One-Year Ago (24-May-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC. In the past I used the startrails.exe program to process the images. This time I made the composite using Scripts/Statistics Stack Mode = Maximum within Photoshop CC 2015.

Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC. In the past I used Startrails.exe to process the images. This time I made the composite using Scripts/Statistics Stack Mode = Maximum within Photoshop CC 2015. (David J Mathre)
Startrails Looking South From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)

Thursday (19-May-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Waxing Gibbous – Nearly Full Moon Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Handheld using the lens optical image stabilization (OIS).

Waxing gibbous (nearly full) moon. Backyard night sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Waxing gibbous (nearly full) moon. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four Years Ago (02-January-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky in New Jersey.

Moon with Jupiter in Conjunction. I could just barely get Jupiter in the frame using a 300 mm lens. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec).

Moon with Jupiter in Conjunction. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)
Moon with Jupiter in Conjunction. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)

Five Years Ago (02-January-2011) — Argentina

Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 8: Hosteria El Pilar.

Images from around Hosteria El Pilar near El Chalten in Argentina. When we saw the orange clouds developing at dusk over Mount Fitzroy we all left our deserts and rushed out of the dining room with whatever camera we had nearby. Some said the cloud looked like a shrimp, a dragon, and a Praying Mantis. I may have wished I had a different camera at the time, but didn’t chance missing the show.

The other images include a bee approaching a Pink Lupine flower, a horse and reflection of Mount Fitzroy at dawn, and then several early (02:00 to 03:00) night sky images. This was the first time I saw the Southern Milky Way, and an upside down Orion constellation.

Silhouette of Mount Fitz Roy in Patagonia at Dusk with Glowing Orange Clouds from Hosteria El Pilar in El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 19.2 mm, f/5.6, 1100/sec) (David J Mathre)
Silhouette of Mount Fitz Roy in Patagonia at Dusk with Glowing Orange Clouds from Hosteria El Pilar in El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 19.2 mm, f/5.6, 1100/sec) (David J Mathre)
Bee Approaching a Pink Lupine in Patagonia. Hosteria El Pilar, El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bee Approaching a Pink Lupine in Patagonia. Hosteria El Pilar, El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Reflection of Fitzroy in the Morning with a Horse. Hosteria El Pilar in El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 400, 50 mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec). Patagonia workshop with Thom Hogan, Day 7. (David J Mathre)
Reflection of Fitzroy in the Morning with a Horse. Hosteria El Pilar in El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 400, 50 mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec). Patagonia workshop with Thom Hogan, Day 7. (David J Mathre)