Category: Skyscape

Views of the sky. Sunrise, sunset, clouds, and weather

Nine-Years Ago (01-September-2009) — Alaska

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 11: Haines, Alaska.

I completed the ferry voyage to Alaska aboard the Alaska Marine Highway ferry MV Columbia the previous afternoon. Rather than starting the drive to Anchorage right away, I checked into a local B&B and spent the night in Haines. My room on the 2nd floor looked over the harbor across to the mountains. I set up a camera to record the night sky (Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens). When reviewing the images in the morning, found that during the night there was a display of northern lights which I had not been expecting. With faster computers and new software, I have been able to re-process the night sky star trails with the full high-resolution raw images, and create a time-lapse video. In the past I could only process the lower resolution jpg images.


Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Nine-Years Ago (29-August-2009) — At Sea

Gone to See North America 2009 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)
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)
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)
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)

Friday (24-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summer Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

The second clear night in a row, at least until early morning when some clouds came in and the lens was covered with condensation again. This time I increased the focal length to 10 mm on the 8-15 mm fisheye lens. Both star trails and a time-lapse video of the nighttime sky.


Star trails over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10 mm, f/4, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Friday (24-August-2018) — New Jersey

Summer Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

Composite of nearly full moon images. Rather than an in-camera composite image (as I have done in the past), these were created during post processing (Photoshop CC Pro, statistics, maximum). I set a Nikon D5 camera up with a 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens to take images every 1 second. I was hoping to catch a jet pass in front of the moon, as I had seen the previous night — but no joy. When I get some time I will make a time-lapse video of the moon crossing the screen.

Seven Moons. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Seven Moons. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)


Thursday (23-August-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summer Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

For the first time since I returned from Germany, the sky was predicted to be clear overnight.  I have been wanting to try the 8-15 mm fisheye lens (that I borrowed from my brother) for doing some star trail images, and night sky time-lapse videos. I did have an issue with condensation on the very wide lens in the early morning hours. I have had the condensation problem on other wide lenses (14 mm, 14-24 mm) in the past, and may need to fashion a small tape heater on the lens.


Star trails over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 100, 8 mm, f/4, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.