Sun - David Mathre Photography

Sunday (09-June-2013) — Baltic Sea

Gone to See Europe. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 44: At Sea.

Silhouette of a sailboat passing in front of the sun at sunset from the deck of the MV Explorer. Crossing the Baltic Sea from Stockholm to Copenhagen.

Friday (04-November-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Astronomy in New Jersey: Sun and Moon.

The sky was clear so I took my telescope out. First to see the big sunspot (AR 1339), and then later the waxing gibbous moon. The Questar telescope comes with a solar filter to safely view the sun and sunspots.

Sun with Sunspot AR 1339. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and Questar 7" telescope (ISO 400, ~2500 mm, f/16, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre) — Sun with Sunspot AR 1339. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and Questar 7″ telescope (ISO 400, ~2500 mm, f/16, 1/2000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Waxing Gibbous Moon (69%). Autumn Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and Questar 7" telescope (ISO 400, ~2500 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre) — Waxing Gibbous Moon (69%). Autumn Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and Questar 7″ telescope (ISO 400, ~2500 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

Saturday (30-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Sky Over New Jersey. Solar Disk and Sunspots.

One of the websites that I follow for sunspot and auroral (northern light) activity is SpaceWeather.com. I noticed yesterday and today that there are three new sets of active sunspots (1260, 1261, and 1263). My telescopes have solar filters to allow safe viewing of the solar disk. The following images were taken with a 3.5″ and 7″ Questar telescope and clearly show the sunspots. The third image has some clouds passing in front of the solar disk. The solar filter for the 3.5″ telescope is darker (lets through less light) than the filter for the 7″ telescope. This required increasing the ISO and decreasing the shutter speed for the smaller telescope. Another issue with the smaller telescope is that it is much more sensitive to mirror slap and shutter motion. In order to get a sharp image, I used the mirror-up feature and waited 30 seconds to let the entire system stabilize. With the larger telescope this is still a problem, but attenuated due to the overall extra weight of the telescope relative to the Nikon D3s camera. The higher magnification of the larger telescope however, increases the effect of vibration. Focusing was done viewing the image through the camera using LiveView — and using a HoodMan to be able to view the LCD screen. After shooting images (and videos) for about 30 minutes, I did get a sensor over heating warning (which then turned LiveView off).

Sun with Sunspots. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and Questar 3.5 inch telescope with solar filter (ISO 640, ~1500 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Sun with Sunspots. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and Questar 3.5 inch telescope with solar filter (ISO 640, ~1500 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.

Sun with Sunspots. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and Questar 7 inch telescope with solar filter (ISO 200, ~2500 mm, f/16, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Sun with Sunspots. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and Questar 7 inch telescope with solar filter (ISO 200, ~2500 mm, f/16, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.

Sun with Sunspots and Clouds Passing in Front. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and Questar 7 inch telescope with solar filter (ISO 200, ~2500 mm, f/16, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Sun with Sunspots and Clouds Passing in Front. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and Questar 7 inch telescope with solar filter (ISO 200, ~2500 mm, f/16, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5.

Friday (29-April-2011) — Mexico

Gone to See Central America and the Panama Canal. Semester at Sea Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop II with Michael Mariant. Day 3: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

A series of 12 telephoto images of a fisherman with the sun rising. The images were taken from deck 7 of the Semester at Sea MV Explorer while anchored off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized -1.33 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized -1.33 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5.

Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized -0.67 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized -0.67 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5.

Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized -0.33 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized -0.33 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5.

Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized +0.33 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized +0.33 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5.

Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized +0.00 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized +0.00 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5.

Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized +0.67 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Fisherman at Sunrise while at Anchor off Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, (levels normalized +0.67 EV for exposure, cropped), Nik Define 2 (noise reduction), and converted to web with Photoshop CS5.

Sunday (07-November-2010) — New Jersey

Backyard Solar Astronomy in New Jersey.

Solar image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and Questar 3.5″ telescope fitted with a sun filter (ISO 400, f/16, 1/1000 sec). I didn’t see any sunspots. A good source for solar activity is SpaceWeather.com.

Image of the Sun using a Questar Telescope (David J Mathre)