Skyscape - David Mathre Photography

Friday (18-December-2009) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii, Maui Day 3: Haleakala National Park.

I left the meeting early to get to the Pu’U’Ula’Ula peak in Haleakala National Park for sunset. When I got to the parking lot I saw this bird, which I later identified as a Chukar. The elevation is about 10,000 feet, and as the sun went down it got windy and cold fast. The thermometer on my GPS indicated 30°F, and I only had a light windbreaker. I didn’t think to carry cold weather gear for the trip to Hawaii. I did get several great images of the sunset over the nearby Haleakala Air Force Satellite tracking station and observatories.

Chukar, Haleakalua National Park, Maui Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

Sunset over Haleakala Satellite Tracking Station from Pu'U'Ula'Ula peak in Haleakala National Park, Maui Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, f/16, 1/10 sec). Photomatix HDR (5 images) (David J Mathre) — Sunset over Haleakala Satellite Tracking Station from Pu’U’Ula’Ula peak in Haleakala National Park, Maui Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, f/16, 1/10 sec). Photomatix HDR (5 images) (David J Mathre)

Sunset Panorama over Haleakala Satellite Tracking Station from Pu'U'Ula'Ula peak in Haleakala National Park, Maui Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, f/16, 1/10 sec). (David J Mathre) — Sunset Panorama over Haleakala Satellite Tracking Station from Pu’U’Ula’Ula peak in Haleakala National Park, Maui Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, f/16, 1/10 sec). (David J Mathre)

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Friday (11-December-2009) — New Jersey

Late Autumn Night Sky Over New Jersey: Star Trails and Time-lapse Video.

Images of star and jet trails plus a time-lapsed video looking south from my house in New Jersey. This was a couple of days before the Geminid meteor shower was supposed to peak, but I did catch a few meteors during the night. A series of images were taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 400, f/4, 30 sec). The star trail images are composites of 120 images combined with the Startrails program. A time-lapsed video of the entire set was also created using Adobe Photoshop CS5 export to video. When you see Orion, tell me what I did wrong…

Late Fall Night Sky Image of Star and Jet Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 400, f/4.0, 30 sec). Composite of 120 images over 1 hour combined with Startrails program. Hour 2. (David J Mathre)

Monday (16-November-2009) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey.

Orion, Taurus, Pleiades and clouds. Looking South from my backyard. One of ~ 1000 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/4, 30 sec). I transformed the series into a time-lapse video using Photoshop (720p, 24p).

New Jersey Autumn Night Sky. Image acquired with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 400, f/4, 30 sec) (David J Mathre) — New Jersey Autumn Night Sky. Image acquired with a Nikon D3x camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 400, f/4, 30 sec) (David J Mathre)

Saturday (29-August-2009) — At Sea

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 08: Alaska Marine Highway on the MV Columbia.

Somewhere in British Columbia, Canada traveling from Bellingham, Washington to Haines, Alaska. The day started out foggy. During the night there was a bit of rain and wind. I felt sorry for the folks living rough on deck, but they seemed to be warm and cheerful once they moved under the covered Solarium. We saw a few Orcas during the day. Later in the afternoon, the sun came out and folks living rough moved their chairs back out on the open deck.

Lone Deck Chair on Misty Morning. Solarium Deck on the MV Columbia Alaska Marine Highway Between Bellingham, Washington and Haines, Alaska. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 50mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 50 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Seagull Fishing with an Orca. Viewed from the MV Columbia Alaska Marine Highway between Bellingham, Washington and Haines, Alaska. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 720, 400 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). (David J. Mathre)

Jonathan and Christine Sleeping in the Afternoon Sun. Solarium Deck on the M/V Columbia Alaska Marine Highway Between Bellingham, Washington and Haines, Alaska. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 50mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 50 mm, f/11, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre) — Jonathan and Christine Sleeping in the Afternoon Sun. Solarium Deck on the MV Columbia Alaska Marine Highway Between Bellingham, Washington and Haines, Alaska. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 50mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 50 mm, f/11, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Christine Chimping on the Alaska Marine Highway. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and a 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 195 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). (David J. Mathre)

Silhouette, Shadow, and Sunburst on the MV Columbia Alaska Marine Highway Between Bellingham, Washington and Haines, Alaska -- Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia - Canada. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/22, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre) — Silhouette, Shadow, and Sunburst on the MV Columbia Alaska Marine Highway Between Bellingham, Washington and Haines, Alaska — Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia – Canada. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/22, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (30-December-2008) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky Over New Jersey: Time-lapse Video

The ClearSky folks didn’t have a good forecast for the whole night, but I still recorded the night sky looking south. You can see the clouds kept passing over, so no star trails.