Three-Years Ago (27-August-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Star and jet trails plus clouds. Images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated with Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum). One problem I continue to have is moisture condensing on the lens as temperature cool over the night. Especially with wide angle lenses with lots of glass surface area. You can see how the condensation blurs things in the final image. I’ve read about adding electrical resistance thermal tape to heat the lens, but worry about damage and optical artifacts. I’ve also added a time-lapse video of the night sky show.

Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (01-50) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (01-50) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (51-100) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (51-100) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (101-150) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (101-150) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (151-200) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Clouds Looking South. Composite of 50 images (151-200) taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 120 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (27-August-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Star trails looking north and the waxing gibbous moon (both a composite and time-lapse video).

Startrails Looking North. Composite of 60 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/4, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro with the composite processed using Phototshop CC Statictics/Maximum. (David J Mathre)
Startrails Looking North. Composite of 60 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/4, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro with the composite processed using Phototshop CC Statictics/Maximum. (David J Mathre)
Waxing Gibbous Moon. Composite of 12 images taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Waxing Gibbous Moon. Composite of 12 images taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Seven-Years Ago (27-August-2012) — North Atlantic Ocean

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 05: At Sea, North Atlantic Ocean.

The day was a bit rough as we crossed the North Atlantic. Splash from the waves made it up to the portal in my cabin on deck 5 of the MV Explorer. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec).
I didn’t get sea sick, but there were not many of the students or staff that showed up for lunch or dinner. Most of the decks were off limits due to the heavy seas and winds. In the early evening I was able to set up a camera in a protected area to capture the sun going down for a time-lapse video.

Heavy Seas. Waves breaking up to my cabin window.  Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Heavy Seas. Waves breaking up to my cabin window.  Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Sunday (25-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

More yard work. Continued installation of a drip hose to water both these shrubs and the daffodil patch (using rainwater collected in barrels). Also lots of mile-a-minute vine weeds needed to be pulled. Time-lapse video recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera and the video processed with Photoshop CC (including the Little Planet view).

After the yard work I did my daily walkabout with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. The Nikon Df is the lightest of my full frame DSLR cameras. It uses the same sensor as the Nikon D4. Butterflies (Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and Common Buckeye), and Moths (Hummingbird Clearwing — the one with white legs). It was windy so the butterflies and moths needed to work harder while feeding on the Zinnia and Marigold flowers.


Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.



Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


Daily Electric Energy Used (41.9 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (54.0 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler outside but clouds blocking the sun part of the day for a net surplus of 12.1 kWh. Weekly totals Electric Energy Used (380 kWh), Solar Electric Energy Produced (378 kWh) for a weekly net deficit of 2 kWh.

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Seven-Years Ago (25-August-2012) — North Atlantic Ocean

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 03: At Sea, North Atlantic Ocean.

Time-lapse video of the sun setting over the Atlantic Ocean from the aft deck of the MV Explorer.  Images  taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the time-lapse video created with Photoshop CC.