David Mathre Photography

180° and 360° Images

  • Six Vespera Telescopes (28-May-2026)

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    David Mathre
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    I finally had a chance to have all six generations of the Vaonis Vespera Telescopes out at the same time. The forecast for the night was mostly clear. The first night in several weeks but the moon was nearly full. The Vespera III and Vespera Pro 2 telescopes are newly released models. I am evaluating and comparing their capabilities vs. the Vespera Classic (2022), Vespera Passengers (2023), Vespera II (2024), and Vespera Pro (2025) telescopes.

    I set the telescopes up to do an overnight program of observation targets. During the night I created time-lapse videos of the night sky and the telescopes in operation. The first one is a 180° “Tunnel View” looking up between the telescopes. Images for the time-lapse video taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and Laowa 8-15 mm fisheye lens. The images were processed using Capture One, and the time-lapse video created with Photoshop. The second video is a “Little Planet View” taken with an Insta360 RS camera. I prefer the discontinued RS version of the Insta360 camera because of the larger sensor size for nighttime use. The time-lapse video was created using the Insta360 studio software. The third video includes the Insta360 “starlapse” effect.

    Tunnel View (looking up).

    Little Planet View

    Little Planet View with Starlapse Effect

    One response to “Six Vespera Telescopes (28-May-2026)”

    1. Stephanie Avatar
      Stephanie

      Hi David,
      I’m Stephanie from Vaonis. Agnès shared your blog with our team, and what a wonderful surprise! We absolutely love your timelapses.
      Would you be okay with us sharing them on our social media channels with full credit to you?
      Thank you for your reply and for your trust in our brand. 😊

      Reply

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  • Backyard Little Planet (07-June-2015)

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    David Mathre
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    Ten-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    A springtime Little Planet view of my backyard from the past. The image is a composite of 37 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Bower 8 mm fisheye lens and then processed with AutoPano Giga Pro. AutoPano Giga is no longer available/supported so I now use PTGui Pro to create little planet images. I think I was using a Mindarin Astro to rotate the camera and trigger the camera. I stood next to the tripod so my shadow would be visible in the image. The two Sycamore trees no longer exist, the deck was replaced with a patio, and there are now solar panels on the roof of the house. Much of the backyard grass has been converted to a wildflower meadow.

    Little Planet View of My Backyard. Composite of 37 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Bower 8 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 8 mm, f/16, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro.

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  • Little Planet View of the Backyard on a Foggy Spring Morning (15-May-2025)

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    David Mathre
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    Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    It was foggy after yesterday’s heavy rain. The wildflower meadow in my backyard is all green with a few flowers starting to bloom. Right now, it is a race between the desired wildflowers and the undesired weeds. My definition of a weed is something that doesn’t have a flower that I am interested in and/or something that is growing aggressively and blocking the desired wildflowers. While on my morning backyard walkabout I took a sequence of 81 images to combine and create a “Little Planet” view of the wildflower meadow before most of the flowers start to bloom. I used the PTGui Pro program to process the images and create the 360-degree Little Planet view.

    Little Planet View of the Backyard on a Foggy Spring Morning. Composite of 81 mages taken with a Hasselblad X2d camera and 38 mm f/2.5 lens (ISO 800, f/8, 1/125 sec). Images processed using PTGui Pro.

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About the author

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time observing and photographing the plants and animals while expanding a wildflower garden/meadow in the backyard. When the sky is clear, I have telescopes viewing the night sky.

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