Walkabout with a new Sigma 70 mm f/2.8 macro lens on the Leica SL2 camera. Flowers in the soft-pots on the patio. Zinnia, Cosmos, Coreopsis, Forget-me-not, Sunflower. Hand-held, but somewhat windy out. Narrow depth of field, so not all are completely in focus. Something I need to work on. This camera does have a higher resolution mode (but not a focus stacking mode). The higher resolution mode requires the camera be stabilized on a tripod. The same is true for the focus stacking mode on the Fuji X-H1 or Nikon D850.
Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Tropical Storm Isaias aftermath. Current status of the downed Oak trees after one month.
Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (56.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (57.4 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun. A surplus of 0.9 kWh.
The Montgomery Township work crew finally came back to pick up the remaining logs and brush from the two downed Oak trees at the top of my driveway. They pushed the remains from the tree on the west side back upright into the whole created by the root ball. They also cut the remains of the tree on the east side that was laying over the wall into the street. There is some damage to the rock wall. The panorama image shows the current status of the front driveway (note the tree crews in the image are not the Township, but another crew working on the damage across the street). While the township crews were working I mowed the lawn (time-lapse video). Later in the afternoon, I took some images of the Coreopsis and Zinnia flowers in the soft pots on my patio garden.
Isaias Aftermath — Cleanup. Composite of 32 images taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Wildflowers in Soft Pots on the Patio. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Wildflowers in Soft Pots on the Patio. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (51.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (61.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun, clouds, and not as hot outside. A surplus of 10.0 kWh.
Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath. Backyard Summertime in New Jersey.
A Montgomery Township maintenance crew arrived in the morning to begin clearing out some of the cut logs and brush from the two downed Oak trees. Before they got here some folks with pickup trucks had been picking up a few of the logs for firewood. The Township crew removed the stuff next to the rock wall on the other side of Grandview road. They told me they would be back to collect the stuff on my side of the street but needed to leave so PSE&G and the phone companies could work on the remaining downed lines.
Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 4. Rock Wall on the other side of Grandview Road. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 4. Montgomery Township clearing the downed trees and debris on Grandview Road. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 4. East downed Oak tree resting on rock wall. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 4. East downed Oak tree resting on rock wall. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (51.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (28.4 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. A deficit of 23.4 kWh.
I slept in a dark house for the second night with the windows open. The house was getting hot inside. Several PSE&G crews spent the morning and afternoon examining the downed power lines. It must have been considered a complex repair since there were often more supervisors than actual line workers. Power was restored at 17:21. My house and next door neighbor were lucky in that we could be restored before everyone else further down the line. That is a good thing since the last outage report on the PSE&G website indicated power to the house wouldn’t be restored until Sunday. Once the power was restored the priority was making sure that the Geothermal HVAC system came online an started cooling the house, and the LG fridge/freezer was on and cooling. I ended up throwing out the food in the fridge, and then cleaning it with dilute bleach. The food in the freezer was still cold, so only lost a few things that melted. This shows that the insulation for the freezer is pretty good. The water on the floor must have been external condensation or a unplanned defrosting that helped keep the food cold. The network, servers, and computers all restarted without any problems.
Daily Electric Energy Used (26.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (2.8 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Not much sun left after the power was restored. Geothermal HVAC busy. A deficit of 23.9 kWh.
Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath and Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.
Last night I slept in a dark house with the windows open. It was silent in the house, but you could hear several of the neighbors generators running all night. Power from PSE&G remained off all day. Even though I have solar panels, I can’t used them for safety reasons when the external power is off. By mid-afternoon there was a puddle of water under the fridge/freezer. I don’t know how much food I will lose. I am able to continue working with my computer since the Range Rover can be setup as a WiFi hotspot and has 115 VAC outlets.
In the morning two crews from National Tree Service arrived to clear the two downed Oak trees blocking my driveway and Grandview Road. They worked until mid-afternoon. The cut up sections of the tree were pushed to the side of the road and into my front yard. I set up my Garmin VIRB-360 camera to record the activity. The following nearly 6 minute time-lapse video was extracted from the 8483 images.
After the trees were cleared I took another set of images to create a “blue sky” Little Planet view of the front yard. As well as the remains of the trees, brush, and rock wall that will ultimately need to be cleaned up.
Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath. Little Planet View of my Front Yard after the Tree Crews Cleared the Downed Oak Trees. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Individual images used to create the above Little Planet view. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Views after the Tree Crews Cleared the Two Downed Oak Trees — East Oak Tree, West Oak Tree, Neighbor’s Rock Wall on the other side of Grandview Road. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 2 — Post Tree Clearing. Rock Wall on the other side of Grandview Road. Composite of 4 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Even thought the power was off, I still could set the camera up to monitor the patio birdfeeders: Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Thrasher, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and Northern Cardinal.
Afternoon at the Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
