Friday ~ August 16, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 16, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

August-15-2013

Yesterday morning coming to work I was actually early (for me.) I went by the house on the Hurstville Road that has the Peacocks and they were all out sitting on the front porch, the roof,  and the truck parked in the driveway.

Well I had to turn around and grab some shots of them.  I should actually do some research and determine when and why the spread their tail feathers.  I mean they are a pretty enough bird with their tail feathers closed but they are of course magnificent with them open.

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I had to go to Cedar Rapids yesterday.  After my lunch I took a few minutes and drove over to my favorite camera store.  I love to just look at all the stuff they have and make my wish list.  The owner of the store is so friendly and he is always happy to see me (I wonder why.)  I just like to go in and look around for a little while but he was wanting to talk about his redesign of the store and then we got to talking about government regulations and it just reminded me how difficult it is to run a small business in today’s environment.

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If you find yourself in Cedar Rapids and are wanting to look at some photography equipment I would encourage you to stop by Pro Photo.  They are located right next door to Best Buy on Collins Road and the owner’s name is Dave Johnson.  One of the most friendly and helpful individuals you will ever meet.  They have great equipment and at a fair price.

The weekend is here and the weather looks to be great.  I hope you have an enjoyable Friday.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Thursday ~ August 15, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 15, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

August-14-2013

Back to work yesterday after 9 days off, it took a little getting use to again.  When I came into town I saw a pair of swans swimming near the observation deck and I was concerned because I didn’t see any young ones.  I had worried about the cygnets because of the dropping water levels and my heart sank as I passed the swans and verified there were no little ones.

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Not to worry because when I got on the other side of the pond I saw the other two swans and they indeed had the cygnets with them.   Apparently another pair of swans have taken up residence at the pond, which is great.

I apologize for the poor quality of these images.  I didn’t have time to capture any images this morning when the light is in the correct position.  On my way out-of-town I have to shoot straight into the light.  Not the proper makings of a good image.  However I did want to show the progress of the babies so I’m willing to give up some style for telling the story.

Enjoy your day and thanks as always for stopping by.  Be careful.

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

August-13-2013

Happy Hump Day.  Back at it today after an enjoyable vacation.  It, like all things in life, had its great moments with the reconnecting of old and valued relationships and it had some down times as well.  But we came through it safely, more reflective, and hopefully a little wiser and very thankful.

My last day of vacation was filled with appointments in the morning.  Hearing aid adjustments and then a much-needed haircut.  After that I took off for some of my favorite photography places to see what I could find.  Jeanne was having lunch with some of her teacher friends so I did my own thing today.

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I didn’t start with the idea of taking images of flowers.  In fact that was the last thing on my mind.  I was actually looking for some wildlife images to capture.  But when I drove into one of my favorite parks in Dubuque I saw something that peaked my interest.  Upon exploring a little I was not all that excited with what I found, however on my way back to the car I came across all these wonderful flowers.  Well, I enjoy shooting flowers so that’s what you get today.  🙂

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So I shot a few images around the park and then I drove up to Mud Lake Park.  Not much going on there.  I did see a guy waxing his big RV Bus.  That work didn’t look like it was the way to spend an enjoyable vacation but to each their own.

I was hoping to find some birds that I don’t normally see around our place in Dubuque, but that didn’t work out so all you get today is flowers.   I actually shot more images today than I did the entire vacation.  🙂  Back home I did a bike ride.  I had a lot of getting re-acquainted again with the bike but it was fun.  If you’re bored and need to kill a few minutes head over to my biking blog.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your middle of the week hump day.  Be careful.

Tuesday ~ August 13, 2103

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 13, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized.

Royals Stadium

Happy Tuesday.  I was going to post a blog yesterday and had worked on a panorama of Royals Stadium and was going to post it but while it was rendering I started gaming and then by the time I was done with that I had forgotten all about writing a blog.  🙂  Nothing like letting a good mind go to waste.

Anyway, here is the “pano” of Royals Stadium.  (Be sure to click on the images to make them larger.)  It is not the best because I didn’t have a tripod and the lighting was terrible and did I mention I didn’t have a tripod.  Having said all that you get the idea of where we were sitting and how beautiful Royals Stadium really is.    I was lucky enough to attend the All Star Game the first year that Royals Stadium opened.  We had 3rd base seats and it was an amazing experience.  I do not think I fully comprehended the significance of the experience until years later.

I was on the Public Safety Department and very good friends with the Park and Recreation Director in Maryville.  His Father scored some tickets for him and he invited me to go along.  It was great fun but again the significance of the experience was probably lost on me at the time.

