Ten-Years Ago (18-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 1: Kailua Kona.

Ten years ago, I arrived in Hawaii to attend a photography workshop with Thom Hogan. It was hard to believe the day before I was in Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge in northern Colorado. At that time, I had only been taking pictures with a DSLR camera for just over one year. Soon after getting the camera, I found Thom’s web site which became a very helpful resource as I was learning to use the camera (much more useful than the Nikon manual provided with the camera). I purchased his guides for the D200 (and subsequently the guides for all of the new Nikon cameras I have used. These guides are by far the best resource for understanding the capabilities of the Nikon digital cameras. I saw a note in Thom’s web site that there was a late opening for his Hawaii workshop over Thanksgiving week. I signed up right away since I knew that there was a lot more that I needed to learn to become a better photographer. The first evening in Hawaii, we went down to the beach for sunset. I took these two pictures of boats with the sun setting behind them. Little did I know, it would become a contest between some friends on a Semester at Sea voyage to get images of boats or ships in front of the setting sun.

Sunset and Sailboat off Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan's 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset and Sailboat off Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset of Kailua Harbor from Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan's 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/9, HDR 9 images 1/800 to 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset at Kailua Harbor from Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii.  Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/9, HDR 9 images 1/800 to 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (16-November-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Star and Leonid Meteor Trails.

The sky was clear so I put a couple of cameras out with wide-angle lenses to try to capture some Leonid meteor trails.

Late Fall Night Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails over New Jersey. Composite of 35 Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails over New Jersey. Composite of 35 Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)


One-Year Ago (13-November-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Star Trails looking North.

Night sky view from the back of the house. Light from the moon lit up the chimney and the newly installed solar panels on the roof.  Also some light clouds moved in during the shoot. The north star isn’t exactly due north. Composite of 130 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 300 sec).

Startrails looking north (light clouds). The north star isn't exactly due north. Composite of 130 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 300 sec). (David J Mathre)
A Startrails looking north (light clouds). The north star isn’t exactly due north. Composite of 130 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 300 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (13-November-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey : Star trails looking North.

Images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 58 mm, f/2, 30 sec). I’ve also included a slide show of shorter star trails and a time-lapsed video created with the individual images.

Star trails looking north from my backyard. Autumn night sky in New Jersey. Composite of 250 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 58 mm, f/2, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star trails looking north from my backyard. Autumn night sky in New Jersey. Composite of 250 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 58 mm, f/2, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)

 


 

Three-Years Ago (12-November-2014) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Star Trails and Night Sky Time Lapsed Video.

Star and jet trails looking south from my backyard. Composite of 161 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens. Then a moving time-lapsed video of the same view with images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 16-35 mm f/4 lens.

Star and jet trails looking south from my backyard. Composite of 161 images taken with a Nkon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/4, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star and jet trails looking south from my backyard. Composite of 161 images taken with a Nkon D800 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/4, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)