Saturday ~ September 14, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 14, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

September-13-2013

Happy Saturday.  It’s been a few days since my last post.  I have several challenges at work and some other projects I’m doing, plus I’ve been processing wedding images so there hasn’t been much time for posting or photography.  I spend about 15 – 30 minutes on each wedding image in the post process phase.  That is after all the evaluating and sorting of the images.  So it is a slow process and I told the bride when I agreed to do the wedding that it would be two weeks before the images would be ready and that’s about right.

Shooting in the RAW format is my preferred method and I think I enjoy processing the images almost as much as I do taking them.  The only problem with shooting in RAW is when you have 484 images and you have to post process the bulk of them.  🙂  Of course a lot of those images were simply duplicates to make sure everyone’s eyes were open so there won’t be 484 images to process.

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What’s with the water tower?  Well this is located next to the road I travel almost every day.  It has been over a year since they started the project with the drilling phase.  They put this tower together piece by piece.  Welding each small section together in some pretty cold weather to finally get it all assembled.  Then they had some interior work to accomplish.  Finally priming the exterior, painting it and now the lettering.

I shot these two images with the Nikon D600 | Nikon 80 – 400 mm lens.  The first image is at 80 mm (uncropped) and the second image is at 400 mm also uncropped.  I shot at f8.0 and was not paying attention to my shutter speed which dropped to 1/200 sec.  Not fast enough to freeze camera shake at the 400 mm focal length so the image is a little soft if you look at it at 100%.  Not the fault of the lens but my fault.  I should have used a higher ISO or a tripod.

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Finally this image of Jeanne from the wedding I shot last Saturday.  She was gracious enough to pose for me while I adjusted my strobe and balanced the colors on the cameras.  That is a “color checker” in her hand and it builds a profile of the camera and lens used for the particular lighting situation.  A handy device to be sure.  I used only one Elinchrome BXRI 500 strobe with a 3′ X 4′ soft-box.  I had the power level set to 6.0, which is close to its highest setting and shot at F8.0 & 1/125 sec.  I raised the soft-box as high as my light stand would go to give me more coverage and prevent reflection in the glasses of my subjects.

I had seen this set up from a couple of wedding photographers I have watched in the past and it seems to provide a good light source.  I would have preferred to use two lights but then it takes twice as much time to set up and tear down and we had a small window of time to shoot the wedding party.

I’m pretty happy with the results.  I also shot with the D800 at ISO 2500 for some natural light images and with a f1.4, 85 mm lens so I was able to capture some candid shots without a flash.  I also used the 70 – 200 f2.8 at ISO 2000 for the ceremony shots, which came out very nice as well.

If the bride gives me permission I’ll post some of the shots of the wedding on this blog at a later time.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your weekend as the weather is suppose to be very nice.  Pray for our country.  Be careful.

Tuesday ~ September 10, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 10, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , .

September-09-2013

Long day yesterday.  Lots on my plate and I’m scrambling to get it all done.  I debated about even posting this morning but decided to share a couple of unrelated images with you.  The one above is of a corn field (or more accurately, what’s left of a corn field) that I passed on my way home last evening.  The fact that there are only a few stalks left standing caught my eye so I had to do a U-turn and came back to photograph it.   There were a few people who went by while I was capturing the image and I’m sure they were wondering what the hell I was taking a picture of.  🙂

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This image is from the Sunday fly in breakfast at the Dubuque Regional Airport.  This corporate jet was parked on the tarmac and attracted a lot of viewers.  I shot about twenty images of it from different angles.  Problem is there were people in all the shots.  Like I said it attracted  lot of people.

That’s it for today.  Not much of a blog but I wanted to share a couple of images with you.  Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy the day, it’s going to be a HOT one.  Be careful.

Monday ~ September 9, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 9, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

September-08-2013

Happy Monday.  Well I survived the wedding shoot.  I’m pretty happy with the results, although I haven’t started processing them yet.  For a wedding shoot, I couldn’t have had it any better.  The church was specious, well lit, and best of all it was air-conditioned.  Stress plus a lot of movement and running around I managed to melt but not nearly as bad as it could have been in a church that wasn’t air-conditioned.  The bride was very gracious and patient.  Additionally all the family members were very cooperative.  It was also a pretty small wedding and I had prearranged with the bride on exactly what she wanted in the way of poses.  More about the experience in later posts.  Jeanne went with me and was such a big help.  I really couldn’t have done it with out her.

