Three-Years Ago (24-January-2016) — Japan

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 19: Arrival in Yokohama, Japan.

After a long 10 days crossing the Pacific Ocean, the MV World Odyssey arrived in Yokohama, Japan. It was a cold morning, but many students were up on deck to watch the arrival. Dawn and sunrise images were taken from the deck of the ship. After breakfast, we disembarked and proceeded through customs & immigration. Everyone had to go through the process before we could return to the ship. I took a camera, travel tripod, warm jacket and gloves. It was cold, and there were some snow flurries. I felt safe walking around the Osanbashi Pier (and in Japan in general) with a camera since there were so many locals with cameras out taking pictures. I did several 360° degree image sequences using a Mindarin Astro rotating tripod head. These were then used to create Little Planet and Mirror Ball views of Yokohama and the ship from the Osanbashi Pier.

The MV World Odyssey about to pass under the Yokohama Bay Bridge as we arrived in Yokohama, Japan. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
The MV World Odyssey about to pass under the Yokohama Bay Bridge as we arrived in Yokohama, Japan. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Anticipating Japan after a Long 10 days Crossing the Pacific Ocean on the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Anticipating Japan after a Long 10 days Crossing the Pacific Ocean on the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)



Later in the afternoon I made two 360° time-lapse videos. The first of people enjoying the day at the Yamashita Park along the Yokohama harbor, and the second from a park with a view of view of the Osanbashi Pier and the MV World Odyssey. The images were taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera that was controlled by a Mindarin Astro 360° rotating head on a tripod. The time-lapse videos were then created using Photoshop CC and Premiere Pro CC.

Thursday (03-January-2019) — Georgia to Virginia

Gone to See Florida Road Trip. Day 12: Savannah, Georgia to Staunton, Virginia.

I left the hotel a little before sunrise. It was cold out, but above freezing. The drive was uneventful, most of the time with the cruse control on. The new version of cruse control not only maintains the speed, but also maintains a safe distance from vehicles in front. Data from Landrover InControl: Drive time: 7:44 hours:minutes; Distance: 508 miles; Avg Speed: 65.7 mph; Fuel used: 16.3 gal; Avg Fuel Consumption: 31.1 mpg.

Time-lapse video recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera (image every 2 sec). I mounted the camera on the dashboard with power via a USB power outlet. Images processed and video created with Photoshop CC and Premiere Pro CC. The first video is a Little Planet view, the second video is a 360 degree panorama. In order to upload, the video was saved at 480p (720 x 480) at 24 fps.

Three-Years Ago (28-November-2015) — Florida

Gone to See Florida: November Road Trip.

Urban Garden in St. Petersburg. Little Planet view and 360 degree time-lapse video. Images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Zeiss 12 mm f/2.8 lens using an Astro 360 degree tripod-head and camera controller.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Urban Garden in St. Petersburg, Florida. Composite of 31 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Zeiss 12 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (24-November-2015) — Cuba

Gone to See Cuba 2011 People to People Cultural Exchange. Day 6 of a Street Photography Workshop led by Steve Simon.

I spent some of the day using the Astro tripod head to do 360 degree images and 360 degree time-lapse videos. First stop was the Plaza de San Francisco (Saint Francis of Assisi). Later we did a walk along the Malecón (Avenida de Maceo) — actually across the street from the seawall since there were very large waves crashing against the seawall. Here I did a straight time-lapse video of the traffic and waves. At one point a woman walking along the seawall decides that the waves are too big and crosses the avenue.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Little Planet View of Plaza de San Francisco. Composite of 31 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Zeiss 12 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 12 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Little Planet View of Plaza de San Francisco. Composite of 45 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Zeiss 12 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 12 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)




Individual images from the slideshows can be viewed here.

Sunday (28-October-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

It rained on Saturday, total accumulation just under an inch (23 mm). When I woke up Sunday, the clouds were beginning to clear, so I put the Garmin VIRB-360 camera out to see if I could catch some dawn cloud colors. I ended up leaving the camera out for 12 hours, connected to an external USB battery. I’m starting to play around with Adobe Premiere Pro for processing videos. The eight-bit range of colors and light recorded in the jpg images does limit the amount of processing going from the dark predawn to some sunlight. In the end, I compressed 12 hours to 1 minute time-lapsed video displayed both as a 360 degree panorama, and side by side little-planet and tunnel views. Bottom line, I can do better with the dawn cloud colors with raw images, but don’t have the time to individually process nearly 9000 images. A lot more to learn with Premiere Pro (and maybe After Effects).