Moon - David Mathre Photography

One-Year Ago (25-September-2010) — California

Gone to See California: Point Reyes National Seashore.

I drove out to Point Reyes National Seashore to photograph the Lighthouse. I’ve tried to photograph this lighthouse on several previous occasions, but it was always shrouded in fog. I got there early in the morning, and this time it was very clear. In one image, the moon is above the lighthouse. Remembering my mentor Winston Hall telling us to always look behind you for a better picture, I turned around and saw this buck on a ridge in the early morning sunlight.

Moon over Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre) — Moon over Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Morning Light at Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre) — Morning Light at Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Early Morning Buck on a Ridge at Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/2.8, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre) — Early Morning Buck on a Ridge at Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/2.8, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Saturday (13-August-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Perseid Meteor Shower. Conditions for viewing the Perseid Meteors this year were not good. The moon was full with relatively high humidity and some clouds. I set two cameras up to take images overnight, and got maybe three images of meteors. I’ve made a time-lapse movie from the two image sets.

As a side note, I am running out of hard disk space. I could get another WD My Book external drive, but have run out of USB and Firewire ports on my computer. I’m thinking about a Dobro disk array. What ever I do, I also need to maintain an off-site backup copy. I worry about some of the cloud options, both due to cost and the fact that ATT limits me to 5 GB/month of broadband internet access.

Perseid Meteor and Bright Full Moon. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec). (David J Mathre) — Perseid Meteor and Bright Full Moon. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec).

Perseid Meteor. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/4, 29 sec). (David J Mathre) — Perseid Meteor. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/4, 29 sec).

Thursday (11-August-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Multi-Exposure View of the Waxing Gibbous Moon. I went out last night to see about setting up a camera to do some star trails and possibly catch some Perseid meteor trails. I gave up because of the bright waxing gibbous moon (90% illuminated) and some fast-moving clouds. After midnight, it did clear up long enough to get this multi-exposure view of the moon. I set it up for 2 minutes between exposure. I think I need to go to 2.5 minutes for no overlap for a full moon.

Multi-Exposure of Waxing Gibbous Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 400, 500 mm, f/4 1/400 sec). Nine images taken at 2 minute intervals. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, and Photoshop CS5.. (David J Mathre) — Multi-Exposure of Waxing Gibbous Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 500 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 400, 500 mm, f/4 1/400 sec). Nine images taken at 2 minute intervals. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, and Photoshop CS5.

Saturday (16-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Multi-Exposure Waxing Gibbous Moon — Going Up, Going Down. A ten exposure image of the waxing gibbous moon going up or down using the in camera multi-exposure function. The exposure times were varied in 1/3 EV increments (1/1000, 1/800, 1/640, 1/500, 1/400, 1/320, 1/250, 1/200, 1/160, 1/125, second). The exposures were taken every 30 seconds and used mirror up to minimize camera/lens vibration.

In Camera Multi-Exposure of Waxing Gibbous Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens + TE-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 400, 1200 mm, f/4 1/1000 to 1/125 in 1/3 EV). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, and Photoshop CS5.. (David J Mathre) — In Camera Multi-Exposure of Waxing Gibbous Moon over New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens + TE-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 400, 1200 mm, f/4 1/1000 to 1/125 in 1/3 EV). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, and Photoshop CS5..

Thursday (14-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summer Nighttime Sky over New Jersey.

Waxing gibbous moon with 100% illumination (data from the US Naval Observatory site). The full moon is on the 15th. This month the full moon is known as the “Thunder Moon”. Image taken just after midnight with a Nikon D3s camera and Questar 3.5″ telescope (ISO 1600, ~1500 mm, f/16, 1/1000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS5.