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All posts for the month December, 2013

Monday ~ December 30, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 30, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

December-28-2013-B

Happy Monday.  Some family images today from our Christmas celebration with Angie and Ben.  They graciously hosted us for gifts, dinner and then some cards.  I couldn’t get Joshua to pose for me so there are no singles of him.  He was way too busy playing Santa Clause, handing out everyone’s gift and helping most people open their gifts. 🙂  He was a busy little boy.

December-28-2013

At least for now, I can usually get Gabby to look at me.  She has really pretty blue eyes and she’s fun to photograph

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It is always a treat to be with the kids and grand kids.  We had a wonderful meal and then all too soon it was time to go home.

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

Friday ~ December 27. 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 27, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

50 mph limit

Don’t ask me why I chose this image for today’s post.  I’ve been working on family images from Christmas the last two days and I guess I needed a change.  Anyway, I took this image Christmas Eve on the way home from work thinking it might come in handy for some type of composite image someday.  Who knew at the time it would garner a top ranked position on the blog.

Back to work today and then looking forward to our Christmas celebration with Angie and Ben.  Angie and the kids stopped over yesterday for lunch yesterday.   I didn’t even pull the camera out, just played and visited with everyone.  Josh didn’t know who I was without a camera up to my face. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by, sorry this is all I have for you today.  Enjoy the day and be careful.

Thursday ~ Decembeer 26, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 26, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Family Christmas - 2013

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with family, friends, and the other people you care about.  I wrote yesterday about traditions that come and go, or get modified.  One of the traditions that has endured (at least for me) is the family group photo at any event.  This goes way back to film days, even so it has endured these many years.

Yesterday we spent a total of seven hours on the road and visited and ate for six hours.  The drive home was difficult but certainly worth the effort.  I took a day off today, knowing that a day like yesterday is really tiring and with the weather so unpredictable I wasn’t sure if we would stay in Des Moines or be able to get home.  Anyway as I sit here reflecting about the day it was very satisfying.  I got to meet two new people who either have been or will be (hopefully) added to the family.  I also remembered those who couldn’t be there for one reason or another and those who have gone on before us.  It was a day to savor and enjoy.

Mark and Taylor

When we did get home Mark’s significant other, Taylor, joined us for a small Christmas exchange and then (old foggy that I am) it was off to bed.  Jeanne pulled off a pretty good trick on me and completely surprised me with her gift to me.  When she smiles the world is brighter and that is the Wonder of Her.

Saturday we will enjoy Angie, Ben and our wonderful Grand Children and Mark and Taylor will be here too. So a few days here and there and a new tradition is born.  🙂

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

Wednesday ~ December 25, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 25, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , .

December-24-2013

Merry Christmas to you and the people you love.  Christmas (as I’ve often been told) is about tradition and the traditions we grew up with and share with our children.  I’m also acutely aware that life is about change.  It is always changing and evolving.  Very few things in life remain the same.  Even our beliefs over time are subject to some modification and perhaps even change.

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So it is with this Christmas of 2013.  For the first time in 66 years I did not celebrate Christmas Eve in the traditional sense.  Normally that involves a lite dinner, Church, and presents with the family and kids.  But life is after all about change.  Your family grows up and older.  People pass away and people intertwine their lives with another and pretty soon the traditions become blurred and obscure.  New ones emerge but they too are fleeting and soon become more of a memory than reality.

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Jeanne and I celebrated a very unusual Christmas this year.  For the first time in the 37 years we have celebrated Christmas, we did it by ourselves.  Not with a small dinner but with a roast beef complete with the trimmings.  Not with church but with the watching of the marathon of “A Christmas Story”, not with our children and grand children, nor even the dogs (they are at the kennel) but by ourselves in our recliners looking at the Christmas tree with all the blinking lights and ornaments from Christmases past.  With no anticipation or excitement about the wrapped gifts beneath the tree, they will be opened at a later time.

As I sat there in the dimly lit room and gazed at my life partner I thought to myself… “This is okay, life is about change and as long as we have each other we’ll face the changes that come with or without the traditions of years gone by.”

So I say again, Merry Christmas to you and the people you love.  Hold them close and cherish them because you just never know.    To my friends (whom I cherish) I say thank you for your friendship, it is a gift that I am unworthy of but I shall continue to strive to be so.

Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Safe travels, enjoy the day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ December 24, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 24, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

December-23-2013

Merry Christmas Eve.  I hope you are able to spend this blessed Holiday with the people you love and that love you.  I did something I rarely do on my way to work.  I stopped and shot a few images.  Of course I was late but I got behind a county snow plow and I couldn’t pass so when I saw something I wanted to capture I just stopped, got out of the car and shot the image.  It was just him and me on the road for about 10 miles.  A very slow 10 miles I might add.

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I have photographed this “shed” several times.  The sky was bright blue, the moon was up over head and the sun was rising on the front of the building.  How could I go wrong with that kind of a setting.  I’m not as happy with the second shot but still worth showing it to you.  It was pretty cold this morning, about -3 with a little wind, so I didn’t spend a lot of time composing my shots.

