Tag: New Jersey

Wednesday (26-September-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Today, I continued evaluating a Garmin VIRB 360 degree camera. The first thing that I like about this camera is that it has external control buttons, and a small LCD screen on the top to display the camera settings. The other cameras that I am looking at all require a smartphone or tablet for set-up and use. The Garmin camera also has a rechargeable battery that can be swapped out with a fresh battery. Two of the other cameras only have internal batteries. The Garmin camera can also be run with an external power supply connected to the micro USB connection port for shoots lasting more than 1 1/2 hours.

I initially set the camera up on my patio to do interval shots for a time-lapse video. In the camera (photo) mode you can set the interval time ( 2, 5, 10, 30, and 60 sec). There is no setting for duration, which presumably means the camera continues to take images until the battery (power) runs out, the memory card is full, or the run is manually stopped. The camera also has an option to change the lens mode (360 degrees, forward lens, rear lens, and raw). The 360 degree mode provides an in-camera stitched 360 degree panorama image. The forward and rear lens modes provide a geometrically corrected 16:9 image from the front or rear lens. The raw mode provides separate fisheye images from the front and rear lenses. It should be noted that raw does not mean that the image is in a RAW format. All of the images are JPG format.

Garmin VIRB 360 – Out of the Camera JPG – Panorama View (1080p 24p)

The time-lapse video was created using Photoshop CC with no adjustments. The camera is automatically controlling the exposure, and white balance. The clouds are a bit blown out, and shadow areas a bit dark. I then connected an external power source which you can see in the next two short time-lapse videos while I am working on the garden in the patio. One converted to a “Little Planet” view and the other a “Tunnel View” using Photoshop CC.

Garmin VIRB 360 – Out of the Camera JPG – Little Planet View (1080p 10p)

Garmin VIRB 360 – Out of the Camera JPG – Tunnel View (1080p 10p)

I then left the camera running for the rest of the afternoon into the evening to see how long the external battery (GoalZero, Venture 30) would last. The camera was still running and taking pictures after 6 hours. For these time-lapse videos, I processed the images with Capture One Pro to decrease the blown out areas, and increase the shadow areas. This did take a lot of processing time.

Garmin VIRB 360 – Capture One Pro – Panorama View (1080p 60p)

Garmin VIRB 360 – Capture One Pro – Little Planet View (1080p 60p)

Garmin VIRB 360 – Capture One Pro – Tunnel View (1080p 60p)

Tuesday (25-September-2018) — New Jersey

Home Cooking. Hearty Whole Grain Rye Bread.

Another day of rain. The weather for the last few weeks is more like Seattle, Washington or Bergen, Norway. I decided to make some hearty whole grain rye bread. I ran out of rye flour, and the new batch I got is the whole grain version from Bob’s Red Mill.

I  set up a Insta360 One camera to take images for a time-lapse video of the process. While in Germany earlier this summer, my brother showed me the Insta360 One camera. I was impressed because it could take 360 degree images, and convert them into “little planet” or “tunnel view” images. I have created these type of images for several years by taking 20 or more images with a high-resolution DSLR or mirrorless digital camera, and then using the AutoPano Giga program to convert the images into a 360 degree view. (Note, I just read on Thom Hogan’s blog that Kolor will no longer be selling the AutoPano Giga program.) The process would take hours of processing, and required fast computers, and lots of memory. The images ended up being very large — often over a gigapixel in size. So I decided to try this new camera. Granted the image size would not be as large, but if only viewed on the internet does it matter? Also I would be able to make time-lapse 360 degree videos. I’ve created three time-lapse videos of the bread making (Panorama, Little Planet, and Tunnel View). Let me know what you think. There are some idiosyncrasies with the Insa360 One camera system that I will talk about later when comparing with other 360 degree camera systems.

Hearty Whole Grain Rye Bread Recipe: Rye Flour (1 cup); Sprouted Wheat Flour (1 cup); Bread Flour (1/2 cup);  Sorghum Flour (1/2 cup) Flax Seed (1/4 cup); Chia Seed (1/4 cup); Dill Seed (1 tbs); Anise Seed (1 tbs); Caraway Seed (1 tbs); Fennel Seed (1 tbs); dry milk (1/4 cup);  cocoa (1 tbs); instant coffee (1 tbs); salt (1 tsp); egg (1 large); flax oil (2 tbs); water (1 1/4 cup); Maple  syrup (1/3 cup). Above ingredients added to Panasonic Bread Bakery. Yeast (2 tsp) added to yeast hopper and the unit set for Whole Wheat Bread (Rapid) and started. Three hours later, the loaf of bread was removed and allowed to cool.

Bread Making – Insta360 One Camera – 360 Panorama View (1080p 24p)

Bread Making – Insta360 One Camera – Little Planet View (1080p 24p)

Bread Making – Insta360 One Camera – Tunnel View (1080p 24p)

Friday (21-September-2018) — New Jersey

Last Day of Summer — Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Even though the rain has stopped, the sky remains overcast. I have  used more electricity than my solar panels have generated so far this month. Yesterday, the Sheep Shearer caught up with me for my annual hair reduction. My neighbor’s cat that normally runs away when it sees me, came up to me and allowed me to take her picture. So the cat noticed…

Post Sheep Shearer Portrait. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Post Sheep Shearer Portrait. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Neighbor's Cat. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Neighbor’s Cat. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

There were a pair of garter snakes mating in a tree in  my neighbor’s backyard. The female is the larger of the two snakes. He said they have be up there for at least a day.


With all the rain we have had in the last few weeks, mushrooms are popping up all over the place. I’ll have to let the house trolls go out hunting tomorrow.


Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

Sunday (16-September-2018) — New Jersey

Late Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Today was the second day in a row that the sun showed itself. Several young bucks with new antlers paraded through the yard. They appear to like to eat the acorns that have fallen onto the driveway. The ground is still very wet with mushrooms popping up every night. I caught one of the house trolls admiring the two types of mushrooms. For the last several days, I have been seeing some rather large spiders in the garden. Today, I got images of one with a funnel like web. The other one had an egg sack the size of a marble that was attached to its posterior. Finally, I still have a number of flowers and wildflowers in bloom. Behind an electric fence to keep the deer away.





Individual images from the slideshows can be viewed here.

Saturday (15-September-2018) — New Jersey

Indoor Late Summer Nature in New Jersey.

In addition to all of the crickets making noise outside, I heard one in the house last night. When I woke up this morning, I found Jiminy in the laundry room. He stayed still long enough for me to grab a camera with a macro lens. Afterwards, I helped him find his way back outside to be with his friends.

Jiminy Cricket. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Jiminy Cricket. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)