Weather - David Mathre Photography

Tuesday (12-February-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

It snowed today. We got about an inch. Lots of birds at the bird feeder. Some getting feisty or territorial because it was snowing.

alt_title. (David J Mathre) — Mourning Dove. Image taken with a Nikon D5 Camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (David J Mathre)

Individual images in the slide shows can be viewed here.

Six-Years Ago (11-February-2013) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 14: Tromsø.

As the wormhole began to open clouds appeared, reducing the intensity of the burning green rays. This provided some cover and protection for earthlings below….

After leaving the two French Photographers at the Ferry to take them to Finnsnes, I decided to spend the next three nights outside of Tromsø to maximize my chance of viewing and photographing the Northern Lights. There were at least 20 vendors offering trips in Tromsø specifically to view Northern Lights. The most famous one is booked a year in advance (after being featured on a BBC TV program for finding a place to view the Northern Lights when the BBC film crew all but struck out). I eliminated the big tour bus, dinner boat, and dog sled northern light tours, and selected 3 based on recommendations at the Tromsø tourist information center. I am glad that I stopped at the tourist information center when the northbound Hurtigruten voyage stopped in Tromsø as the tours do get booked and fill up in advance. They all claim to find somewhere that is clear with a good chance of seeing northern lights – whether it is along the coast, up a mountain, or all the way to Sweden or Finland. One even tells you to bring your passport along if they do cross the border.

The first trip was “Aurora Photo Tour with Professional Photographer” from Creative Vacations, led by Vidar Dons Lindrupsen. He picked a group of seven up in front of the Blu Radisson Hotel and brought us to his house. There we had a workshop on the basics for successfully capturing Aurora images with a digital camera. Vidar is fluent in several languages. Our group included folks from France, Germany, Brazil, Spain plus myself from the United States. For those that needed, he provided tripods and warm arctic outerwear as we were about to spend the next several hours outdoors photographing the Northern Lights. We stopped at several locations and I got some great images These were some of the best northern light displays that I had ever seen, but probably average for folks that live in this region. When the clouds started to come in and we only were getting diffuse images through the clouds, Vidar served some hot lentil soup — very welcome after standing for several hours in the cold.

First stop was to Ersfjord, Kvaløya (Whale Island). I used a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens. Other than some yellow (sodium) lights from a small village, the sky was very dark. Slide show, star trails, and a time-lapse video. We moved a bit and the band of green crossed the sky. I needed to switch to a wider angle lens — 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye. From the same location I also tried using the Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens to see how Northern Lights would be captured with a smaller digital sensor. The images were rather noisy and needed extra processing with Topaz Define 2. Switched back to the Nikon D800 camera with the 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens in portrait mode

Nine-Years Ago (11-February-2010) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Blast from the Past — Snowed In

The snow was deep enough to keep me from even getting my Range Rover up the driveway to the road in front of my house. I dug a walking path to the road in case the mail got delivered. Being stuck at home gave me a chance to take some pictures out in the snow. This year very little snow.

Winter part II. Pine needles peaking up from the snow. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/9, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre) — Pine needles peaking up from the snow. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/9, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Winter part II. Drip, drip, drip. Icicles above the front doorway. The gutter is frozen. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre) — Drip, drip, drip. Icicles above the front doorway. The gutter is frozen. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

It snowed last night. This vehicle is covered and won't be going anywhere soon. I dug a path from the house to the street (but the street hadn't been cleared yet). Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 48 mm, f/13, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre) — It snowed last night. This vehicle is covered and won’t be going anywhere soon. I dug a path from the house to the street (but the street hadn’t been cleared yet). Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 48 mm, f/13, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Winter part II. It snowed last night. The RV is covered and won't be going anywhere soon. The propane tank in the RV is full in case the power goes out. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 31 mm, f/7, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre) — It snowed last night. The RV is covered and won’t be going anywhere soon. The propane tank in the RV is full in case the power goes out. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 31 mm, f/7, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Saturday (09-February-2019) — New Jersey

Winter in New Jersey. Backyard Maple Syrup Production.

I helped a neighbor with the first maple syrup boil down this year. The temperatures have been weird and we were not sure enough maple sap would be collected this season. Rather than multiple cameras I just used a Garmin VIRB-360 camera to record the activity for the day. I used the images to produce time-lapse videos (1 hour in 30 seconds) in 360 degree panorama, tunnel view, and little planet view.

9 AM

10 AM

11 AM

Two-Years Ago (09-February-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: New Snow.

First snow in New Jersey the winter of 2017 that didn’t disappear within a day. The day before it was 65°F (18°C). Ultimately, we got about 6 inches (15 cm) of a heavy wet snow. It was enough that I needed to shovel part of my driveway. Snow covered the solar panels — reducing power generation to nothing. It took a couple of days for the snow to avalanche off the solar panels. You don’t want stand under where it slides off. So far this year only minor dusting.

First snow in New Jersey this winter that didn't disappear within a day. The day before it was 65°F (18°C). Ultimately, we got about 6 inches (15 cm) of a heavy wet snow. It was enough that I needed to shovel part of my driveway. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/9, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre) — First snow in New Jersey this winter that didn’t disappear within a day. The day before it was 65°F (18°C). Ultimately, we got about 6 inches (15 cm) of a heavy wet snow. It was enough that I needed to shovel part of my driveway. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/9, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Birdbath statue standing on a bench covered with snow. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/7, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Road looking east, covered with snow. Four-wheel drive vehicles are out, but still waiting on the snow plows to do a second pass. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Road looking west, covered with snow. Four-wheel drive vehicles are out, but still waiting on the snow plows to do a 2nd pass. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)