Sunday ~ October 25, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 25, 2020
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Happy Sunday

Several weeks ago Angie (my daughter) enrolled herself, Joshua, and Austin in a marshal arts training program.  There are so many positive things about such a class and it teaches structure, discipline, meditation, and is a great exercise.

Yesterday was their test to advance to another level.  From white belt (novice) to yellow/white.  The tests were extensive and took the better part of 45 minutes.

Each of them passed their tests and were awarded a step up to the new level.

I was very impressed with the instructor and the methods he uses.  He is a master of the marshal arts discipline, a Psychological Nurse, and an accomplished (self-taught) artist. 

I’m very proud of all three of them and really enjoyed watching them pass their tests. Afterwards there was a presentation from several of the black belt students.

Gabby and Addy were busy with drawing things.  Jeanne and Ben were also there but I didn’t get a picture of them.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Thursday ~ October 22, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 22, 2020
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Happy Thursday!

Went to Maquoketa this past Tuesday to have lunch with some great friends.  On the way down I saw this combine in the field waiting for it’s next time to harvest.

So on the way home I stopped and made this image.

When I turned around I saw this small stream with fall colors so I shot some images of it.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ October 14, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 14, 2020
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

October-10-2020-2A

Happy Wednesday!

I have some more images from our Saturday Photo Run.  We basically followed the “Old River Road” up through Guttenburg and ending up in McGregor, Iowa.

October-10-2020-2B

I couldn’t pass up a couple of solitary trees I found in the fields.  No matter their condition I enjoy photographing trees.

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As I said in my last post, the weather was fantastic and many people decided to take advantage of the sunny and warm conditions.

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This last image was taken at Pike’s Peek State Park at the large overlook.  There were hundreds of people at the park on Saturday.  More then I had ever seen before.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ October 12, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 12, 2020
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October-10-2020

Happy Monday!

It has been over two years since Jeanne and I went on a photo run.  We use to do it almost every weekend but then came retirement, golf and other interests and so went the weekly photo run.

On Jeanne’s birthday this past Summer she said all she wanted for her birthday was to pick a day and go on a photo run.  So that’s what we did last Saturday. 

October-10-2020A

Started out around 10:00 a.m. and went North up the winding roads and hills following the river to the small community of McGregor.  I can’t remember seeing so many people and so many motorcycles.  It was hard to imagine that there is a pandemic going on.  

One of our stops was at Pike’s Peek State Park.  It was absolutely packed with people.  We wore our masks but there was no way to social distance although we did our best.  

October-10-2020B

I have to apologize for these images.  The sky was terrible Saturday with no clouds so it was uninteresting and harsh light.  That being said the fall foliage was magnificent. 

You could not have picked a better day weather wise, which is why there were so many people out and about.

October-10-2020C

In the following day I will show you some of the images I made during the day.  We went up the Iowa side and came back on the Wisconsin side of the river.  The colors were much brighter and more pronounced on Iowa side.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ July 12, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 12, 2020
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Happy Sunday:

It’s been a very long time since I posted any images.  I have occasional shot some images, mainly of my grand children, but have not had the motivation to process them or post them.

Yesterday morning I was having breakfast and looked out our patio door.  This is the guy I saw sitting on our clothes line post.  I have photographed him many times over the years and watched him grow.  He is huge and these images do not convey his true size.

I watched him for awhile and thought if I take the time to get my camera, get it set up and try to photograph him he will be gone.  So after about ten minutes I decided what the heck.  I got the camera and lens set up and configured, then carefully opened the patio door and started shooting.  None of this seemed to bother him.  Not even the constant shutter noise.

It was raining the entire time he was posing for me and he was probably looking for something to eat.  We have a lot of rabbits and squirrels in our neighborhood so he is never hurting for food.   Just a few weeks ago he caught a young rabbit in our neighbor’s yard.  By the time he was finished with the rabbit most of what was left over was in my yard so I got the duty to clean up after him.

While I was photographing him a smaller version of him appeared on the fence behind our home.  I don’t know if they are related but they seemed to tolerate each other.  At one time they were both sitting on the fence in close proximity to each other.  Unfortunatly I was not able to get an image of that.  So it was a fun 20 minutes ripping off 192 images of which I kept about 32.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ April 01, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 1, 2020
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Happy Wednesday!

Got tired of staying home so yesterday Jeanne and I took a trip South to Green Island Wildlife Refuge.  I always enjoy going there although many times I come home without a great shot.  When we left Dubuque there was a beautiful blue sky with puffy white clouds and plenty of sunshine.  Unfortunately by the time we arrived at Green Island the beautiful sky was gone and nothing but overcast skies.

There was not an abundance of wildlife around or at least close enough to identify let alone try to  photograph.  We spent four hours there watching and listening and I managed to get a few shots but no award winners here.

The problem was that many of the critters were not in the “trenches” that are a normal part of GI.  There was so much water from the flooding that they were in the field and between them and me was the vegetation that attracted the focusing system on my camera.  So it was difficult to get a sharp image.

All that aside it was fun just to get out in the fresh air and hear the sounds of critters.

Found this Canada Goose nesting in one of the trenches.  You can barely see her eye between the twigs.

Enjoy your day and be careful.  Stay safe in this crazy environment.

Sunday ~ March 22, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on March 22, 2020
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Good Sunday Morning!

We have been more or less self-quarantined for the last couple of weeks (actually longer than that.)  So I suggested to Jeanne that we get out for a little ride and see what things looked like under these difficult times.

So we drove by McGrath Chevrolet and waved at Mark through the window.  He came out but maintained the social distancing.  He is the sales manager and as such he comes into contact with almost everyone who comes in the dealership.  We talked for a few minutes and it was so great to see him.

Then we drove over to Ben and Angie’s home and called on the cell phone.  They came out and we stayed in the car and just visited for about 10 minutes.  No hugs or anything, which was difficult but it was so great just to see them.  Austin came out at first but he was involved in something so he didn’t stay long enough to get  his picture taken.  Ben was doing work in the back yard but did come up and say hi.

I sure felt good to see our kids and grand kids again!

Enjoy our day and be careful and safe!

 

 

Tuesday ~ March 03, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on March 3, 2020
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Happy Tuesday!

Went out with my camera last week.  I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular but happened by a large tree with this guy sitting in it.  Took a while to slowly approach him so I could get a decent image.  I fully expected him to take off before I got close enough be he indulged me.

I can’t pass up a interesting tree.  I took several images of this tree including some close ups but in the end I liked this one best.

I enjoy photographing “babbling brooks” as it were and found the way the sunlight was playing off the water to be a soothing sight.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Friday ~ January 03, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on January 3, 2020
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Happy Friday (for all my working friends!)

Look what I stumbled upon in my travels yesterday.  I was amazed by the sheer numbers of Trumpeter Swans.

I drove past them and thought I have to turn around and photograph these guys.  The noise of their honking was loud and none of them seemed to mind my presence.

I had my 60 – 600mm lens attached to the Nikon D500 so the cropped sensor effect gave me a focal length of 900mm.

There were at least 30 Trumpeters and triple that number of Canada Geese.  I spent and enjoyable 30 minutes photographing, looking, and listening to these beautiful birds.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ January 01, 2020

Posted by Dave Updegraff on January 1, 2020
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Happy New Year!

I was out wandering through the woods a couple of days ago and found this tree.  Couldn’t pass it up.

This stream caught my eye as the sun was shinning on it and water sparkled like hundreds of diamonds.  Of course by the time I got parked the sun had gone behind a large cloud and I didn’t have the patience to wait 30 minutes for it to reappear.

Enjoy your day and be careful.