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Sunday, as has been our tradition for the last few years, we went out to the Dubuque Regional Airport for the annual fly in breakfast.  Low hanging clouds kept the number of planes very low as the flight conditions were IFR (Instrument flight rules) only so that took out all the experimental planes and a the war birds that usually show up.  Jeanne and I got there ahead of the Angie and Ben.  Mark and Taylor came later.  As soon as Joshua saw the air planes and helicopters his excitement level went off the chart.  He wanted to see everything all at once.  🙂

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They were giving helicopter rides for $40 per person.  We thought about it for a little while but the rides were pretty short and $80 for 5 minutes seemed a bit frivolous even for me.  So we opted to just watch.  They were also giving airplane rides (two plane loads at a time) but we didn’t do those either.  It was just fun to watch Josh’s reaction to the helicopter landing and taking off.  He was so excited each time it landed.

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I tried to get both Ben and Josh’s face in this image but could never get them turned the same way.  I wanted to capture an image of them together so I had to take what they gave me.  I really like this image with the small airplane in the background taxiing past them.

I guess I didn’t mention the wonderful breakfast we had.  Scrambled eggs, sausages, hash browns, pancakes, milk, juice, and coffee.  Everything was very good.  So full of food and after watching the helicopter land and take off for over an hour it was time to head for home.

Hope you have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Saturday ~ September 07, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 7, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , .

September-02-2013

Last Monday Jeanne and I went to the annual Dubuque Labor Day Parade.  It is a nice parade and even though I know you cannot get quality shots because of all the background clutter and the time of day it is held, I still like to shoot images at a parade.    Above Joshua is concerned about when the parade is going to start.  He likes parades because of the candy he gets, the loud sirens, and the shiny flashing lights from the emergency vehicles.

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Eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first parade vehicle, Josh peers down the street.  Notice Angie’s hand firmly attached to his shirt.  🙂  It was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky and lots of puffy white clouds.  The temperature was in the mid 60s and it was really comfortable except when the sun came out from behind a cloud and then it got a little warm.

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Yes that is a little poodle with (I assume) food coloring or some other type of dye on it.  It got everyone’s attention when it went by.  He/she didn’t seem to mind the discoloration and just enjoyed the walk.

Well it’s off to Clarence Iowa this morning to shoot the wedding.  What light set up should I use.  Which lens should I use to get the best image.   It’s going to be in the 90s and that means I’m going to melt.  😦

I was talking with two of my friends yesterday talking about my stress level with this shoot and one of them reminded me that it is a lot easier shooting a wedding with digital than with film.  Can you imagine the film not advancing or shooting 36 exposures only to find out there was no film in the camera or it had come off the sprocket.  I’ve had both of those things happen to me.  I shot a whole roll of film in Yellow Stone only to find out the film had slipped off the take up reel. Ugh!

Thanks for checking in on the blog.  I appreciate you.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Friday ~ September 06, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 6, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

September-05-2013

Happy Friday. I was finally able to get a clear shot of the cygnets last evening on my way out-of-town.  I was shooting directly into the sun but they have been very elusive of late so I’m happy to get any type of shot.  They seem to be healthy and adapting to their shrinking habitat.  It is comforting to see that the parents are never very far away from them.  The father is just out of the frame but close enough to render assistance if needed.  The mother is never more than a few feet away.

Yesterday was the first day of a ten week class on leadership I’m teaching.  I have 20 participants in the class and they are a dynamic and engaged group of young leaders.  Ten of them are from our organization and ten from outside our organization.  So it is a great mix of backgrounds and promises to be an enriching experience for me and I hope for them.

I had a series of unrelated small catastrophes happen yesterday that presented some unexpected challenges for me before the class started.  One of which was the fact that for the first time since acquiring them I actually went off without my hearing aids.   I was more than halfway to Maquoketa when I realized I didn’t have them.  I slowed to turn around then remembered my appointment schedule and realized there simply was not enough time to go back home and retrieve them.

Now the classroom we are using  has three rows of tables and so I am about 20 from the back row and that made hearing people nearly impossible.  Plus there is a certain range of sound that I cannot hear period.  If I were on the fence about my hearing aids before yesterday that indecision has been put to rest.  It was awful not being able to clearly hear what people were saying.  I really didn’t realize how much I had been missing until I didn’t have them yesterday.  WOW!

Wedding shoot coming up tomorrow.  Say a little prayer for me.  🙂  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day (off)  and be careful.

