Astronomy - David Mathre Photography

Nine-Years Ago (04-November-2006) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky Over New Jersey: Star and Jet Trails.

Learning from mistakes. It took a while to figure out how to make star trail images with a digital camera. My first attempts to do long exposures ran into problems with digital sensor noise, the length of time the shutter could remain open, and camera battery life — especially on cold nights. The camera had an option for “long exposure noise reduction”, however this required taking a second exposure with the shutter closed and then subtracting the sensor closed image from the sensor open image. The result is missing every other exposure needed for a smooth composite star trail image.

Star trails looking southeast from my backyard. Composite of 27 images taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/2.8, 28 sec). (David J Mathre)

Other than the Big Dipper, Orion was probably the second constellation I learned to recognize.

Six-Years Ago (23-October-2009) — California

Gone to See California. SIRNA Business Meeting in San Francisco.

Sunset Panorama View of the Moon, Night Sky and Oakland and San Francisco from the Berkeley Hills. Composite of three images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/5, 0.5 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite created using AutoPano Giga Pro.

Sunset view of San Francisco and Oakland from the Berkeley Hills (David J Mathre)

Seven-Years Ago (15-September-2008) — Utah

Gone to See America 2008. Moab Utah Photography Workshop with Winston Hall. Day 1: Arches National Park.

First day of a Photography Workshop and Safari with Winston Hall. He told me to always look behind as there may be a better image that I wasn’t thinking about. While we were focusing on the sunset, I turned around and saw the moon rising.

Moon rising in Arches National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/11, 1/25 sec). (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (13-September-2012) — Belgium

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 21: Antwerp Zoo, Belgium.

Early Dawn Jupiter and Waning Crescent Moon Over the Antwerp Cathedral from the Deck of the M/V Explorer. Female Snowy Owl at the Antwerp Zoo. M/V Explorer Docked in Antwerp, Belgium. From Across the Scheldt River.

Early Dawn Jupiter and Waning Crescent Moon Over the Antwerp Cathedral from the Deck of the M/V Explorer. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 70 mm, f/5.6, 2 sec). (David J Mathre)

Female Snowy Owl at the Antwerp Zoo. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). Additional Processing with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS6. (David J Mathre)

M/V Explorer Docked in Antwerp, Belgium. From Across the Schelde River. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 50 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 50 mm, f/11, 4 sec). Semester at Sea Fall 2012 Semester. (David J Mathre) — M/V Explorer Docked in Antwerp, Belgium. From Across the Scheldt River. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 50 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 50 mm, f/11, 4 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (09-September-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey.

In Camera Moon Sequence. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec).