Happy Thursday. Back to the archives today for an image I shot on February 22, 2013. I was coming back from Cedar Rapids and have often thought about shooting this scene but never got around to it. It was a cloudy, gray, overcast day and so I stopped on the way back to Maquoketa and shot a few images. I used a 3 shot bracket because of the lighting conditions and I don’t remember now why I didn’t use this image before.
I did give it a bit of an HDR look and some folks don’t like that I know. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t but in this particular case I do.
One thing that makes this day stand out for me is it was the day that my new Nikon D4 arrived. In fact it came about 15 minutes before I needed to leave for my meeting in Cedar Rapids. I just remember how hard it was to leave that box on my desk and get on the road.
Just a quick story about yesterday. I hate to admit it but I haven’t been very good at attending Rotary. My boss asked me if I was going to Rotary and I didn’t have a reason to say no so I rode with him and attended. It felt pretty good to be there. During the meal one of my friends from Rotary and the owner of KMAQ Radio in Maquoketa asked me if there was anything new on my blog. Another friend said, “Yes you should see his ‘drone’.” Well that got everyone’s attention so I gave a brief description of the Phantom flying camera and then one of my other Rotary friends said, “I am responsible for the program next week, how about doing a program on your drone for that meeting?”
What could I say, I love to talk about photography, gizmos, and geeky stuff so I said sure. Now I have to do some flying this weekend and shoot some video and still images so I have something for my presentation. 🙂
I also want to see if the eagles are flying and fishing this weekend.
That’s it for today. It won’t be much longer before there is enough light after 5:00 p.m. for me to start shooting again. I hope you enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.
I think I got the date right today. Both Monday and Tuesday I had the wrong date on the blog. Just wishful thinking on my part I guess, trying to hurry the week along. 🙂
There is no question about it, I love eagles. I love to watch them, photograph them, and read about them. I went out on my lunch break yesterday to see if I could catch sight of some of the eagles that have been fishing in the Maquoketa River. It was bitterly cold and the wind was blowing fiercely so there was little opportunity to photography anything let alone eagles.
As I sat there in front of my computer last night thinking about what to show you today I reasoned that eagle images are eagle images no matter when they were taken. So these images were taken last year around February near Guttenburg, Iowa. They are still my images taken by me so a little age on them doesn’t hurt anything as long as there is no mold.
The first image is heavily cropped but I like the vibrant colors of the eagle. The image above is not cropped much at all as this juvenile flew over the top of where I was standing on his way to his favorite tree to eat his bounty. It’s fun to watch mature eagles and juveniles together. The juvenile will often miss more fish then they will catch and many times resort to trying to steal the fish of another eagle.
An interesting trait of eagles is that when they catch a fish they will look down at their catch to judge the size. If it is small enough to eat on the fly they prefer to do that because they are assured of a meal. If the fish is big enough like the one in the second photo and this one then they have to protect it until they can get some where to eat it. Then likely as not a juvenile will attempt to steal it from them anyway.
I’m hoping to find some fresh eagles this weekend. Thanks for stopping by the blog. Enjoy your day and be careful.
Now for something completely different. I was struggling to find some images for the blog today and was looking through some of my older images. I just couldn’t find anything that appealed to me so I decided to create a 2013 Tax File instead.
I was rummaging through my “filing system” and came across a folder labeled Upde. I had no idea what was in it but when I opened it up what a treat. My Mother, God rest her soul, use to keep everything she found in the paper that had anything to do with me. Perhaps a year before she died she gave me all the old newspaper clippings both from the Bethany paper and the Maryville paper that she had collected over the years.
I spent an hour reading some of those news articles and looking at the pictures of me when I was young, in shape and a public safety officer. The image above was taken by the Maryville Daily Forum (or fool em) as we called it. I was promoted to sergeant on September 1st and I’m going to say the year was 1973, but I do not know that for sure.
I could spend weeks talking about some of the experiences I had in law enforcement. It was an interesting time of my life and I will never regret the lessons learned and the training I received. Both have served me well throughout my life. My view of law enforcement was that there were two kinds of officers. One was a police officer and the other was a peace officer. I had a training captain ask me which one I would choose to be. I told him without hesitation that I would be a peace officer.
Okay enough reminiscing for one day. Thanks for checking out the blog. Hope to capture some images this week and of course hope to fly this weekend. There are so many things I was to capture from the air. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by the blog. Enjoy your day and be careful.
Not much for today. I thought I had lost this 46 second clip of the landing. Of course I also thought I kept the camera running as I landed but I didn’t do that either. Anyway I found the clip in a place it should have never been.
The weather was lousy yesterday (at least in my estimation) for still or video. The wind was up around 25 mph gusting to 30 mph so no flying the Phantom. Overcast day so it is very hard to shoot eagles in that type of condition. I opted to take lessons on video editing instead. There is always so much to learn and I love it.
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your Monday and be careful.