Thursday ~ September 05, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 5, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

September-04-2013

Happy Thursday.  Busy day today as I start the ten week leadership training class again this year.  We will have 22 individuals attending the class and this time many of them will be from other businesses in the area so I’m very excited about meeting new people and learning of their challenges.

Yesterday I didn’t have a meeting or lunch engagement so I grabbed my camera and the 80 – 400 mm lens (by the way this lens is rapidly becoming my favorite lens.)  I wanted to go to the Duck Pond and see if I could get some clear shots of the young swans.

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They were out in the middle of the pond and I couldn’t get a clear view of the young ones.  I shot a few images but they were just gray and brown clumps in the tall grass.  You really couldn’t even make out they were swans.  So I was a little discouraged but then I started noticing all the wild life around the pond.  The smaller wild life that is so abundant at the pond.  So I spent a half hour photographing frogs, dragon flies and some butterflies.  The only butterflies around were the small white ones and I couldn’t capture a sharp image of them.

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I shot about 130 images in a half hour and had a ball.  I dumped a 100 of them last night but that left me 30 keepers 3 of which made it to the blog.  I’m not going to do the math but that is a very small percentage.  🙂  I don’t think it would make a very good batting average.

That’s it for today.  Not too much babble for a Thursday.  I have the wedding shoot coming up this Saturday.  Say a little prayer for me please.  Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ September 03, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 3, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

September-02-2013-1A

Jeanne and I went to the river yesterday morning after watching Dubuque’s Labor Day Parade.   It was a beautiful day with a lot of puffy white clouds against a brilliant blue sky.  The temperature was 64 degrees, a near perfect day (weather wise) for me.

I shot a bunch of images at the parade and I’ll show a couple of those later in the week.  There isn’t a lot you can do with parade pictures but I have a couple of Josh enjoying the parade.

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There were two sail boats on the river when we were there.  I have not seen sail boats on the river this year so it was interesting to see them.  The only wildlife we saw was an occasional gull and a couple of ducks flying by the lock and dam.

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It was great just to be outside and experience the sights, smells, and sounds of the river on a perfect weather day.  We ended our little adventure at the Copper Kettle restaurant for lunch.  Great food and service make it a very nice place to have a meal.

That’s it for today.  I have a wedding to shoot this Saturday so I have to be thinking about that.  Also it is the first week of the new training program I’m doing for the  Chamber.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ August 02, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 2, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized.

August-31-2013-2A

Happy Labor Day.  Saturday evening, after the car buying experience, we were invited to Angie and Ben’s home for dinner.  I was pretty tired after the rigors of the day but it was a chance to see the kids and the grandkids so I couldn’t pass that up.  We were a little later than we wanted to be because I didn’t get home until 5:45 p.m.

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Joshua was glad to see us and was ready for some new playmates.  Angie made a wonderful meal and then we had cake and ice cream to top it all off.  After dinner Ben sat down beside me at the table with Gabbie.  She was a bit apprehensive but as long as Dad had a firm hold on her she tolerated me.

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I was able to hold her for a little more than 5 minutes before she realized what the heck was going on.  Before she had a full-blown panic attack I gave her back to Ben and all was well in her world.  🙂  I’ll win her over 5 minutes at a time.  We had planned to play some Euchre after dinner and after Josh and Gabby went to bed.  But by 8:30 I was yawning and it was time to leave.

I received a wonderful letter from a dear friend of my Sister.  She had written me a little over a year ago and I had answered her right back but hadn’t heard from her in over a year.  She does not have access to the internet so she does not follow my blog and I truthfully forgot about her during out trip to Ridgeway or I would have stopped to see her.  Anyway her letter made my day and my week and it was so good to hear from her.

Enjoy your Labor Day Holiday.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Sunday ~ September 01, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 1, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

August-30-2013

These are some of the storm clouds that were gathering Friday evening as I headed home.  They were awesome looking formations that changed with each passing mile.  They have no relevance to today’s blog but they were on my camera and I wanted to share them with you.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a long and at times stressful, but over all fun day spent with my Son, Mark.  The car we bought for Mark while he was in high school had served him well.  It took him through high school, college, and the first few weeks of his new job (which requires him to do a lot of traveling.)

To say his car was in bad shape was like saying the Titanic was taking on a little water.  The car had 145,000 plus miles and had really seen a lot of hard use.  So with Mark driving on average of 80 miles a day with his job it was time he got a new car.  I was honored that he asked for my help but worried at the same time.  Buying a car is not a fun experience even on a good day.  I hate the entire process the dealers put you through.  The exception is Turpin Motors in Dubuque.  They actually made the car buying experience enjoyable, but I digress.

