Wednesday (04-November-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky over New Jersey: Star and Jet Trails Looking South.

Night and early morning star and jet trails. Also, two very faint meteor trails. Composite of 193 images taken with a Nikon D810A camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E camera (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Lightroom (to convert the RAW image to TIF) and Photoshop CC.

Star and jet trails. Southern view from my backyard. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star and jet trails. Southern view from my backyard. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/5.6, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)

Nine-Years Ago (04-November-2006) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky Over New Jersey: Star and Jet Trails.

Learning from mistakes. It took a while to figure out how to make star trail images with a digital camera. My first attempts to do long exposures ran into problems with digital sensor noise, the length of time the shutter could remain open, and camera battery life — especially on cold nights. The camera had an option for “long exposure noise reduction”, however this required taking a second exposure with the shutter closed and then subtracting the sensor closed image from the sensor open image. The result is missing every other exposure needed for a smooth composite star trail image.

Star trails looking southeast from my backyard. Composite of 27 images taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/2.8, 28 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star trails looking southeast from my backyard. Composite of 27 images taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/2.8, 28 sec). (David J Mathre)

Other than the Big Dipper, Orion was probably the second constellation I learned to recognize.


One-Year Ago (03-November-2014) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Turkey Vulture soaring in the afternoon sun.

Turkey vulture soaring in the afternoon sun. Outdoor Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 500 mm, f/4, 1/3200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Turkey vulture soaring in the afternoon sun. Outdoor Autumn Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 500 mm, f/4, 1/3200 sec). (David J Mathre)

Two-Years Ago (03-November-2013) — New Jersey

Autumn Nature in New Jersey: Sunday Walk in the Park.

Gone for a walkabout at the Rock Mill Preserve with the Montgomery Friends of Open Space. A local park within walking distance of my house.

Rock Mill Preserve Opening. Sunday in the Park. Montgomery Township, New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X2 Camera. (David J Mathre)
Rock Mill Preserve Opening. Sunday in the Park. Montgomery Township, New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica X2 Camera. (David J Mathre)


Nine-Years Ago (03-November-2006) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey: Rutting Season.

Wary buck wondering why I am pointing a large black lens at him.

Wary buck. Backyard autumn nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/45 sec). (David J Mathre)
Wary buck. Backyard autumn nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/45 sec). (David J Mathre)