Time-Lapse Video - David Mathre Photography

Saturday (24-December-2022) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime in New Jersey.

It was cold and breezy in the morning, but the sky was clear. So I decided to try out the Vespera Astro-camera with a solar filter to view the sun. I followed the instruction on the Singularity app and within 10 minutes was getting solar disk images with several sunspots. Unlike the nighttime observations where multiple images are used to make a composite image, the camera is taking individual images. It continues to track the position of the sun for as long as images are being recorded. I made a short time-lapse video shown below. One of the images captures the silhouette of a jet passing in front of the sun.

Jet Silhouette. (David J Mathre) — Silhouette of a Jet passing the Sun. Image taken with a Vespera Astro-camera. (David J Mathre)

The sky was clear again in the evening. I set the camera up just after astronomical twilight. I replaced the solar filter that I used earlier in the day with a dual band filter. The filter transmits wavelengths of light from the Hydrogen Alpha (H-alpha) and Oxygen III (O-III) emission bands seen in nebula. The filter has a sensor that lets the camera know that it has been installed. Presumably to adjust the sensor acquisition parameters. The filter appears to really improve the detail and contrast of the nebula images. During the night I used the Vespera to obtain images of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), North America Nebula (M45), Crab Nebula (M1), Jellyfish Nebula (IC 433), Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237), Orion Nebula (M42), De Mairan’s Nebula (M43), Thor’s Helmet Nebula (NGC 2359).

Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

I also set up a camera for a star trail image looking south. The same general direction that is open for the deep sky Vespera astro-camera from my patio. Unfortunately, the raw file format (*.3FR) from the Hasselblad camera is not recognized by Capture One Pro. So this star trail image is a composite of the jpg images processed by Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC.

Star Trails. (David J Mathre) — Star and Jet Trails looking South. Composite of 67 images taken with a Hasselblad X2D camera and 30 mm f/3.5 lens (ISO 64, 30 mm, f/8, 323 sec). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (169.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (29.4 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Deficit of 139.8 kWh. This is most electricity used in one day since I started monitoring. Mainly because the GeoThermal HVAC needed the resistance heaters to boost the amount of heating needed to keep the indoor temperature at 66°F. The outdoor temperatures are supposed to get warmer over the next few days.

Monday (19-September-2022)

Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Hamlett’s Tree folks continued clearing the “back 40”. The last of the dead Ash trees were removed. Individual B&W images taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera, and a time-lapse video taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera.

Hamlett’s Tree Service. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Time-lapse video to be added.

Daily Electric Energy Used (64.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (40.4 kWh) from Sense. Cloudy. Deficit of 23.6 kWh.

Sunday (14-August-2022) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed in my backyard: White-breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow. Note, I spent the morning using a brush mower to cut back the weeds and didn’t spend much time looking for birds. I only saw one Ruby-throated hummingbird, but wasn’t able to capture an image.

Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Time-lapse video “Using a Brush Mower to Attack the Weeds”. Images taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera, and processed using PhotoShop and PreimerPro.

Daily Electric Energy Used (59.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (68.5 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Surplus of 8.8 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (588 kWh) from Sense. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (446 kWh) from Sense. Deficit of 142 kWh. It finally started to cool down the last two days of the week, generating more electricity than I needed to cool the house.

Thursday (30-June-2022) — New Jersey

Independence Day Fireworks

Montgomery Township typically celebrates Independence Day with fireworks several days before the 4th of July. The fireworks have been canceled the last couple of years due to Covid-19. The current infection rate is listed as moderate, so the township decided to go forward with the fireworks this year. Not far from where I live is a great location that overlooks the high school. I got there at about sunset. Several cars had already arrived, but I still found a good spot to set up two cameras on tripods. The settings I used were ISO 100, f/11, and an exposure of 4 or 8 seconds. I then used the images to produce the following time-lapse videos. I may go back later and add music.

Did anyone notice that I haven’t posted any bird, flower, or garden images during June? Is anyone out there… Other than the thousands of attempts to login and hack the site?

Daily Electric Energy Used (75.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (78.5 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Surplus of 2.6 kWh.

Monthly Electric Energy Used (1987 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (1931 kWh) from Sense. Deficit of 56 kWh.

Thursday (07-April-2022) — New Jersey

Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds on a raining day viewed in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch, Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal.

Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Indoor hydroponic flowers of the day. Three different poppies opened, but I had to get up at 04:00 to set up the cameras. A pink-fringed white poppy (Papaver Rhoes), a pink poppy (Papaver Rhoes), and a red Turkish Tulip Poppy (Papaver glaucum).

Daily Electric Energy Used (75.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (3.0 kWh) from Sense. Cloudy and rainy. Deficit of 72.7 kWh.