Weather - David Mathre Photography

Seven-Years Ago (28-August-2012) — North Atlantic Ocean

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 06: At Sea, North Atlantic Ocean.

It was another rough night with heavy seas. I got a picture of the waves outside my cabin portal. By dawn all of the water in the pool had sloshed out and the deck chairs were all tied down. During the day the wind reduced and the seas had calmed. By early evening the happy students escaping from cabin fever were out on deck for sunset. While shooting sunset, I looked behind and saw some students on the upper deck with the waxing Gibbous Moon in the sky next to them. I would watch out for this type of moon shot on subsequent Semester at Sea voyages. I am waiting for a camera and telephoto lens combination where both the people and moon are in focus (infinite depth of field, and infinite ISO, with no noise).

Rough Seas at Night from my Cabin Portal. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 25600, 16 mm, f/3.2, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)

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Eight-Years Ago (28-August-2011) — New Jersey

Hurricane Irene. Central New Jersey.

My Sunday afternoon post from eight-years ago. Today we are watching as Hurricane Dorian tracks toward central Florida.

By mid-afternoon, I still was not able to report the downed power lines in my yard. I drove to the nearby High School where there I could get much better ATT wireless Internet reception. I logged onto the PSE&G site and reported that I didn’t have power and that I had downed wires in the yard. The automated response let me know that they would have power restored by 8 PM 04-September (next Sunday). I figured that I would be living in my RV for the week. By the time that I got back to the house, I was very surprised to see 3 PSE&G trucks pulling up. It took them some time to free the downed wire from the trees and vines. It was right around this time that the wind and a small amount of rain started up from the back side of the hurricane. I commend the PSE&G workers for their dedication to be out working before the storm had passed. After they completed here, they fixed some other local problems and were able to restore power before it got dark. I feel lucky this time that power was restored this quickly. I know that there are many others still without power and the PSE&G crews will be busy for the next several days. The following images were taken with a Leica X1 camera. Images taken with a Nikon D700 camera will be included in another post.

PSE&G Truck and Crew Getting Set Up oo Repair the Downed Power Line. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

PSE&G Workers Viewing the Downed Power Line. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Downed Power Line. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

PSE&G Truck and Crew Working on the Downed Power Line. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

PSE&G Worker Working to Free the the Downed Power Line from Trees and Vines. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Eight-Years Ago (28-August-2011) — New Jersey

Hurricane Irene. Central New Jersey.

My Sunday morning post from eight-years ago. Today we are watching Hurricane Dorian as it tracks toward Florida.

I spent Friday and Saturday getting prepared for Hurricane Irene. The storm intensity started increasing late Saturday night. At about 11:30 PM, I heard a crash and the lights went out. When I got up Sunday morning the wind and rain had decreased significantly. I guess this was when the eye of the hurricane was moving up the coast of New Jersey directly east. When I went out I saw that a tree had fallen next to the road and took down the power, cable, and phone lines. I tried to call in the fallen lines to PSE&G, but couldn’t get past the automated emergency reporting system. My wireless Internet connection also didn’t work. A lot of branches and tree limbs were down in the yard, but thankfully no damage to the house or vehicles. The following images are of the nearby Rock Brook and local woods. Normally at this time of the year, the brook is almost dry. The road closed sign was right in front of my driveway.

Road Closed. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Rock Brook Flooding. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Seven-Years Ago (27-August-2012) — North Atlantic Ocean

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 05: At Sea, North Atlantic Ocean.

The day was a bit rough as we crossed the North Atlantic. Splash from the waves made it up to the portal in my cabin on deck 5 of the MV Explorer. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec).
I didn’t get sea sick, but there were not many of the students or staff that showed up for lunch or dinner. Most of the decks were off limits due to the heavy seas and winds. In the early evening I was able to set up a camera in a protected area to capture the sun going down for a time-lapse video.

Heavy Seas. Waves breaking up to my cabin window. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Ten-Years Ago (25-August-2009) — North Dakota

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 04: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.

I woke up early for a sunrise shoot. A thick fog enveloped the campground where I parked the RV. I packed up and drove the scenic drive towards the River Bend, and Oxbow overlooks hoping to get above the fog. It was still dawn when I arrived at the River Bend viewpoint where there is a stone building overlooking the Little Missouri river valley. The valley was still covered with fog, but the sky above had some beautiful pastel colors (Belt of Venus, and the earth shadow). I drove a bit further until the sun started to be visible, and got several shots of the sun rising above the fog filled valley. When I arrived at the Oxbow overlook, there was a faint rainbow because of the fog. I find rainbows always difficult to photograph. Then remembering something Winston Hall taught me “always look behind you, because that is where the best picture is” — and sure enough there was a Bighorn Ram coming over a grass covered ridge. Quickly switching for a camera with a telephoto lens, I got some great silhouette images including one with the Bighorn in midair as it started to run away. Once the show was done, I drove back to the park entrance. The fog was beginning to rise when I came upon some Bison crossing the road, and into the fog.

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Fog Rainbow and Photographer's Shadow. Little Missouri river overlook. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-28 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre) — Fog Rainbow and Photographer’s Shadow. Little Missouri river overlook. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-28 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)

Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.