Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.
Star trails looking north and the waxing gibbous moon (both a composite and time-lapse video).


David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Star trails looking north and the waxing gibbous moon (both a composite and time-lapse video).
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.
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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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.
It was much cooler, so I spent the morning catching up on yard work. The electric fence (not charged yet) is already helping the Forsythia and Lilac shrubs we planted earlier this spring. They have new leaves that the deer haven’t nibbled. I am in the process of installing a drip hose to water both these shrubs and the daffodil patch (using rainwater collected in barrels). The grass hadn’t been mowed in two weeks, so that also had to be done. Also lots of mile-a-minute vine weeds needed to be pulled. The walkway from the front to the patio was overgrown with tall Cosmos and Sunflowers that needed to be trimmed back. 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 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. The deer wondered why I mowed their lawn. In addition to the last week being hot, we only got 0.42 inches of rain. The water level in the pond is way down. Kermit the Bullfrog was only partially submerged in the middle of the pond in a section that is normally a couple feet deep. I only saw one Hummingbird Clearwing moth (white legs) feeding on a Bee Balm flower. The only recent new flower is a bright red Indian Paintbrush. Finally a beat up Monarch butterfly.
Daily Electric Energy Used (48.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (71.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler outside and the sun was out most of the day for a net surplus of 23.7 kWh. Laundry used 3.7 kWh.
One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 3 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 5.4 kWh. I tend to believe the Sense numbers since they more closely the energy being recorded at the external power company (PSE&G) meters. I’ve asked the WaterFurnace folks in the past about the discrepancy, but they didn’t have a good answer. The Sense folks told me they thought that the WaterFurnace/Symphony system was only measuring one phase of the energy even though the system is powered by the 220V circuit (using two phases). I wish an electrical engineer that understands this better would correct me here.
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