Saturday ~ October 19, 2013

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

Harvest time in Iowa

Happy Saturday:  I’m sorry for the lack of activity on the blog the last couple of days.  My work has been hectic and yesterday I was out of commission for most of the day.  I was behind on so many things so I can’t imagine how much father behind I’m going to be on Monday.  Feeling much better today.

I’m still adjusting to my new iMac desktop computer system.  I do a lot of customization to every computer I’ve had so I am always tweaking various settings.  Then when I move to a new system it is very uncomfortable for a while until I get it configured to all of my weirdness.  🙂  Anyway I’m about there and I will tell you how much I enjoy working on images with a 27 inch monitor compared to my little 14.5 inch laptop screen.  Of course it allows me to see all my mistakes in a much bigger way but it also helps in correcting said mistakes.

I was able to find a couple of harvest scenes on the way home Thursday night.  The image above was taken from the shoulder of Highway 61.  There was a lot of activity in this field and I shot about 20 images of the two combines and two tractors pulling grain wagons.  When I got the image loaded for processing I noticed two very prevalent power lines running through the middle of the image.  They would ruin the image in my mind so I spent about 25 minutes removing them.  I honestly didn’t see them in my viewfinder as I guess I was concentrating on the equipment and not the peripheral area in the scene.

Combine at rest

For those of you who have followed this blog for sometime this combine should look familiar.  I shot this same combine in a similar composition in October 2010.  In fact that image will be on next month’s (November) calendar of the IBA calendar.  I have two images for the 2014 calendar and I am in the process of submitting more images for the 2015 calendar.  It’s a lot of fun to see your image printed and distributed beyond what I’ve done with it.  The IBA calendar hangs in a lot of homes in Iowa.  🙂

Enjoy your weekend.  Love these cooler temperatures.  I know I’m in the minority but my thermostat has been out of whack for a long time so I like the colder weather.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Wednesday ~ October 16, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 16, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

October-15-2013

Quick update on the Swans at Hurstville.  They seem to be doing just fine, despite the ever decreasing water supply at the pond.  There is one area of the pond that seems to retain enough water to keep them happy.  As you can see from the above image this Cygnet is getting pretty big, almost the same size as his/her parents.

Not to worry the other Cygnet is out of frame, laying in the muck and grooming itself.  I couldn’t get them both in the same image because of the focal length I was using.

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I saw this dramatic cloud formation on my way home and just had to pull over to the side of the road and grab some images.  I could not find any harvesting  last evening.  Lots of crop still in the field so there is still time to get some good harvesting images.

I got a new iMac yesterday.  My laptop is getting a little old, slow, and full.  I have been thinking about replacing it.  I was looking on-line and made the decision to go with a desktop instead of a new laptop.  That decision saved 50% of what a laptop would have cost.

Additionally I go from at 14 inch screen to a 27 inch screen to process my images.  The laptop will still travel with me but I can take a lot of disk space it is now using and transfer that to larger capacity disk of the iMac.

The problem is transitioning from one system to a new one.  Just getting programs that I use everyday reconfigured to my liking is a lengthy process.  Still better than trying to figure out Windows 8.  I do not know who Microsoft uses to determine what people like (they say their design is the result of user feedback) because I have yet to meet someone who likes Windows 8 or for that matter the new Office configuration.  I was talking to an avid Windows user the other day and he lamented that he cannot find things on his computer since he switched to Win8.

There is consistency in the Mac OS.  🙂  I was a DOS / Windows user for ever but I’m very happy with MAC.

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

Tuesday ~ October 15, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 15, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Dan Clark

Happy Tuesday!  This Gentleman is Dan Clark.  He was our keynote speaker yesterday at our company wide event.  He is a world-famous speaker and gives presentations all over the globe.  He had a wonderful message that he delivered to our staff.  He was supposed to talk an hour and 15 minutes but his message was very powerful and everyone was engaged as he continued to talk an additional 30 minutes.

One of his key themes is “We work hard to get what we want, but do we really want what we get?”  As usual when one leaves a meeting like this one, there is a lot of fresh energy built up.  The key is finding some hooks in the message that will sustain the challenges of daily life.

