Friday (19-January-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Colorful Clouds at Dawn.

The clouds lit up a bit more this morning. A comparison to two methods for creating a panoramic landscape image. The first is my normal workflow where I take a series of portrait images, overlapping about 1/3 from the previous image. I then process the raw images using Capture One Pro, and create the composite panoramic image using AutoPano Giga Pro. Since I am processing the raw images, I have more control over the colors and saturation. [note – click on the image for a wider view]

Dawn Morning Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 10 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Dawn Morning Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 10 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

The second method uses the in-camera panorama feature of the Fuji XT series cameras. You select the camera mode (landscape or portrait), rotation direction, and range (medium or wide). Set the ISO, white balance, aperture, and shutter speed. Then press the shutter button and start to smoothly rotate, trying to keep the horizon level. When done, the camera processes the images in the cameras as a jpg panorama. Since it is a jpg image, it is important that the camera settings for the exposure and white balance are correct. It is also important to use a fast shutter speed since you are moving the camera as the images are being taken. The colors this example are more saturated (Fuji jpg).

Dawn Morning Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. In-camera (jpg) panorama taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Dawn Morning Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. In-camera (jpg) panorama taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (17-January-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Light Snow.

Snow covered maple tree. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)
Snow covered maple tree. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W). (David J Mathre)


Six-Years Ago (16-January-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Squirrel Eating a Nut.

Squirrel in my backyard eating a nut. Images taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera, FT1 adapter, and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec). Field of view equivalent to 540 mm on a 35 mm sensor camera). Animation created using Google Photo Assistant.

Three-Years Ago (15-January-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky Over New Jersey — Comet Lovejoy.

It was cold, but very clear out on the night I got some images of Comet Lovejoy. I set up a Nikon D4 camera with a 58 mm f/1.8 lens to take 5 second exposures. Normally, when shooting star trails I go for longer exposures. The comet was visible as a faint, fuzzy blue-green ball. Three different views — still images (with different crops), as star trails, and a time-lapse video


Star Trails and Comet Lovejoy on a cold but clear winter night. The comet is the blue-green fuzzy streek moving from the center to the right of the photograph. Composite of 379 images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 58 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/2, 5 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Comet Lovejoy on a cold but clear winter night. The comet is the blue-green fuzzy streek moving from the center to the right of the photograph. Composite of 379 images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 58 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/2, 5 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)