Architecture - David Mathre Photography

Friday (10-February-2017) — New Jersey

Home Renovation: Prototype Wall Hanging System for Prints.

Wall hanging system for prints being prototyped in my laundry room — A work in Progress. The goal was to design and build a simple system to display prints on walls in my house, and then deploy the system in many rooms as the house is renovated. I wanted something that would allow me to easily move or change the prints being displayed, and not need to use picture frames, or picture hanging hardware. The first attempt used a map hanging system. This limited me to rows of the same size [letter – 8-1/2″ x 11″; B+ – 13″ x 19″; or C – 17″ x 22″]. One other idea was to hold the prints up with magnets. This was first attempted using parallel strips of flexible 3M magnetic tape attached to the drywall. I tried a number of small magnets, but none were strong enough to hold prints larger than 8 1/2″ by 11″ and especially prints on thick archival papers. Looking for other options I found that cold-rolled steel had a stronger magnetic attraction. For the prototype I mounted thirteen 1″ x 0.125″ x 72″ steel bars on the wall. These were attached by drilling holes in the steel bars and then screwing into the studs behind the drywall. An image of the prototype is shown below. I used a series of different sized images from the day before starting the Spring 2016 Semester at Sea voyage. Future work will be optimizing the placement of the steel bars to work with letter, B+, and C sized prints. The steel bars will be painted the same color as the wall, and the round ceramic magnets will be painted white. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/125 sec) pop-up flash bounced off the ceiling.

Work in Progress. Wall hanging system for prints being prototyped in my laundry room. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/125 sec) pop-up flash bounced off the ceiling. (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (10-February-2013) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 13: Tromsø.

Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. A random selection of images taken during the day. After dinner we did see a glimmer of Northern Lights peek through the bright city lights.

"Respect" Stencil on a billboard recently cleared of posts. Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 200, 18.5 mm, f/2.5, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre) — “Respect” Stencil on a billboard recently cleared of posts. Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 200, 18.5 mm, f/2.5, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

"Hot Pants" Sunday outdoor market/festival . Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 180, 18.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre) — “Hot Pants” Sunday outdoor market/festival . Winter walkabout in Tromsø Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 180, 18.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

"Locked Out". Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 400, 18.5 mm, f/1.8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre) — “Locked Out”. Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 400, 18.5 mm, f/1.8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)

Graffiti on a wall. Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 200, 18.5 mm, f/2.5, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Locked winter door. Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 180, 18.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Dead grass and rock along the harbor walkway. Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 180, 18.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Billboard. My Norwegian is rusty. As best I can translate -- "Momma has been too long at the conference, with dad and too much popcorn and ice cream". Initially, I thought the kid was upset about his haircut... Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 220, 18.5 mm, f/2, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre) — Billboard. My Norwegian is rusty. As best I can translate — “Momma has been too long at the conference, with dad and too much popcorn and ice cream”. Initially, I thought the kid was upset about his haircut… Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 220, 18.5 mm, f/2, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Toy store??? Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 320, 18.5 mm, f/2, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Using a very long hockey stick to clear the icicles above a storefront. Winter walkabout in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 180, 18.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Glimmer of Northern Lights peeking past the night lights in Tromsø, Norway. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 800, 10 mm, f/2.8, 1 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (24-January-2016) — Japan

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 19: Arrival in Yokohama, Japan.

Once we cleared immigration control, we had to remain off the ship until everyone was cleared. It was cold. I’m glad I was wearing a sweater, coat, wool hat, and had a pair of “hunting gloves” from Norway for using a camera in the cold. In addition to a camera, I brought a tripod with a Mindarin Astro 360° rotating head for the tripod. This rotating head controls the camera for doing rotating panoramas or rotating time-lapse videos. I did several sets of images while on the Osanbashi Pier, which were then processed with AutoPano Giga Pro to create Little Planet, Mirror Ball, and Panorama views of the MV World Odyssey and the Yokohama skyline. Click on the images for a wider view.

Little Planet View of the Yokohama, Japan Skyline from the Osanbashi Pier. Composite of 37 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec) using a 360° Mindarin Astro rotating tripod head. Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the Little Planet view created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

Little Planet view of the MV World Odyssey Docked at the Osanbashi Pier in Yokohama, Japan. Composite of 9 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Bower 8 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) using a 360° Mindarin Astro rotating tripod head. Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the Little Planet view created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

Mirror Ball view of the MV World Odyssey docked at the Osanbashi Pier in Yokohama, Japan. Composite of 9 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Bower 8 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) using a 360° Mindarin Astro rotating tripod head. Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the Mirror Ball view created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

Later in the afternoon I made two 360° time-lapse videos. The first of people enjoying the day at the Yamashita Park along the Yokohama harbor, and the second from a park with a view of view of the Osanbashi Pier and the MV World Odyssey. The images were taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera that was controlled by a Mindarin Astro 360° rotating head on a tripod. The time-lapse video was then created using Photoshop CC and Premiere Pro CC.

Yamashita Park Time-Lapse Video

Osanbashi Pier Time-Lapse Video

Ten-Years Ago (24-January-2007) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2007 Family Vacation. Day 4: Hurtigruten Coastal Voyage Traveling North.

Ålesund winter panorama from the Aksla viewpoint. It was a bright clear day so several of us climbed the 418 steps to get to the top. The restaurant Fjellstua at the top was closed for the winter. You can see the MS Kong Harald docked below.

Ålesund Winter Panorama. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/11, 1/500 sec). Composite of 3 images combined with Kolor AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

Thursday (19-January-2017) — New Jersey

Home Renovation Project: Bedroom Three.

Little Planet view of my third bedroom after renovation. Prior to this the room was only used for storage. The first view was created using 25 images taken in 15 degree intervals using a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 1/50 sec) with a flash pointing backwards. The second view was created using 70 images taken in 5 degree intervals using a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 16 mm, f/11, 1/15 sec) no flash. The raw images were processed with Capture One Pro, and the Little Planet view created using AutoPano Giga Pro. If you look closely, the second one includes a selfie.

Little Planet view of my third bedroom after renovation. Prior to this the room was only used for storage. The Little Planet view was created using 25 images taken in 15 degree intervals using a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 1/50 sec) with a flash pointing backwards. The raw images were processed with Capture One Pro, and AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre) — Little Planet view of my third bedroom after renovation. (David J Mathre)