Night Sky - David Mathre Photography

Monday (09-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

The sky was clear so I set up two cameras. One for firefly trails (Nikon D810a and 200 mm f/2 lens), and one for star trails looking south (Nikon D850 and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens). The focus point for the firefly image should have been further back. This is my first star trails image with the high-resolution Nikon D850 camera (8256 x 5505 pixel — 45 MP sensor). The image really needs to be viewed on a large high-resolution monitor. I focused the camera using live view using a magnified bright star. I need to figure out how to do the same thing with the firefly images. I also made a time-lapse video (five hours compressed to 20 seconds) of the night sky. This is best viewed on a high-resolution monitor in a dark room. The brightest object that shows up in the early morning is Mars.

Firefly Ttrails (21:50-03:59). Composite of images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/5.6, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Star Trails Looking South (23:00-03:59). Composite of image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 19 mm, f/4, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Friday (15-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

Firefly trails. I added long exposure noise reduction to the Fuji X-H1 camera for the 120 second exposures. It helps, but reduces the number of images that can be taken by half. Bottom line, the Nikon D810a camera does a better job for long exposures.

Firefly Trails. Composite of 541 images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 3200, 200 mm, f/8. 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Firefly Trails. Composite of 157 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 58 mm, f/8. 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Firefly Trails. Composite of 72 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 1600, 58 mm, f/8. 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Thursday (14-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

More firefly trails. I found that I can do exposures longer than 30 seconds on the Fuji X-H1 camera. However, at the cost of more sensor noise. The image required more post processing to remove the red and blue noise pixels.

Firefly Trails. Composite of 551 images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1600, 200 mm, f/5.6, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Firefly Trails. Composite of 170 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 1600, 200 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Firefly Trails. Composite of 167 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/8, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (30-May-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I woke up at 03:00 (still trying to figure out what time zone I am in) and noticed the sky was pretty clear and the full moon was bright. I tried several cameras, and got the best image of the moon with the Nikon D810a camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. Later on during the day, more birds at the bird feeder.

Full Moon. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (31-January-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky Over New Jersey — Full Moon.

There has been a lot of media hype over the full moon that would be visible tonight (weather permitting). It is the second full moon in January, so it is a “blue moon”. It is closer to earth at this point in its orbit around the earth so it is a “super moon”. And finally, there will be a lunar eclipse, so a “red” or “blood” moon. Yesterday had been rain, snow, and rain so I wasn’t expecting to even be able to see the moon. As I was going to bed around midnight, I noticed that it was very bright out. I could see the moon directly out my window since it was so high in the sky. So I ended up having to go outside to see it. It was bitterly cold and windy, but the moon was visible. I wasn’t going to stay out very long, and didn’t want to set up a tripod — so the first image was taken hand-held looking almost straight up. I woke up again at 06:00 to see if any of the eclipse would be visible. Here in New Jersey, it would only be visible just before sunrise. The only view I got was one where the moon was going behind the trees. One note that the media forgot to mention, there will not be a full moon in February.

Full (Blue, Super) Moon at Midnight. Winter Night Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/18, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Full (Blue, Super, Blood) Moon at Midnight. Winter Night Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre) — Full (Blue, Super, Blood) Moon at 06:00. Winter Night Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)