding electrical resistance thermal tape to heat the lens, but worry about damage and optical artifacts. I’ve also added a time-lapse video of the night sky show.

Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (01-50) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (01-50) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (51-100) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (51-100) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (101-150) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (101-150) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (151-200) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (151-200) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (27-August-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Star trails looking north and the waxing gibbous moon (both a composite and time-lapse video).

Startrails Looking North. Composite of 60 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/4, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro with the composite processed using Phototshop CC Statictics/Maximum. (David J Mathre)
Startrails Looking North. Composite of 60 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/4, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro with the composite processed using Phototshop CC Statictics/Maximum. (David J Mathre)
Waxing Gibbous Moon. Composite of 12 images taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Waxing Gibbous Moon. Composite of 12 images taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Seven-Years Ago (27-August-2012) — North Atlantic Ocean

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 05: At Sea, North Atlantic Ocean.

The day was a bit rough as we crossed the North Atlantic. Splash from the waves made it up to the portal in my cabin on deck 5 of the MV Explorer. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec).
I didn’t get sea sick, but there were not many of the students or staff that showed up for lunch or dinner. Most of the decks were off limits due to the heavy seas and winds. In the early evening I was able to set up a camera in a protected area to capture the sun going down for a time-lapse video.

Heavy Seas. Waves breaking up to my cabin window.  Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Heavy Seas. Waves breaking up to my cabin window.  Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Ten-Years Ago (27-August-2009) — Washington

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 06: Lake Chelan, Washington.

Losing It — Or Darwin Award Candidate. While returning from Stehekin on the “Lady of the Lake II” ferry on Lake Chelan, I caught this Jet Skier lose his grip as he was jumping the wake behind the ship. He had been showing off to the other Jet Skiers. It should be noted that he was the only one wearing a helmet. Even though the Nikon D3x camera does not have the high-speed burst rate of the D3 camera, sometimes you get lucky. It appeared that he was OK once his companion made it to his position.


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