Six-Years Ago (12-March-2015) — Chile

Gone to See Patagonia 2015 Photography Tour with Thom Hogan. Day 11: Traveling from Calafate, Argentina to Lago Grey, Chile

Evening walkabout at Hotel Lago Grey: White-tufted Grebe. My eBird Checklist


Evening walkabout at Hotel Lago Grey. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Six-Years ago (04-March-2016) — Argentina

Gone to See Patagonia 2015 Photography Tour with Thom Hogan. Day 3: Estancia Helsingfors, Argentina

Morning walkabout at Estancia Helsingfors: Southern Caracara. My eBird Checklist

Afternoon trek to Azur Lake: Andean Condor My eBird Checklist


Estancia Helsingfors and Azur Lake. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Six-Years Ago (03-March-2015) — Argentina

Gone to See Patagonia 2015 Photography Tour with Thom Hogan. Day 2: Calafate to Helsingfors, Argentina

Afternoon stop at an unnamed lake: Black-necked Swan, Coscoroba Swan, Chilean Flamingo. My eBird Checklist

Afternoon walkabout at Helsingfors Estancia: Southern Caracara. My eBird Checklist


Calafate to Estancia Helsingfors. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Monday – (21-September-2020) — New Jersey

Last Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Autumn is coming. Getting colder outside allowing me to open the windows and turn off the Geothermal HVAC system. Third consecutive night with dark (relative — this is New Jersey) clear skies. Repeat Night Sky Star Trails with a Leica SL2 camera with 16-35 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 sec). This time portrait mode. Same number of images (152) as last night before the batteries failed. Do wish there was a way to provide external power to the camera for longer overnight sessions. Star Trail composite image created with the jpg “out-of-the-camera” image files using PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum).

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Star Trails looking south from my backyard patio. Composite of 152 image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 seconds). JPG images processed with PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (40.1 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (53.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny with a few clouds. Geothermal HVAC system off. A surplus of 13.2 kWh. Stove left on boiling water for tea… Or an expensive way to humidify the house.

Sunday (20-September-2020) — New Jersey

Late Summer Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

Taking advantage of several nights with clear skies. For comparison to the Star Trail images yesterday, I set up two high-resolution full-frame cameras to capture the night sky from my patio. 1) Leica SL2 camera with 16-36 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 sec). 2) Nikon D810a with 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 11 mm, f/4, 120 sec). The Leica (2 batteries) captured 152 images before running out of power. The outdoor temperature dropped to 36° F. Then Nikon camera (2 batteries) captured 174 images before taking the camera back inside (could have gone on longer). The first two Star Trail composite images were created with the jpg “out-of-the-camera” image files using PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). The second two Star Trail composite images were created with the DNG or RAW image files processed with Capture One Pro and then using PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum).

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Star Trails looking south from my backyard patio. Composite of 154 image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 seconds). JPG images processed with PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Star Trails looking Up from my backyard patio. Composite of 172 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 11 mm, f/4, 120 seconds). JPG images processed with PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Star Trails looking south from my backyard patio. Composite of 154 image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 seconds). DNG images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Star Trails looking Up from my backyard patio. Composite of 172 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 11 mm, f/4, 120 seconds). RAW images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (35.8 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (53.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny with a few clouds. Geothermal HVAC system off. A surplus of 17.8 kWh. Notice the hump in the afternoon solar — has to do with the Sycamore tree shading the roof mid-afternoon

Weekly Electric Energy Used (273 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (337 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun this week, and the house open with the Geothermal HVAC system off. A surplus of 64 kWh.