If you are so inclined you might Google Dan Clark and read his Bio, you will find it interesting.  If not suffice it to say he was worth the trip. 🙂

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

Monday ~ October 14, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 14, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

October-13-2013

Happy Columbus Day.  Today is our annual all company meeting and team building day.  So I will be in Dubuque today.

One of the women in my leadership class asked me if I would consider taking some images of her Son at his football game in Dubuque on Sunday.  They play at Roosevelt School and that is almost in our back yard.  I have seen them play before on Sunday but have not really paid any attention to them.

I really didn’t realize what a big deal this little football league is.  I mean these kids have all the equipment, several coaches (offensive, defensive, head, etc.)

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You can see they even have their own full-fledged cheerleaders, complete with megaphones and pom-poms.  It was a beautiful day and I wanted to try my hand at shooting a football game.  I’ve shot the annual Cops and Kids football match several years but this was the “big time” for me with all the uniforms, helmets, pads and referees.  There were two teams playing on the upper field and two on the lower field with another 4 teams waiting their turn to play.

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I certainly don’t want to start a controversy but I must admit I have mixed emotions about the game.  This is the first time I have ever been to one and it is very intense.  Lots of yelling by the parents, and a lot of yelling by the coaches.  These are little kids and it is a complex, dangerous sport.  I just don’t know.  I hung around for about 20 minutes and got some shots of her Son and then went back home.  I’m sure I’m missing something and I know how important sports are.  I don’t know it just didn’t feel right to me.

Jeanne and I went out to the Dubuque Regional Airport Sunday afternoon and picked up our Keynote speaker for tomorrow and delivered him to his hotel at the Grand Harbor.  Then we walked on the river walk and I got some great images (in my mind anyway) that I’ll share later in the week.

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

Sunday ~ October 13, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 13, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

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Thanks for dropping by.  I had several projects yesterday that kept me in front of my computer most of the day.  I know, what a waste of very good weather, but when you make promises, well you do what you have to do.

I waited about 45 minutes too long before going out for a shoot yesterday afternoon.  I had not anticipated the trees around this pond eating up the setting sun and so as a result I really had to bump my ISO up and I didn’t get any good light on the geese.

If you look closely at the goose on the left you’ll see some “stuff” hanging off his bill.  I have no idea what it is and at first when I was shooting his image I thought I had something on my lens.  His bill has been somewhere it perhaps shouldn’t have been?!?!?

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That being said these are for my friend Betty.  Betty loves Canadian Geese and so I always try to shoot some when I have the opportunity for her.  There were easily over a hundred Geese at this pond, most of them were on the bank just above the water.  I’ve learned however that some wildlife look better in or just over the water than they do on the land.

Sorry I wish I had more for you today.  But at least I know one of my friends is happy today.  I’ll see what I can find today.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Saturday ~ October 12, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 12, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Dave and Lois

We made it to the weekend.  It will be a busy weekend for me as I have several things to prepare for our big company wide meeting on Monday.

Last night Jeanne and I had the pleasure of having dinner with our dear Friends, Dave and Lois.  We ate at Tony Roma’s at the Grand Harbor Resort by the Mississippi.  Tony Roma’s is one of my favorite places to eat in Dubuque and usually the food is excellent (although a bit pricey) and the service has always been reasonable.  Last night the dinner was as usual very tasty.  I had my usual Fillet Medallions and half a rack of baby back ribs.  🙂

We had a great server by the name of Maria who originates from Peru.  She is gifted with a wonderful personality and made the experience a  lot of fun.  I only took my point and shoot camera with me last night as I didn’t want to have to worry about my DSLR.  It is a decent camera outside in the sunlight but bring it inside where it needs the flash and it almost worthless.

I took ten images last night and this one was the only was that was in focus.  After spending about 45 minutes in Photoshop (no kidding it took that long) I was able to make a reasonable image of our friends.

So it was a fun evening and a nice way to end a busy work week.

