Category: Skyscape

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

Seven-Years Ago (25-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 6: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

On the second day of the workshop we started the day before sunrise at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. Fortunately, this was not very far from Stove Pipe Wells where we spent the night. We did have to hike in the dark from the parking lot to the sand dunes. This was the reason Michael had geomarked the trail the day before.  If you are going to do this remember to bring along a flashlight or headlamp, and watch out for sidewinder rattlesnakes It also was a bit chilly out. All of the images have been re-processed with Capture One Pro, including conversion to B&W.

Individual images from the slide-show can be viewed here.

Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
Hey – The Moon is Behind You!!! Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)






 

Seven-Years Ago (24-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 5: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

I rode into Death Valley with Michael Mariant. We made an initial stop at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes prior to the start of the workshop, so Michael could geomark a trail for the next day.  The photography workshop group  met up at Furnace Creek. After lunch and an orientation session, we spent the afternoon at  Dante’s View, Golden Valley trail, and the Devil’s Golf Course. There still was some snow on the ground at Dante’s View — 5476 ft (1669 m) above sea level. The Devil’s Golf Course is only a few feet above the lowest point (282 feet below sea level) in the National Park (and the Continental United States). You have to be careful when in the Devil’s Golf Course as the halite crystals are very sharp — which I learned the hard way. While squatting to take a picture, I managed to cut a big hole in my favorite pair of lightweight linen pants.





Individual images from the slide-shows can be viewed here.

Friday (23-March-2018) — New Jersey

Early Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I woke up in time to catch some fleeting brightly colored clouds to the east. There was still some snow on the ground. By noon most of the snow was mostly gone (spring flowers). Then by evening, the snow was all gone (young deer).

Colorful Dawn Clouds Composite of three images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Colorful Dawn Clouds Composite of three images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Birdbath Statue. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 60 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 60 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Birdbath Statue. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 60 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 60 mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)



Individual images from the slide-show can be viewed here.

Two-Years Ago (22-March-2016) — Atlantic Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 77: At Sea, Atlantic Ocean.

This was a classroom day (B19) as we traveled northwest off the west coast of Africa (Namibia). We were far enough at sea that we didn’t see land. Images of Dawn, Sunrise, Student Portraits including the Sunrise Breakfast Club, the Statues, and then Students and other Passengers “Viewing, and Holding the Moon”. Individual images from the slide-shows can be viewed here.

Catching Venus at Dawn. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
Catching Venus at Dawn. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)



Catching the Sun. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)
Catching the Sun. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)


Moon at Dusk over the Atlantic Ocean (Album Cover). Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Moon at Dusk over the Atlantic Ocean (Album Cover). Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Reaching for the Moon. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens. (David J Mathre)
Reaching for the Moon. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens. (David J Mathre)


(David Mathre)
Google Earth Map of  the GPS Track for Day 77. Contact me for the Route Coordinates. (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (14-March-2015) — Chile

Gone to See Patagonia 2015 Photography Tour with Thom Hogan. Day 13: Hotel Lago Grey to Hotel Las Torres. Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

It was a long day. I got up early to check out dawn and sunrise before we departed Hotel Lago Grey. We got on the bus and started the drive to Hotel Las Torres. There were many stops to get panorama images — of the mountains, the lakes, the rainbows, the clouds. We stopped for a long time at Mirador Salto Grande (lookout for the grand waterfall). This has to be one of the windiest places on earth. We then hiked to Mirador Cuernos. During the hike we passed a forest of dead trees. The story behind the forest fire that killed the trees was a hiker that was trying to burn his toilet paper. As we got closer to the Cuernos del Pain (granite horns) we can across a group of Guanaco. After that we got back on the bus. We stopped for a bit at the old bridge, where our guide Rob did some wire-walking. We finally ended the day at Hotel Las Torres.

Individual images from the slide-shows can be viewed here.