Photo Techniques - David Mathre Photography

Tuesday (01-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

I am expanding my indoor hydroponic garden capacity this year so I can have both fresh vegetables and greens as well as wildflowers. Two AeroGarden Farm XL systems were delivered. Some assembly required. I set up the Garmin VIRB-360 camera to record the assembly process for a Time-Lapse video. Unfortunately, one of the boxes was missing the hardware (bolts, cables, control unit). ARRG! I’ve requested the missing items be replaced but haven’t heard from the Support folks from AeroGarden yet so I can finish assembling the 2nd unit.

AeroGarden Farm XL Box One -- Contents Jumbled, and Parts Missing. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE) — AeroGarden Farm XL Box One — Contents Jumbled, and Parts Missing. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm XL Box Two -- Contents in Order, and no Parts Missing. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE) — AeroGarden Farm XL Box Two — Contents in Order, and no Parts Missing. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (54.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (41.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun in the afternoon and warmer out. The Geothermal HVAC used 6.1 kWh for cooling. The new hydroponic gardens used 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 12.7 kWh.

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Tuesday (01-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens. There must have been a hundred Monarch butterflies feeding in my wildflower meadows today. The Monarch butterflies were feeding on Cosmos, Zinnia, Mexican Sunflower, and Marigold flowers. At least one Monarch butterfly was caught, probably by a Praying Mantis. All that was left were the wings on the ground. The Painted Lady butterflies liked the Marigold and Lemon Mint flowers.

Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.

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Monday (30-September-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

I’m having a real problem with the deer. They were up on my patio during the night eating my tomato and strawberry plants. The electric fence doesn’t seem to work at keeping them out anymore. The first video is from a security camera in infrared at night, the second video is with a Nikon 1V3 camera through my kitchen window just as the Air Dancer Scarecrow is triggered.

Daily Electric Energy Used (45.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (21.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy but cooler out so the Geothermal HVAC was off. The new hydroponic gardens are using 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 24.2 kWh.

Monthly electric energy used (1457 kWh) and Solar electric energy produced (1261 kWh) for a net deficit of 196 kWh. This is the first month since March where I didn’t produce more via solar.

Monthly Weather (0.99 inches rain).

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Sunday (29-September-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

The three AeroGarden hydroponic Farms have been online for 10-11 days. Many of the plants have already sprouted. Depending on how big some of the plants get, I may have to trim some out. The LED lights for each tray raises to 36 inches as the plants grow. I also set up two AeroGarden Bounty systems to try to grow some wildflowers indoors. Here many of the seeds sprouted within five days.

AeroGarden Farm 1 Left. at 11 days. Red Heirloom and Golden Harvest Tomatoes. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 1 Right. at 11 days. Lettuce (Red Romaine, Deer Tongue, Marvel of 4 Seasons, Paris Island, Black-seeded Simpon, Red Sails), Basil, Chives, and Dill. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 2 Left. at 10 days. Peppers (Mini Jalapeno, Purple Super Hot, Red Fire), and Chives. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 2 Right. at 10 days. Lettuce, Romain, Arugula Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 3 Left. at 10 days. Broccoli, Swiss Chard, Basil, Dill, Parsley. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 3 Right. at 10 days. Cauliflower, Kale, Cilantro, Oregno, Rosemary, Thyme. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Foyer Bounty Left at 5 days. 1) Cosmos Dwarf Sensation; 2) Cosmos Early Dwarf; 3) Zinnia Thumbelina; 4) Zinnia Lilliput Mix; 5) Marigold Sparky Mix; 6) Blanket Flower; 7) Sweet Alyssum; 8) Coreopsis Lance-leaf; 9) Coreopsis Plains. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

[caption id="ps_captionIns" align="alignnone" width="600"]AeroGarden Foyer Bounty Right at 5 days. 1) Crimson Clover, ; 2) California Poppy; 3) Oriental Poppy; 4) Red Poppy Mix; 5) Red Poppy; 6) Blue Cornflower; 7) Purple Cornflower; 8) Lemon Mint; 9) Lupine. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Foyer Bounty Left at 5 days. 1) Cosmos Dwarf Sensation; 2) Cosmos Early Dwarf; 3) Zinnia Thumbelina; 4) Zinnia Lilliput Mix; 5) Marigold Sparky Mix; 6) Blanket Flower; 7) Sweet Alyssum; 8) Coreopsis Lance-leaf; 9) Coreopsis Plains. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

[caption id="ps_captionIns" align="alignnone" width="600"]AeroGarden Foyer Bounty Right at 5 days. 1) Crimson Clover, ; 2) California Poppy; 3) Oriental Poppy; 4) Red Poppy Mix; 5) Red Poppy; 6) Blue Cornflower; 7) Purple Cornflower; 8) Lemon Mint; 9) Lupine. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (57.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (34.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy but warmer out so the Geothermal HVAC was on (10.0 kWh) part of the afternoon and evening. The new hydroponic gardens are using 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 23.3 kWh.

Weekly electric energy used (419 kWh) and Solar electric energy produced (288 kWh) for a net deficit of 131 kWh. Several cloudy days, Geothermal HVAC still on, server backups, and installation of new hydroponic systems went online.

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Saturday (28-September-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

My initial walkabout was with a Nikon D850 camera and 200-500 mm VR lens. I almost walked into a large spider web with a big spider. Probably some type of Orb-web Builder spider. As with yesterday, there were lots and lots of Monarch butterflies in my wildflower meadows. They were feeding on Cosmos, Zinnia, and Marigold flowers. I also captured images of two Common Buckeye butterflies. When going back in I found the Praying Mantis that I spotted in an image yesterday. Its belly was pretty full, so it has been successful capturing some meals recently. I can only wish it has been feeding on the Stink Bugs that have been trying to get into my house recently as the temperatures cool outside. I took some images with the Nikon D850 camera, then swapped to a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter.

Hairy Spider hanging out. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 200-500 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE) — Hairy Spider hainging out. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 200-500 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Click on the image above to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images from the following slideshow.

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (37.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy most of the day (with the Sycamore tree blocking the solar panels in the afternoon). The Geothermal HVAC system used (10 kWh) and the new indoor hydroponic systems running (8.7 kWh). An overall net deficit of 19.2 kWh.