Technology - David Mathre Photography

Monday (21-August-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Astronomy in New Jersey. Partial Solar Eclipse.

Happy Eclipse Day! Some home renovation issues kept me in New Jersey for the eclipse. I set up a Nikon D810a camera with 45 mm f/2.8 lens and a 20 stop neutral density filter to take images every 4 minutes from just before the eclipse started. Unfortunately, clouds moved in just before the maximum (~78% coverage). The sun and moon reappeared shortly thereafter. The following image is a composite over the 160 minute period of the eclipse. The eclipse also reduced the amount of electricity produced by my solar panels. The two graphs show the hourly production of electricity for the day before the eclipse and during the eclipse. You can see a significant drop when the moon was blocking the sun. My brother Hans was in Tennessee with his family to observe the total eclipse. He sent me an image that he took with a Nikon D3 camera and a 200-400 mm f/4 lens and TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter at totality.

Partial Solar Eclipse in New Jersey. Composite of forty images taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 45 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec) and a 20-stop neutral density filter. (David J Mathre)

Total Solar Eclipse in Tennessee. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200-400 f/4 telephoto zoom lens with a TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). (Hans K. Mathre, Hans K. Mathre) — Total Solar Eclipse in Tennessee. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 200-400 f/4 telephoto zoom lens with a TC-E II 2.0 teleconverter (ISO 200, 800 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). (Hans K. Mathre)

Thursday (10-August-2017) — New Jersey

Home Renovation.

The well drilling company arrived early this morning to drill two holes for a closed-loop geothermal heat pump. The heat pump will replace my oil furnace, oil hot-water heater, and air conditioner. One more step to reduce my carbon footprint.

Two wells being drilled for a closed loop geothermal heat exchange pipe. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2.8 or 11-23 mm lens. (David J Mathre)

Individual images from the slideshow can be viewed here.

Four-Years Ago (10-June-2013) — Denmark

Gone to See Europe. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 45: Copenhagen, Denmark.

Equestrian statue of Frederik V (Friderico Quinto Clementi Pacifico) by the French sculptor Jacques-François-Joseph Saly at the Frederiksstaden Square in Copenhagen, Denmark. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). In camera conversion to B&W.

Equestrian statue of Frederik V (Friderico Quinto Clementi Pacifico) by the French sculptor Jacques-François-Joseph Saly in the Frederiksstaden Square in Copenhagen, Denmark. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). In camera conversion to B&W. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre) — Equestrian statue of Frederik V (Friderico Quinto Clementi Pacifico) by the French sculptor Jacques-François-Joseph Saly at the Frederiksstaden Square in Copenhagen, Denmark. (David J Mathre)

Friday (26-May-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

May has been cool and rainy. It was warmer in April this year. While it has been cool I have been able to expand the sections for my wildflowers. I didn’t spread any new seeds in the 15′ x 30′ section on the east side of the house planted last year to see which perennial, biennial, or self-seeding annual wildflowers would come back. This morning when I got up, it was way too bright outside — the sun was out!!! In addition I noticed the first red poppy flower for this year. Coincidentally, the American Legion has recommended that the Friday before Memorial day be designated National Poppy Day. In the Commonwealth nations, red poppies are used to commemorate Remembrance Day (11-November).

First Red Poppy flower this year. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Composite of 40 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df computer and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre) — First Red Poppy flower this year. Composite of 40 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)

First Red Poppy flower this year. Backyard spring nature in New Jersey. Composite of 74 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df computer and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 7.4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre) — First Red Poppy flower this year. Composite of 74 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec) and SB-910 flash (TTL, EV 0). Kirk linear track 1 mm intervals over 7.4 cm. Composite created using Helicon Focus (Method B, R=8, S=4) (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (19-May-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

A Chipping Sparrow, a Carpenter Bee in flight, a cluster of Rhododendron flowers, a white wildflower, a Jack in the Pulpit flower, and a ball of Dandelion seeds. I ended the day taking some pictures of the Waxing Gibbous (nearly full) Moon. All but the chipping sparrow image were taken using a Fuji 100-400 mm OIS lens. I am really liking this lens as an alternative for the Fuji X series cameras to the Nikon 80-400 mm VRII lens. The Fuji 100-400 mm lens is about the same size as the Nikon 80-400 mm lens but lighter. Also, since the crop sensor on the Fuji X cameras is 1.5x smaller than a full frame 35 mm camera — the field of view for the Fuji 100-400 mm lens is equivalent to a 150-600 mm lens.

Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.