I was telling you last week that I had added a new tool to my photography tool box and the image above shows it. It is the DJI Phantom 2 Vision®. A “Flying Camera.” It has an integrated 14.5 mp camera that shoots RAW images and it also shoots 1080p video.
I was not interested in a Remote Controlled (RC) airplane, for a variety of reasons. One I’m not that good with eye / hand coordination. I don’t like looking up at the sky for long periods of time. They are expensive and crash often. What I was interested in and the sole reason for purchasing the Phantom was it is primarily a system to get aerial images without having to get into an airplane. Since I hate flying I really like that.
It is a GPS controlled flying platform with 4 propellers that spin in opposite directions to help stabilize the camera. I have watched about two weeks worth of video instruction about how to fly the Phantom and it is a learning curve like any system but it is very easy to get and keep in the air. Now admittedly I have a total of 3 minutes in the air but I reached an altitude of 106 feet, took some pictures, flew about 100 feet away, returned to my take off point, made a perfect and very soft landing. 🙂
There are a lot of steps to go through to finally get in the air and yesterday was not a good flying day. I didn’t really realize how bad it was until Jeanne and I got to the launch point. The temperature was about 29 degrees with a 20 mph wind. It was colder than a Witch’s heart. But I couldn’t stand it any longer and had to see if I could get it in the air without hurting it, me, or anything else. Jeanne got pretty far away from the launch site but came closer when I landed.
As you look at the controller you can see that I have my iPhone attached to it. The flight controller has a WiFi transmitter (more like a repeater) that picks up the WiFi signal sent by the Phantom and it becomes a network for your iPhone (or Android.) Once connected to the Phantom network, what the Phantom’s camera sees is transmitted (via an App.) back to the iPhone. In other words you fly from a first person point of view (FPV.) Also there are controls on the iPhone App, that let you control the up and down angle of the camera and you control the zoom and angle with the Phantom itself.
What I didn’t take time to do (I just forgot about it) because I was anxious to get the Phantom in the air was to configure the camera. I did that after the flight but that is why the image below looks so bad. It had the lowest resolution setting (which is how it was shipped from the factory.) I didn’t set the video properties up either so the video isn’t very high quality in this clip.
Having said all that it was the most fun I’ve had in 3 minutes that I can remember. Well like I said that I can remember. 🙂 So I took off from the school playground (which is behind our house) and flew it up and over the trees (then switched to the still camera function) took some images (low resolution) of our home and then flew it back to the play ground. Did I mention I made a perfect landing? The video is a little jerky because of the wind and my quick direction changes.
As you watch the video you will also notice that the video shows a 15 degree list to the port side. That is because the Phantom actually is flying West (sideways) into the wind to maintain it’s prescribed position (North) as determined by the 11 satellites that it had locked onto.
There is no question that I have a lot to learn but like anything practice does help as I have found with my normal photography. I’ve still got a long way to go with it but I’ve seen improvement over the years. I just imagine where I can go with this flying camera and the things I can capture images of and I get very excited. I have a list of over a hundred things I was to capture from the air and areas I want to explore. The Phantom has a maximum altitude of 400 feet (although several videos on YouTube® have show flights much higher than that. That is also the FAA’s regulation for UMV flights. It has a range of about 500 feet in length although again there are a lot of videos with people flying them 1,000 feet away from their controller.
One of the cool things about the Phantom is its “Return Home” feature. If the signal is lost or if the battery is too low it will go into the RH mode, fly to an altitude of 60 feet and return to the place (within 3 feet) of where it took off.
Yep, I forgot to add a opening image to this video but if you click on the little > above it will show you about 1:05 minutes of my first flight.The video runs for about 4:00 minutes (a video editing error on my part) so you can just stop it if you don’t want to watch 3 minutes of black screen. 🙂 Okay since I posted this I have figured out how to add an image to the video, shorten it to the actual 1:05 minutes and at about 10:00 a.m. the original lighting should be back. It was easier to get the Phantom into the air then it is to show it here. 🙂
That’s it for today. Hopefully the weather is a little better for flying today. I have a little more confidence now so I’m going to try one of the areas on my list. Hope I have some good video to show you Monday and no sad news about any crashes.
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day and be careful.
I must have driven past this barn a hundred times over the last few years and never felt compelled to photograph it. Yesterday, however, sitting in the snow against a gray sky it was enough to entice me to pull over and grab a couple of images.
I had to go to one of our Cedar Rapids banks yesterday for a meeting. I always seem to find something of interest to photograph. Yesterday was no exception. On the way back from Cedar Rapids I noticed this large bird sitting in a tree close to the road. My first thought was it must be a juvenile eagle so I slowed down and pulled onto the shoulder. As I stealthy moved up (imagine me being stealthy) it became clear this was a large hawk. He let me get 4 images before he took off.