Oh by the way.  I just learned that this is my 800th post, since I started this blog in 2010. That’s a lot of bloviating! 🙂

Hope you enjoy your weekend.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

TGI Friday ~ October 11, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 11, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

Autumn Tree

No pontificating today.  I am so late that I’m already into tomorrow.  I captured this image last evening on the way home.  I’ve shot this tree before (and it’s a bear to get to) but the sky was so perfect last night I had to get this shot.  I wanted to share it with you this day.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your wonderful Friday and be careful.

Thursday ~ October 10, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 10, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Sunrise over Asbury, Iowa

I didn’t get out of the office until 6:45 p.m. last night and there wasn’t much light left for shooting images.  I did look and I did come across one field where the harvest was in progress but by the time I got there the light was gone and all I would have gotten is blackness.

So I was looking through my files and came across this “Sunrise over Asbury.”  I think it was around August when I captured this image. I like the colors of the sun and light it casts on the clouds.

That’s all I’ve got for today.  Nothing profound, no rant, no axe to grind, no philosophical blather to impart.  I just got nothing.

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

 

Wednesday ~ October 09, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 9, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

October-07-2013-2A

Have you ever had that feeling that things are just closing in on top of you and you can’t seem to get your breath?  No I’m sure you haven’t 🙂  That’s where I’m at right now and it seems like the harder I run the father behind I get.  Poor me.

Absolute killer light on my homeward commute last night.  I drove an extra 40 miles looking for some harvest scene to shoot in that wonderful light.  No one (at least in the area I was in) was out in their field last evening.  I’ll try again tonight.

Anyway I thought I would show you a few images I took at the big wreck scene.  I almost bought it at this intersection about 4 years ago and if not for the hand of God on my shoulder I would have been another statistic at this intersection.

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There was another accident involving a semi and a car just yesterday before they got the first one completely cleaned up.  I do not know all the particulars but I was told that a girl was trying to turn onto Hurstville Road but was distracted by all the activity of the first accident clean up.  She slowed or actually backed up onto 61 highway as another semi came through.

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There is a wide sweeping curve at this intersection so you get a distorted view of the actual distance of North bound traffic, which is usually traveling at 70 plus mph.  If you are even a little distracted like I was four years ago your brain does not compute the speed / distance factor correctly and hence accident or near accident.

The at grade crossings of these 4 lane highways that are not built to Interstate Highway specifications are dangerous.  When the average traffic flow is 70 mph and there is constantly farm equipment crossing the roadway and people turning or pulling onto the road way bad things can happen in the blink of an eye.

Sorry didn’t mean to get on a box and opine.  I enjoy the 4 lane and would hate to go back to a two lane roadway.  Not what I’m talking about.  Just that as humans we sometimes get cognitive blindness and the highway is not a good place for that to happen.

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

Tuesday ~ October 08, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 8, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized.

Swans

Interesting day yesterday.   I won’t go into details but it is one of the things I enjoy about my work.  Always a challenge and there is usually a problem that needs to be solved.  I didn’t leave the office until 6:30 p.m. yesterday evening so the setting sun was just great for shooting images.  Nice soft light and just starting to turn orange.

I fooled the swans as I came around on the back side of the Duck Pond and shot from highway 61 with the sun at my back.  They were confused because I was partially hidden by a group of bushes, so even though they knew I was around they couldn’t really pin point where I was.

Anyway as you can see the cygnets are doing fine and are getting very large.  I think they will start molting at the end of October or the first of November and then we’ll see how they do flying.  I’ll keep you updated.

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There was a bad wreck at the Hurstville intersection yesterday.  This is the second bad accident in a couple of weeks.  Cars think they can cross 61 highway and they underestimate the speed of the vehicles on highway 61.  This accident involved a car and a tractor-trailer.  I’m not sure when it happened as there were a lot of law enforcement people on the scene this morning when I came to work.

When I left this evening they were still working or getting the tractor pulled out of the ditch, which apparently it swerved trying to miss the car and went into a deep ditch.  I’ll show you a couple of images I took at the scene.  I didn’t have the right lens on the camera but you can see a lot of the damage.

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I liked the way the light was setting on the Kilns so I grabbed these last two shots before heading home.

Enjoy your Tuesday.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.  Things can happen in the blink of an eye.