Monday ~ June 13, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 13, 2022
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

Good Day!

In case you didn’t figure it out, we were on vacation last week.  We spent the week with Angie, Ben, and the Grand Kids in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  A dream vacation for those of you who like the heat and the emerald waters of the gulf.  Not so much for an out-of-shape, old person like myself who hates the hot, humid weather associated with Florida.

Having said that I knew what was in store for me when I decided to accompany the family to the beach.  I spent the majority of my time inside a wonderful facility well cooled by air conditioning and with a view of the ocean that was spectacular.  So don’t feel sorry for me as I enjoyed my time with the people I love the most.

I have a number of images to share with you but I thought I would start the week with this image taken with my iPhone by one of the crew of the “Dolphin Cruise” we did on Wednesday evening.  We caught one glimpse of a dolphin but the entire cruise was well worth the time.

The image above is the cloud formation that we saw on our flight home.

On the flight from Chicago to Dubuque we encountered these clouds, which I had never seen from the air before.

Hope you’ll check back tomorrow as I have more images to share with you.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Friday ~ June 10, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 10, 2022
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Welcome!

A mixture of images today.  Remember you can click on the images to make them larger and more detailed.  A sunset from last night.  Lots of clouds so I didn’t get a real pretty sunset.

A para-sailor off in the distance.  I didn’t have my long lens so had to do the best I could with my 300mm lens.  You really need to click on the image to see much of the para-sail.

This big storm blew in and was gone in just a few minutes.  But as it was coming it sure looked menacing.  It did rain hard for a few minutes but then it was gone and milder temperatures prevailed.

Enjoy and be careful.

Thursday ~ June 09, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 9, 2022
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Good Day My Friends!

Obviously I’m not in Dubuque at the current time.  More about that later.  I hope you enjoy some of the images that I’ll be posting over the next few days.

Over the years I have photographed many Blue Herons.  But when I saw this guy and he appeared as a silhouette because of the light I had to capture him.  I was pretty happy with this image.

Som

I saw this commercial fishing vessel. Although it was not on waters as dangerous as “The Most Deadly Catch” I felt like I had to capture it.

Hope you enjoy these images.  More to come so stay tuned.  Remember to click on the image to make it larger and to show far more detail.

Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Wednesday ~ May 18, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 18, 2022
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

Happy (Hump Day) Wednesday!

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination. a “Wildlife Photographer.”  I do not study the various species, nor learn their nesting, breeding, eating habits, or their migration time.  Much of the time when I photograph a bird (like the one above) I have no idea what they are called.  I just love photographing and watching all kinds of wildlife.

So after spending about 15 minutes on the internet I “think” this bird is a Pectoral Sandpiper.  But it could just as well be a rooster for all I know.  Point is that for me and I’m only speaking for me, I just like to take photographs period.

Remember you can click on the images to make them large and far more detailed.

Now I do know that this is a pair of Canada Geese.  So I’m not totally oblivious to the species.  I did however use to call more than one goose Canadian Geese, which is wrong and it was pointed out to me in very specific terms.  🙂

For over 20 years I have enjoyed photographing all types of wildlife at the “Duck Pond” including all sorts of geese, pelicans, swans, herons, egrets, eagles, ducks, and assorted smaller birds.

I call it the Duck Pond because several of the locals in Maquoketa refer to it as such.  It is really the Hurstville Marsh / Wetlands.  It is located by the Hurstville Interpretive Center and is normally filled with lots of water.  However at the above image reveals the water levels are very low right now.

Here is a drone video that I shot a few years ago that will give you an idea how big the Marsh is.  Oh and by the way if you watch the full video you will also see that I crashed the drone.  😦

I’m not sure what this bird is.  He is much smaller than the first bird in this post and much quicker.  I probably took a hundred images at burst rate trying to capture this little guy in focus.

Finally this image of what I think are tadpoles.  But I’m really not sure.  What I do know is that there were thousands of these things swimming by my spot the 30 minutes I was there.  So what ever they are there is going to be a whole bunch of soon. 🙂

That’s it for today.  Hope to photograph some more stuff in the coming days.