My new system arrived yesterday. There is a pretty steep learning curve to it and last evening was spent reading material, doing some minor assembly, and charging a series of batteries. It is a complex system but I am hopeful it will add another interesting dimension to my photography tool box. More work on it tonight and then Saturday the first trial (hopefully.)
That’s it for today. Enjoy your Friday, it took its sweet time getting here. Thanks for stopping by the blog. Be careful.
This is the last of the eagle images, at least for the next couple of days. That is of course unless I find some more to shoot between now and the weekend. I’ll be back out amongst them looking for the perfect shot and hopefully the weather will cooperate.
Great day yesterday! A couple of challenges that I’ve been working to resolve came to a close (at least for the short-term) so that felt good. Then when I got home a there was a very thoughtful gift from a very good friend that I totally did not expect and it just made my day. 🙂 Nice when something good and unexpected brightens one’s day. Thank you Brian.
If all goes well in the next few days I’m going to be taking on a new type of photography. This is kind of a teaser but assuming a learning curve and a little luck I will be introducing some new images on the blog that up to this point have been unachievable by me. Is that enough of a teaser or a hook as they say on TV? Anyway more to come as an old friend of mine use to say. Hopefully by next week you’ll see what I’m talking about.
That’s all I have time for today. I hope you enjoy your Thursday. Thanks for checking out the blog and be careful.
I have some more eagle images for you from my shoot last Saturday. As I lamented earlier, shooting conditions were not very good and I didn’t have the correct lens with me, but it is what it is, so these are what I have. I’m showing you a sequence of images that tell a story of sorts. They are not taken closely together although they are of the same event.
The image above can give you some idea of the shooting conditions. In situations like this when there is a lot of background with different angles and you are trying to capture movement it is possible for the camera to focus on things other than the eagles. Such is not the case here but I’m looking for any crutch I can get. 🙂
Anyway I was following this guy as he circled the dam and would occasionally change course in mid wing flap, but all in all he just wasn’t having much luck.
Then suddenly he pirouetted and headed for the water. As he closed in for the catch my view of him was obstructed by part of the dam structure so I do not have an image of him actually making a catch. But he did make the catch because when he rose above the structure he made a wide sweeping arc back to a set of trees behind me.
There safe from juvenile intruders he devoured his catch. Granted it would have been a more compelling story had I been able to show you close up images of the magnificent eagle seizing the helpless fish in his talons and flying away with his catch. But alas I cannot so this is what I have for you today.
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your mid-week hump day. Be careful.
I had an appointment with my audiologist yesterday morning for my 6th month check up. I am tolerating the hearing aids because I need to be able to hear people when they talk with me. As they say in the trade, it is an essential function of my work. But when I finally retire they are going in the trash can. 🙂
Anyway enough about that. When I left the clinic I saw what looked like a “sun dog” around the sun and the closer I looked it appeared to be two rather bright spots (one on either side of the sun) and a faint rainbow around the sun. I thought about stopping to photograph it but with -40 degree wind chills I decided against getting out of the car, getting my camera (which was warm) and trying to take a picture of the phenomenon.
Then it occurred to me that I could use my little point and shoot camera from inside the car and stay toasty while capturing this incredible sight. Yes it may have turned out a little better with a DSLR but no so much better as to make it worth tolerating the numbing cold wind.
So I got the picture and stayed warm, (had my cake and ate it too as it were.)
One more day of this harsh weather and then the forecast calls for a little moderation. Stay alert and warm today.
Happy Monday! Well as happy as it can be when the only two teams I was rooting for in the playoffs got beat. Kansas City was beaten by the Colts and Green Bay was also defeated by the 49ers. I don’t have much interest now in the remaining games.
I have three completely unrelated images for you today. All of them are from my Saturday photo outing but they have little in common. The image above was shot on the Iowa side of Lock and Dam 10. I was trying to capture some images of eagles fishing near the dam when I heard a noise behind me. This young lady ran past me slugging through the snow and ice. As she was joined by her dog I thought I would capture an image of her running near the river.
This image was taken on the Wisconsin side of the dam. I was frozen solid after shooting images of eagles for two hours and as I was walking back to my car I saw these two fishermen headed to their truck. I don’t think they had much luck because some of the conversation I over heard from others on the ice indicated that the fish were not biting this day.
I felt like both of these images lent themselves to black and white.
Angie brought the kids over Saturday afternoon for a short visit. Gabby was not in the mood to be photographed but Joshua gave me some good poses. One of the many lessons I have taken in photography is about getting close to your subject. In fact Jay Maisel says that when you think you’re close enough get just a little bit closer. I like this serious look from Josh.
That’s it for today. I have more eagle pictures to share with you later this week. Thanks to all who commented about loving eagles and some of my shots. I could watch them for hours. Half the fun, for me anyway, is watching their interaction with each other and the skirmishes they have. It’s all good stuff.
So that’s it for today. Record cold temperatures and wind chills. Stay safe, bundle up and be careful. Thanks as always for stopping by.
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