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I’m not sure what you will think of this shot.  It was the ice on the grass that caught my eye.  It looked a lot better in the view finder than it does here.  Still I like it so I thought I would share with you.

I hope you have a joyous Christmas.  Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy this day and be careful.

Monday ~ December 23, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 23, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

Looking Out Our Back Door

Happy Monday.  We received about 8 inches of snow yesterday and as snow goes it was a beautiful snow.  Our back yard looked like someone had taken glitter and sprinkled over the snow.

This image is from a snow storm that occurred December 20, 2012 looking out our back door.  Yes I was too veggie to even go out yesterday and capture some snow images.  Saturday I had planned to shoot some macro images of the ice and yesterday some snow scenes.  Alas the lure of a warm home and other distractions kept me safely ensconced in my man cave.  I’m so ashamed.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy the day, especially for those of you who do not have to work this week.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Sunday ~ December 22, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 22, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

December-21-2013

Some family images this day for you.  We received a call from Angie asking us if we’d like to go to dinner with them at Mario’s on 13th street?  I had to think about that for… (well let’s see, get a chance to see the kids, grand kids, and eat at one of my favorite restaurants) for a moment, yes I think we’d like to join them.  🙂

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It was fun to be with everyone.  Grandma Jeanne is Josh’s favorite and he spent a lot of time visiting with her, which gave me an opportunity to spend some quality time with Gabby.  She is such a fun little girl with a great disposition.  She enjoys entertaining herself and at one point I gave her a spoon, which she had the most fun with.

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It was an enjoyable meal until we were getting close to leaving when a woman from the table across from us came over and asked me to stop taking flash pictures as it was distracting them from their meal.  I had a list of about 15 different responses for her but fortunately the good little selfie on my shoulder said, “Of course I will.”  I’m not out to ruin anyone’s day so I packed up my camera and just visited with the kids.

Snowing hard as I look out my window this morning.  It is a beautiful snow (if snow can in fact be beautiful) replete with shinny diamonds reflecting the light.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your Sunday and if you need to go out please be careful.

 

Thank God It’s Friday ~ December 20, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 20, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Distortion Corrected

A year ago, when I was in the middle of my 365 project, I had to capture at least one image each and every day for a full year.  I was searching for an image for today’s post and couldn’t find anything that appealed to me so I decided there must be something in my project that didn’t see the light of day.

So that is what I have for you today.  I remember shooting this barn and I posted it on my project but did not put it on this blog.  One of the things I didn’t like about the original was the distortion caused by the angle of where I was standing, plus the lens created some distortion.

I got a new software plug-in yesterday and even though I really do not fully understand (okay to be honest this is the first image I’ve used it on) how to use it yet, it made a huge difference in the image.

December-12-2012

Here is the original image I took on December 12, 2012 for my project.  I can tell already that once I learn how to use this plug-in I’m going to really like what it can do.

That’s all I have for you today.  I hope you enjoy your Friday.  (My fingers aren’t awake yet because every other letter I press with them is wrong.  I’m going to have to get a new backspace key.)  🙂

Thanks for stopping by.  Be careful on this slippery day.

Thursday ~ December 19, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 19, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Julian Dubuque Bridge

Imagine me running late.  Well when I opened me little eyes this morning my bedside clock said it was 45 minutes later than I normally wake up.  Ugh, now I’m running hard just to get as much of my morning “stuff” done as possible.  Fortunately I had this image from last Saturday already processed.

I passed over it on the first round of views but there is something about this image that just struck me this morning so I wanted to share it with you.  You can click on it to make it larger.

Sorry for the short post this morning, I’m sure I have something profound to say but just can’t think of it right now and don’t have the time.  🙂

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your day and be careful there are a lot of crazy people out there.

Wednesday ~ December 18, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 18, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Lenae

I love to photograph people.  It is without a doubt my favorite thing shoot.   My first love is formal portrait photography (head shots) a close second would be candid shots and then environmental images.  Problem is that most people (myself included) do not particularly enjoy having their picture taken.  I have several images in my mind that I want to create but trying to find people who would be willing to dress up in costume and pose on location is a challenge.

Tom

So yesterday there was a grand opening / ribbon cutting at the new Kwik Star Convenience store that opened in Maquoketa.  Since I’m a member of the Chamber and on the Chamber Board I get to go to all those types of events.  There are always lots of people at these events and so if I’m stealthy I can sometimes capture some nice candid shots, like the first one.  Lenae serves on the board of directors with me and in fact she will be the President of the Chamber next year.  Tom is the Executive Director of the Chamber and he gave a welcoming talk at the opening.

Nicole and Joni

Finally a posed shot (and they hesitated for a moment) is Nichole (left) and Joni (right) who also serve on the Chamber Board.

It was a nice event and it’s always gratifying to see progress and new businesses come to Maquoketa.  Kwik Star has made a huge investment in Maquoketa opening two new stores in six months.  They also donated $2,000 to various community groups including the Fire Department and The School.  They are a great corporate neighbor and they have a solid value system for their employees.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your mid-week hump day.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.