The bright full moon woke up at 03:30 AM. The sky was crystal clear. I got up and took images of the moon with six different camera/lens combinations. All were shot on a tripod, with mirror up delay to minimize vibration.
(1) Nikon D810a camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec).
(2) Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec).
(3) Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec).
(4) Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec).
(5) Nikon D800 camera and 400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec).
(6) Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E 20 II teleconverter (ISO 100, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec).
The images were cropped so they would be the same size. I like (1) and (2) the best, but am interested in comments.
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 80-400 mm VR II lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec) (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full Moon. Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 2x teleconverter (ISO 100, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
While hand washing the dishes, I noticed a large number of bubbles in one pot. As I moved the colors kept changing. I assumed it was due to diffraction of a mono-molecular layer of soap. but wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to take an image that would capture the beauty of the colors, and the symmetry of the bubble packing. After a lot of trial and error, I was able to obtain some interesting images.
Soap bubbles and light diffraction. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 400, 60 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey — Star Trails
View looking south from my backyard. Night sky star and jet trails. Composite of 173 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W), then the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). If you look closely, there is at least one meteor trail.
Night Sky Star and Jet trails After Midnight. Composite of 173 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/8, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
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)
Star and jet trails looking south from my backyard. Composite of 40 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/4, 120 sec) and processed using Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum).
Star and jet trails, southern view. Composite of 40 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
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)
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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)
