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)
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)
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.

Six-Years Ago (04-January-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky in New Jersey: Star and Meteor Trails.

Winter Night Sky -- Star Trails -- Quadrantids Meteors. Composite of 122 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2, 59 sec) combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
Winter Night Sky — Star Trails — Quadrantids Meteors. Composite of 122 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2, 59 sec) combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)

Six-Years Ago (03-January-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky in New Jersey: Star Trails North and South.

Star and jet trails looking north from my deck. Composite of 368 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2, 59 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum), followed by Silver Efex Pro to convert the image to B&W. (David J Mathre)
Star and jet trails looking north from my deck. Composite of 368 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2, 59 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum), followed by Silver Efex Pro to convert the image to B&W. (David J Mathre)


Star, moon, and jet trails looking south from my deck. Composite of 361 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W), and the composite created using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Star, moon, and jet trails looking south from my deck. Composite of 361 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W), and the composite created using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)


Nine-Years Ago (02-January-2009) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky: Star Trails and Night Sky Videos.

Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 343 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/4, 25 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 343 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/4, 25 sec) (David J Mathre)

 

Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 328 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 25 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 328 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 25 sec) (David J Mathre)

 

Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 343 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 343 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec) (David J Mathre)

Nine-Years Ago (01-January-2009) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky: Star Trails and Night Sky Videos.

Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 222 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/2.8, 15 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 222 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/2.8, 15 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 129 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 15 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 129 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 15 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 279 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/2.8, 20 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 279 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/2.8, 20 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 215 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/4, 30 sec) (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, and Jet Trails + Clouds. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey Looking South. Composite of 215 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/4, 30 sec) (David J Mathre)