Enjoy the rest of your day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ May 17, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 17, 2022
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Happy Tuesday!

First off I’m not thrilled with any of these images today.  I have shot them over the last few weeks and my lack of skill is readily apparent.  But since I am going to do my best to post more often I thought I would share this potpourri of images.

I only have about 10,000 images of Canada Geese in my files but when I see one I photograph it for my friend Betty who loves Canada Geese.

Found this lone Trumpeter Swan floating down the river.  I thought he might come closer but apparently he didn’t like my presence and he meandered further away from me.

I can never pass up a chance to photograph a hawk, when one presents itself to me.  He didn’t stick around long after I took the first image.

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

Monday ~ May 16, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 16, 2022
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Happy Monday!

Well, it’s been a long, long time since I have posted to this blog.  For those of you who have been a regular follower, I apologize.

Over the last few months several people have indicated to me that they would like to see me get back into taking pictures and posting on this blog.  I will endeavor to do that in the coming day.

Last night was a unique event with the full eclipse of the moon.  I have three images of the moon in various phases of the eclipse.

You can click on the images and see a larger more detailed view of the subject.

Photography is like any other skill.  If you don’t stay constant you lose a significant amount of that skill.  That has been true not only of my photography and setting up the camera.  I have also lost a lot of the skills I once enjoyed in Photoshop.

Photo shop has changed so much in the last couple of years that what use to be routine is now a chore to figure out.

I stopped photographing with this image as I could get a focus lock on the fully eclipsed moon.  That and it was way past my bed time. 🙂

That’s it for today.  I will do better on my posting.

Stay safe and be careful.

Thursday ~ November 04, 2021

Posted by Dave Updegraff on November 4, 2021
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Happy Thursday!

Met some friends for lunch yesterday in Maquoketa.  I got to town early so I decided to go down by the river and see if anything was happening there. 

It was a beautiful day and I liked some of the trees along the river bank so I grabbed a few images. 

I know the peak color season is about over but I still enjoyed the brisk air and beautiful colors of the trees. 

I was going to shoot some images at my favorite place (The Duck Pond) but the drought this past Summer has left the marsh in a sorry state.  There was no wildlife around the pond and very little water remains. 

Remember you can click on any of the images to reveal a larger more detailed image. 

Hope to get out a little more this Fall and shoot some harvest images.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ October 11, 2021

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 11, 2021
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Happy Monday!

There is a saying in photography that goes, “Once you’ve photographed your subject, turn around and you might just find another interesting subject.”

I had been photographing a heard of Bison across the highway and as I was walking back to the car I saw this Raven.  I had seen several of them in the park but they would never sit still long enough to get a decent shot of them.

He gave me a couple of different looks and then he decided to fly away.  They are an interesting bird and quite large.

This was our last day in the park and it was getting late in the day so we were headed back to our hotel.  We took a route that we had not been on before and saw this small water fall.  One of the great things about Yellowstone Park is there are numerous pull over spots for people to stop and look.

This is an area that had been ravaged by fire a few years ago.  Yellowstone keeps renewing itself and new growth and new life can be seen in the midst of the destruction.  The park averages 3 to 4 fires a year and some of the areas of the park are in pretty bad shape but there is always new growth occurring.

We found this thermal on our way out of the park.  If you click on the image to make it larger you will see in the upper left of the image the water boiling out of a hole.

Kind of a disgusting image but this is one of the many boiling mud pots that are around the park.  There is a strong smell of sulfur in the air and you are constantly aware of the activity under the surface.

I  really don’t know why this dead tree caught my attention but I felt compelled to photograph it so here it is.

I really hated leaving the park.  Jeanne said it is the most beautiful and exciting place on the planet in her mind.  I have to agree.  Every time you turn around there is another picture to be made or wonder to see.  Also kind of scary when you think that you are in the midst of one of the largest volcanoes in the world and the amount of destruction it would do when (not if), when it erupts would be cataclysmic.

Enjoy your day and be careful.