Wednesday ~ May 23, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 23, 2023
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Happy Wednesday!

I use to fly drones a lot, a few years ago.  They were much more difficult to fly and had very few safety features.  I had several crashes during my time, some of which were my fault and some were system errors.

I had enough problems with them that I finally stopped flying drones altogether.  I have to admit, that even with all the problems, I did have fun with the drones and did some neat things with them.

Now fast forward to 2023 and the whole drone system is drastically changed (I think for the better.)  Now the drones are much smaller (most of them) and they have a lot of built in safety systems, including hazard avoidance (front, back, and sideways.)  Additionally your can make inputs to the system which will let the drone fly itself with very little action by you.

Having said all that, there is a lot of new stuff to learn and some things to unlearn.  I’m still practicing my flying skills and getting there slowly.  Below you will find a short video I filmed of my drone flight over Asbury, Iowa last night.  I hope you like it.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ May 07, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 7, 2023
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As part of my long term project that I’ve been working on I started flying drones again.

The technology of the drones is much more complicated then when I was flying regularly so there is another skill set to learn.  So this was just a short flight around the neighborhood trying to learn to fly again.  It’s a short video so I hope you enjoy it.

I shot this footage in 4K so it is taking some time for You Tube to process it. If you’re trying to see this video on Sunday Evening I would suggest you come back about 10:00 pm CDT. Thank you.

Monday ~ March 27, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on March 27, 2023
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Happy Monday!

OMG, two days in a row posting on my blog! 🙂  If I have been consistent on anything it is that I’ve been very inconsistent with this blog since my retirement.  Go figure.

Yesterday (Sunday) was Gabriella’s10th birthday.  We were blessed to have Art,Paula, David, and Nick Roling as well as Mark & Julia.  This is (I think) the first time we’ve been able to get a group photo with everyone present.

Angie made a delicious cake for Gabby and guests.  She of course got lots of presents from her Mom and Dad and the two Grand Mothers.  It was a wonderful time to get to visit with everyone and to get caught up on everyone’s life.

It took her three tries to get all the candles out but she made it.  One of her biggest joys is that at 10 years old she can ride in the front seat without any type of booster seat.  This was a very big deal to Gabby.

Prior to dinner and presents it was snowing heavily with big flakes.  This image doesn’t really capture the beauty of the large flakes but you get the idea.  Want to see a larger more detailed image?  Just click on the image and it will happen.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ March 26, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on March 26, 2023
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Happy Sunday:

I have photographed this old barn several years ago when there was a house next to it and it was in much better shape.  I drive past this old barn at least once a week and I’ve watched what looks like an upcoming development of this land for future use.  Click on the images to reveal a larger and more detailed version of the images.

Every time I go past the barn I say to myself that I need to photograph it again before it is torn down and gone forever.

As luck would have it this past week I was driving past the barn and just happened to have my camera with me.  I saw some areas around the property that had those flags in the ground and in fact there was a truck that pulled in after I did that was there to make some other markings of the land.

So I fully expect this old guy to be gone by the end of Summer.  I hope I’m wrong but it has all the signs of be coming  obsolete in the very near future.

It was a gorgeous day to photograph this old structure. I love the sky and clouds.  I know it might have looked better at the golden hour but sometimes you just can’t wait around for the perfect light.  Besides I love to photograph things with the sky has a bit of deep blue surrounded by puffy clouds.

Time will tell what becomes of this old barn.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Friday ~ March 24, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on March 24, 2023
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Happy Friday!

I was in Maquoketa earlier this week and had some time to kill before my lunch with Friends, so I drove our to the damn and found these guys fishing.  I tried this image in color but liked the B&W version better.

You can click on any image to reveal a larger more detailed image.

While I was there I looked around for other image opportunities.  I like the way the river interacted with these dead logs.

It felt good to have the camera in had again.  I’ve been practicing with video for the last few weeks.  Lots to learn and need more practice.  I have also started flying drones again.  I have to relearn the dos and don’ts of flying drones.

I will endeavor show some of the practice video I’ve been working on.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ February 26, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on February 26, 2023
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Happy Sunday.

Yesterday our 12 year old grandson, Joshua spent the weekend with us.  It was fun having him over and we did some fun things.

I invited him to go on a photo run with me Saturday afternoon.  I know a place where we can normally find some deer and several other places where various wildlife tend to frequent.  Unfortunately none of that happened for us so we made do with the beautiful ice that covered most of the trees and open fields.

We had some wonderful conversations as we traveled around the country.  He took several great photos while staying the truck.  Of course I had the Nikon D5 and he had a point and shoot camera.  I’m not going to tell you who had some of the best shots but I will say I was mildly envious of a couple of his images.  🙂

Remember you can click on the image to reveal a much larger and detailed version of the image.  As of today with temperatures in the mid 40s most of the ice is gone.  It was beautiful but took a lot of work to get the driveways and sidewalks cleared.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ February 06, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on February 5, 2023
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I had some time to kill this weekend and so I decided to visit the river.  On the way I noticed the Fourth Street Elevator so I took a detour and shot some images of the elevator.  This is such a popular place in the Summer time but as you can see it is shut down for the Winter.

Later at the river it was cold and foreboding with the vast expanse of the water and nothing was moving for as far as the eye could see.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ December 26, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 26, 2022
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Belated Merry Christmas

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.  I feel very blessed that we were able to get together with our family & friends yesterday and enjoy wonderful food and fellowship.  The Grand Children had lots of new toys and the adults enjoyed watching them open presents.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Saturday ~ Christmas Eve. December 24, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 24, 2022
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Happy Christmas Eve

I was making breakfast this morning and looked out over the back yard and saw these interesting drift patterns created by the strong winds, we’ve had the last few days.  So I decided to photograph them.    Remember you can click on the image to reveal a larger more detailed image.

I realize that these are not colorful and in keeping with the festive time of the year.  I hope you find the patterns as interesting as I did.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful & joyous Christmas. 

Enjoy your day and be careful.