August-31-2013

The plan was for us to meet in Cedar Rapids for breakfast, plan our strategy, and get a car for him by the end of the day.  Sounds easy right.  He found this quaint little cafe on 6th Street SW in Cedar Rapids, called Breakfast House Cafe.  Nice little place and they had very good food.  I have been dealing with a pesky stomach disorder most of the week but thought it was in a manageable state when I sat down to breakfast.  That was incorrect.  So now with all the other things to deal with I can also add that little problem to my list.  Let’s just say I was in a lot of places that I would just as soon not been in yesterday.  😦

We went from there to go look at a car he had found while looking on-line.  On the way we went pass one of the large McGrath Dealerships.  They have 5 or 6 huge dealerships in Cedar Rapids as well as a lot of other types of businesses.  So we detoured and went in to see what they had.  We were met by an energetic young man named Jason.  His fast walk was only exceed by his fast talk.  He loved every car he showed us and he drove us all over town to the other five McGrath Dealerships looking for something to fit Mark’s tastes and his budget.  He actually found two vehicles that Mark liked but then he found out the Dealership did not yet have possession of the title and was not sure when they would have them.

Finally we settled on a vehicle that was (in my mind) questionable and they started playing the numbers game with us.  The funniest thing was when they went to look at Mark’s car.  Everyone used the same words to describe it.  Politically correct and not to insult, they called it “a little rough.”  🙂

They gave Mark a price that was not even close,  so I told the guy we’d think about it and maybe be back after lunch.  We then went to the Dealership where Mark had found the car on-line.  We met a wonderful young man on crutches.  He had hurt himself while doing some training with the National Guard.  Turns out he spent a tour of duty in Afghanistan as well.  He was the hardest working young salesman I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.  I thanked him for his service to our country and then sat back and let him and Mark talk.

I had a good feeling about the car and the Dealership (even though they were an outlet center for used cars owned by…  Yep, you guessed it, McGrath Auto.)

One good thing was they were having a big tent sale so we got free burgers and chips while we waited and waited and waited.  When you’re a first time car buyer with a new job and not a lot of resources it takes some creative things to finally make it work.  I’m not going into all the hoops we had to jump through to get Mark’s car but I will tell you that he ended up with a pretty nice car and he is responsible for it.

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I learned some new things about my Son yesterday.  I’m very proud of him and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire day.  I wouldn’t want to go through it again today but it was an adventure and one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.  It was a real treat for me to spend the day giving advice when he asked for it and trying to keep my mouth shut when he didn’t.  I wasn’t always successful but I think most of the time I was.

He sent me a text when he got back to Iowa City saying thanks for the help and that he made it without putting a scratch on his new car.  🙂

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your Sunday and hopefully you get tomorrow off to relax as well.  Be careful.

Friday ~ August 30, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 30, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Kansas City Royals Ball Game

I’m in the people business.  I enjoy it immensely and there is never a day that is the same.  We are a complex and dynamic species.  Hundreds of thousands of books have been written to help us interpret and understand our various idiosyncrasies, beliefs, and actions.

I think that is one of the reasons I love photography.  I enjoy capturing people with my images.  To capture a moment in their lives and hopefully tell the viewer something about this individual through my lens.

I always take a few crowd images no matter what kind of event I am at.  I enjoy looking at them later in close up and studying the various expressions and actions depicted in the image.  It is fun to imagine what is on their mind at that very moment.

We humans do that a lot in our daily lives.  We see the actions of another and supply their intentions through our own belief and motivation filter.  Yet to date I have no knowledge of anyone who has the ability to know for certain what someone else is thinking or what they will do.  We can predict (translation = guess) but we cannot know for certain.  Hell I don’t know why I do certain things even after I’ve done them.  🙂

I spend a fair amount of my time helping with conflict resolution for inside and outside clients.  A significant amount of conflict comes about as a result of one individual interpreting the actions of another individual with no actual knowledge of what the first individual was really meaning and making that their reality.  It’s human nature, I call it job security.  🙂

Click on the image to enlarge it.  Then study the individuals in the image and make up your own stories about them.  Thanks for stopping by and reading my psychobabble and musings.  Enjoy your day.  A three-day weekend for some.  Be careful and stay cool.