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All posts for the month September, 2018

Wednesday ~ September 26, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 26, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Happy Wednesday!

Fun and busy day yesterday as I worked on my second project.  This was for the MMEU (Maquoketa Municipal Electric Utilities.)

Once again I discovered how out of shape I have become when I had to get into a bucket on a lift truck to take some aerial shots of the power plant.  The guys from the line crew were extremely gracious and helpful but they agreed I would probably have trouble meeting the qualifications for a lineman.

I spent about four hours photographing the complex facilities that make up MMEU.  Lot more to it then meets the eye.  I met a lot of dedicated people who more than willing to help me get the images I wanted.  Thank you.

Now for the image above.  I saw this two nights ago when I went out on the back patio.  For those photography purists, this image was not cropped.  More on that in later posts.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ September 24, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 24, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Happy Monday!

Mark and Julia brought Charlie over yesterday afternoon for a visit.  We had a lot of fun playing with her and watching her explore our back yard.  I have three images of her if you’re interested.

One of the things I thought would happen when I retired was that I would really focus on my photography and spend a lot more time exploring places that I didn’t have time while working.  Turns out that between trying to get my little head shot business going, some odd projects around the house, keeping up with friends, and generally vegging I have actually done less photography then when I was working full time.

I have close to a dozen projects listed on my to do list and I’m still only on the second one.  I’m not optimistic, but boy do I love retirement.  🙂

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Friday ~ September 14, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 14, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Happy Friday!  Especially for my friends still working.  🙂

I was trying to keep the new grass plantings moist so headed out the back patio door and saw this guy.  Went back got my camera, fitted it with a macro lens and photographed him from the inside and outside.

Two things became apparent to me in post production.  One, I need to clean the glass on the door and two, I should have set up the tripod.  Too hard to get a tack sharp image with the macro lens without a tripod. Never seem to learn the basics.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Thursday ~ September 13, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 13, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Happy Thursday!

I had a fun day yesterday.  Spent about four hours doing a photo shoot for the city of Preston, Iowa.  Actually the company that supplies electricity to Preston hired me to photograph the community.  Shot 175 images and will edit them today.  I got to meet a lot of nice people and learned a lot of things about Preston that I didn’t know.

Wonderful community.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ September 10, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 10, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Happy Monday!

Every year we go the fly in breakfast at the Dubuque Regional Airport.  It’s a pretty good breakfast and usually there are some neat planes to photograph.

The Grand Kids love the excitement and this year Angie, Ben all four of the kids went.  There were not as many planes to see as in past years but this old war bird was present as usual.  I have photographed it many times and never get tired of seeing it take off.  That big radial engine has an amazing sound.  Click on the image to see a larger more detailed image.

So I photographed it’s take off and then he did a fly by with a smoke trail.  Of course when he made that pass I was in the hanger walking back to the car so I missed that. 😦

This large corporate jet was not part of the fly in scene but I was impressed with the size of it.  It took off while we were standing in line so I ducked out and went to the flight line to grab this shot.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Saturday ~ September 08, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 8, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Happy Saturday!

Fun day yesterday.  I received a text from Mark wondering if I’d like to me Charlie?  That’s Charlie in the image above.  A beautiful Golden Retriever female that is so full of energy and curiosity that some of it actually rubbed off on me.

Mark and Julia got Charlie a couple of weeks ago and this is my first time to meet her.  After I played with her for a long time it was time to take some images.  More about that in a moment as I have three images for today.

Mark has always loved dogs and now he has his own dog to share that love with.  I decided to use the Nikon 105mm f1.4 lens for the shoot yesterday.  I haven’t had enough practice with it and it shows.  Even though I shot at f4.0 I still struggle with what’s in focus and what is not.  Plus I am used to shooting with a zoom lens and so I sometimes forget that I have to move my feet.  🙂

The 105mm f1.4 is a great portrait lens but not so much for photographing a wild puppy.

Julia is also a dog lover and grew up with a dog in the family.  I’m going to enjoy watching and photographing Charlie as she grows and matures.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Saturday ~ September 01, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 1, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Happy Saturday!

For my Facebook Friends, I have three images for today.  If you want to see them all just click on the link.

We have had a lawn service for many years and have been reasonably happy with the results, although the last three years I saw my yard go downhill to the point this year where half of it was dead.  When the guy came to do the treatment a few days ago we talked with him and he said, “Well it’s been a tough year and I’m sure it will come back in the Fall.”  That also did not explain all the new weeds in the yard as well.

So I called another service and they came over and looked at it.  They said, “It’s been a tough year and it will probably come back in the Fall if you use our service.”

My Son-in-law Ben had similar problems with his yard and he called “Lawn Doctor.”  I called them Tuesday and the guy came over.  He spent 45 minutes actually digging around in the yard and pulling up the turf to see what was going on underneath.  He discovered that we had grub worms and they were killing our yard.  Within the last three days they have killed the grubs, re-seeded the yard and put down a fertilizer.  We were told to water the new grass and keep the ground moist.  I spent 50 minutes last evening watering the grass and then about 2:00 a.m. this morning we got a 3 inch 5 hour rain.

Needless to say I won’t be watering anytime soon.  🙂

Angie brought the kids over for playtime and lunch today.  Addie is now standing and cruising.  She was having fun looking outside at the rain.

I braved the rain to capture this moment.

Enjoy the rest of your day and be careful.