Upde Designs

Happy Saturday!

Yesterday I had to go to the Quad Cities to get the battery replaced in my aging Mac Book Pro.  It was a 15 minute process (they had ordered the battery last Friday) so I waited for them to finish.  I was optimistic about the weather because the sun looked like it was going to burn through the clouds and give us some sunshine on the way down.

I was wrong.  The conditions were as bad if not worse this Friday at Lock & Dam #14 than they were last Friday.   Along with the cloudy gray sky, cold temperature, and wind there were less eagles.  I only saw, at any one time, 3 eagles and some of them were just passing through too far away to photograph.

I almost missed this image and probably the only reason it is in focus is that the eagle is still close to the water because he is out of my focus ring for sure.  I was busy visiting with a guy I met on the walkway and all of a sudden he snapped his camera to his eye because this guy was going after a fish.  By the time I got my camera on him he had already caught the fish and was starting his climb.

I met a lot of interesting people at the dam yesterday.  Very friendly and all had different stories about their photography.  Many were retired, some had just gotten into photography and one guy I talked to only lives 10 minutes from the dam so he comes every day.  He only took one image the entire time he was there.  I asked him about that and he said he had hundreds of images of eagles doing everything so why duplicate them.  He looks for the catch only.  🙂

I also met two gentlemen who were from Michigan.  They drove all the way just to photograph at the dam.  One of them had been there before but for his buddy it was a new experience.  It was a blast talking with other people about photography, gear, technique.  Things that make normal people’s eyes glass over.  🙂

The eagle action was pretty slow so when Mr. Pelican floated by so close I felt like I could touch him I had to take this image.

I spent a total of 5 hours at the dam and came away with very few shots.  Three eagles sitting in trees and occasionally flying over the water with gray skies in the background does not make for superior wildlife shots.  Having said that I take what I can get.  I shot about 700 images and culled that down to around 160 eliminating mostly duplicates and to be honest a fair amount of blurry shots that were totally my fault.  😦

This unflattering selfie gives you an idea of just how cold it was yesterday.  I took this after standing on the walkway for about two hours.

On a personal note a dear friend of mine passed away Thursday evening.  We affectionately referred to him as the Kink (long story.)  He was two years younger than me it was a real shock to learn of his passing.  We played a lot of golf together, went on several golfing trips together and played a lot of Euchre.  I will certainly miss his warm smile and giving nature.  God bless and keep you Bob.

Today the sun is shinning brightly and I will bet the walkway at Lock and Dam #14 is shoulder to shoulder.  Unfortunately I cannot go because I have other projects that I have to complete today.  Well there’s always the next time.

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