Tag: Time-Lapse Video

Saturday (05-September-2020) — New Jersey

Summer Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

With a clear night sky, I decided to try the new Ricoh Theta Z1 360 degree camera to create some star trails. I set the camera up on my back patio (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). The camera can collect 358 raw (DNG) images which corresponds to just under 5 hours at 60 second exposures. The images were processed with PTGUI, Capture One Pro, and Photoshop CC to create the following 360 degree Equirectangular Panorama, 360 degree Little Planet View, and 360 degree Tunnel View images. I’ve also included a time-lapse video of the night sky

Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey (360 Equirectangular Panorama). Composite of 360 images taken with a Ricoh Theta Z1 camera (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey (360 Equirectangular Panorama). Composite of 360 images taken with a Ricoh Theta Z1 camera (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey (360 Little Planet). Composite of 360 images taken with a Ricoh Theta Z1 camera (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey (360 Little Planet). Composite of 360 images taken with a Ricoh Theta Z1 camera (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey (360 Tunnel View). Composite of 360 images taken with a Ricoh Theta Z1 camera (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey (360 Tunnel View). Composite of 360 images taken with a Ricoh Theta Z1 camera (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey (360 Tunnel View). Composite of 360 images taken with a Ricoh Theta Z1 camera (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey (360 Tunnel View). Composite of 360 images taken with a Ricoh Theta Z1 camera (ISO 400, dual 2.6 mm fisheye lens, f/3.5, 60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (43.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (61.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun. A surplus of 18.9 kWh.

Monday (31-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The Theta Z1 camera has Dual 3 mm fisheye lenses and uses two back to back 1.0-inch back illuminated CMOS image sensors with an output size of approximately 23MP (6720×3360). The camera can be programed to collect images in JPG or Raw (as DNG) format. The JPG images are transformed in the camera from two 360 degree fisheye images to a single 360 degree equirectangular format (6720×3360 pixels). The DNG images are the two individual 360 degree fisheye images (6720×3360 pixels). In order for the DNG images to be used the two 360 degree fisheye images need to be transformed to a single equirectangular image. Ricoh provides the Theta program (runs on Windows 10) that can be used to view and rotate the 360 degree images. No save or output capabilities. They also provide Ricoh Theta stitcher plugin for Lightroom that can be used to transform the dual fisheye images into an equirectangular image. You have to export the file to the Theta stitcher to do the transformation (one at at time), no obvious batch transform capability. I found that I could do batch transformations with the PTGUI.exe

Backyard Sumertime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Theta Z1 360 camera (DAVID J MATHRE)
JPG 360 degree equirectangular format image out of the  Theta Z1 360 camera (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Sumertime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Theta Z1 360 camera (DAVID J MATHRE)
DNG dual fisheye image format out of the  Theta Z1 360 camera (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Theta Z1 360 camera (DAVID J MATHRE)
TIF 360 degree equirectangular format image transformed from Theta Z1 360 camera DNG image using PTGUI.  (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Theta Z1 360 camera (DAVID J MATHRE)
TIF 360 degree equirectangular format image transformed from Theta Z1 360 camera DNG image using PTGUI then edited with Capture One Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Theta Z1 360 camera (DAVID J MATHRE)
DNG dual fisheye image format out of the  Theta Z1 360 camera then edited with Capture One Pro (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Theta Z1 360 camera (DAVID J MATHRE)
Above DNG dual fisheye image format out of the  Theta Z1 360 camera  edited with Capture One Pro then converted to TIF 360 degree equirectangular format using PTGUI. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (41.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (32.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of clouds. A deficit of 9.7 kWh.

Friday (28-August-2020) — New Jersery

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Midday at the Birdfeeders: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Gray Catbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and Northern Cardinal.


Midday at the Birdfeeders. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (60.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (48.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun, clouds, and hot outside. A deficit of 12.6 kWh.

Thursday (27-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Morning at the Birdfeeders: Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, European Starling, Gray Catbird, Song Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Northern Cardinal.


Morning at the Birdfeeders. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (68.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (58.7 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun, clouds, and hot outside. A deficit of 9.6 kWh.

Wednesday (26-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The Montgomery Township work crew finally came back to pick up the remaining logs and brush from the two downed Oak trees at the top of my driveway. They pushed the remains from the tree on the west side back upright into the whole created by the root ball. They also cut the remains of the tree on the east side that was laying over the wall into the street. There is some damage to the rock wall. The panorama image shows the current status of the front driveway (note the tree crews in the image are not the Township, but another crew working on the damage across the street). While the township crews were working I mowed the lawn (time-lapse video). Later in the afternoon, I took some images of the Coreopsis and Zinnia flowers in the soft pots on my patio garden.

Isaias Aftermath -- Cleanup. Composite of 32 images taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Isaias Aftermath — Cleanup. Composite of 32 images taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)


Wildflowers in Soft Pots on the Patio. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Wildflowers in Soft Pots on the Patio. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (61.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun, clouds, and not as hot outside. A surplus of 10.0 kWh.