summer - David Mathre Photography

Tuesday (02-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Rainbow in New Jersey.

While eating dinner, it started getting dark outside with the rumble of thunder. I was happy when the rain started since it had been hot out, and all of my garden towers on the patio and the wildflower meadows needed water. A bit later when looking out the kitchen window while doing the dishes saw a rainbow. I dropped everything and first ran out with my Leica CL camera with the 11-23 mm wide-angle lens. After taking a bunch of pictures, I returned with a Nikon D810a camera with the 8-15 mm fisheye lens. I really like the Leica CL camera for travel, but the Nikon D810a camera has a larger (full frame) and more sensitive sensor with greater dynamic range. Just compare the two images of the rainbow above my backyard weather station. I then took a bunch of images to make a 360 degree panorama, little planet view, and inverse little planet view of the rainbow.

Backyard Evening Rainbow over the Weather Station. After the Thunderstorm. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 11-23 mm lens (ISO 100, 11 mm, f/4.5, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Backyard Evening Rainbow over the Weather Station. After the Thunderstorm. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 15 mm, f/7.1, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Backyard 360 Panorama View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Little Planet View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Inverse Little Planet View of an Evening Rainbow. After the Thunderstorm. Composite of 46 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (54.9 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (66.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The outside temperatures were high, so the geothermal HVAC system was working hard.

Current Weather Conditions

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Monday (01-July-2019) — New Jersey

First Day of July. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

More wildflowers than what I know what to do with. THe deer are staying out of the electric fenced in wildflower meadows. They will nibble on any of the plants that grow out of the area. The Goldfinch love eating the Bachelor Buttons (Cornflowers). Also, lots of insects are attracted to the wildflowers. Some of the flowers include allium, baby’s breath, baby blue eyes, bachelor button (cornflower), black-eyed susan (coneflower), cosmos, coreopsis (calliopsis, tickseed), leopard bane, morning glory, poppy, siberian wallflower, sunflower, yucca, zinnia — and others that I haven’t identified.

Doe Outside the Electric Fence. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Cosmos. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (50.1 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (87.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. You can see from the power graph, that there were very few clouds and this is about the maximum amount of solar power that my system can generate.

Current Weather Conditions

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Sunday (30-June-2019) — New Jersey

Last Day of June. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

It hasn’t rained for several days, and is quite warm out. The wildflower meadows are filling in nicely with lots of new flowers. A band of American Goldfinch moved in and started eating the Cornflowers (Bachelor Buttons). Several Sunflowers have opened up. I now have one sunflower plant that is nearly up to my roof.

Backyard Wildflowers (Coreopsis, Cosmos, Poppy). Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (51.8 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (72.14 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Power use is up since I did laundry, two loads of dishes and the Geothermal A/C was running. Since it is both the end of the week, and month I’ve also included additional power & solar graphs.

Current Weather Conditions

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Friday (21-September-2018) — New Jersey

Last Day of Summer — Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Even though the rain has stopped, the sky remains overcast. I have used more electricity than my solar panels have generated so far this month. Yesterday, the Sheep Shearer caught up with me for my annual hair reduction. My neighbor’s cat that normally runs away when it sees me, came up to me and allowed me to take her picture. So the cat noticed…

Post Sheep Shearer Portrait. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Neighbor's Cat. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE) — Neighbor’s Cat. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

There were a pair of garter snakes mating in a tree in my neighbor’s backyard. The female is the larger of the two snakes. He said they have be up there for at least a day.

With all the rain we have had in the last few weeks, mushrooms are popping up all over the place. I’ll have to let the house trolls go out hunting tomorrow.

Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

Sunday (16-September-2018) — New Jersey

Late Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Today was the second day in a row that the sun showed itself. Several young bucks with new antlers paraded through the yard. They appear to like to eat the acorns that have fallen onto the driveway. The ground is still very wet with mushrooms popping up every night. I caught one of the house trolls admiring the two types of mushrooms. For the last several days, I have been seeing some rather large spiders in the garden. Today, I got images of one with a funnel like web. The other one had an egg sack the size of a marble that was attached to its posterior. Finally, I still have a number of flowers and wildflowers in bloom. Behind an electric fence to keep the deer away.

Individual images from the slideshows can be viewed here.