The stadium has been completely refurbished over the last couple of years and it is magnificent.  They have large LED lights all around the stadium and when the game situation demands the crowd to get involved they have a series of animations that makes it look like the whole stadium is shaking.  Really weird but it is an optical conclusion.  🙂

Joshua

I have so much to talk about our vacation trip and the wonderful friendships we renewed and the different emotional experiences we had but I won’t.  The last thing you want to hear about his my vacation.  This is a photography blog or supposed to be anyway.

Gabby

Angie and the kids stopped over for lunch today.  This is the typical response I get from Gabby.  Funny,  Josh and I bonded right away but I scare the living daylights out of her apparently.  She was less unhappy with me right after she ate but that’s only because I didn’t hover around much.

I had let the yard go longer than I should have and then didn’t mow it before going on vacation.  So today I spent a fair amount of my time mowing and trimming the yard.  We have some deep depressions in our back yard from last year’s drought.  I have not filled them in because I don’t care if there is grass there or not (I’d just had to mow it.)   🙂  Well the grass was pretty high and when I was mowing it yesterday as I got close to a large clump a little rabbit ran out.  I stopped immediately and then another one ran out.  I shut the mower off and eased up on the clump of grass and another one jumped out.

Apparently the Mother had relocated her brood there sometime while we were gone because the dogs were gone as well.  I watched the little ones go into the bushes and then put the nest back together as best I could.  I doubt if they will return there but at least they are still alive.

One more day of vacation and then back at it.  I have to get a hair cut tomorrow and then hopefully a bike ride in.  I wimped out today.  🙂

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

Sunday ~ August 11, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 11, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Dave, Jeanne, Debbie, Terry

Short post today as it is a long drive from Lee’s Summit Missouri to Dubuque, Iowa.  So we are pulling out about 8:30 a.m. this morning and making the 8 hour drive.  We may stop by Iowa City and see Mark, perhaps have a meal with him.

We had a delightful time with Debbie and Terry.   They were so gracious and enjoyable to be with.  It was a perfect night at the ball park and we had super seats.

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As the line in the movie Major League II said, “look at the scoreboard hayseed I’m doing fine.  Unfortunately the other team did fine.  😦

See you tomorrow.  Have a great Sunday and keep happy thoughts about our drive home.  Be careful.

Saturday ~ August 10, 2013

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

August-09-2013

Happy Saturday.   A nice day yesterday.  We drove some more around town in Bethany and looked at a lot of things we missed the first day.  Still hard to believe that we didn’t see anyone I knew but that is how much times have changed.  Now had we parked the car and walked into every store or gone to the grocery store, yes we might have run into someone but whether they would have recognized me or I them is the question.  Anyway enough about that.

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Around Noon we headed for Maryville, Missouri.  Home of North West Missouri State University.  We drove through the town and the campus.  I’m happy to report that Maryville is still a thriving community and is growing.  Lots of new businesses in town and a bustling downtown.  Traffic was congested in most places and it is still before the students arrive.  So that was a very good feeling.  Maryville is the one place that if I won the lottery I would move to.

We stopped by the Public Safety Department.  They were gracious enough to give an old officer a tour of the facilities.  I was envious of all the new equipment they have including their fire equipment, which included an aerial truck and three new pumpers (We had two trucks.)  They also have 9 squad cars (we only had three) and one of their cars is equipped with license reader.  It is technology that allows an officer to drive through areas where cars are parked on either side of a row (like motels, shopping centers, grocery stores), and it quickly reads the license plates of the car and determines if there are any wants or warrants outstanding or if it is a stolen vehicle.  Pretty cool.

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The best part of the entire trip was the time we spent with Al and Pat Turner.  We were invited to come out to their specious home on 3 acres of land full of trees and a pond.  We walked some of the property, talked a lot about good ole days.  Pat is a very talented artist, and all things craft.  She showed a lot of her tireless work to Jeanne and Jeanne was impressed.

We invited them to have dinner with us at Applebees and they suggested another place and that they would pick us up around 6:30 p.m.  We drove out to the Mizingo project.  A huge lake for fishing, boating and recreation, with camping facilities and even cabins for rent at lakeside.  There is also a large area that is set aside for youth groups to have privacy from the rest of the park.

Additionally there is an 18 hole (beautiful) golf course that is adjacent to the property and is also open to the public.  Wonderful place for residents and visitors.  We made a decision to come back here to enjoy the amenities soon.

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They took us to a place called A&G’s.  A very nice up scale Italian Restaurant.  We had a wonderful meal, beverages, and conversation.  Al and Pat were celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary yesterday and they were gracious enough to share it with us.   When the check came Al had already worked it out with the waitress to pay for the whole thing.  I felt terrible and after much discussion and gnashing of teeth he won out.  I did get to leave the tip however.

So we bid them good night and feeling very full and exhausted called it a day.  Today it is off to Kansas City and to meet up with our friends Deb and Terry.  We’re going to a Royals baseball game with them tonight.  They play the Boston Red Sox, so it should be a great game.

Also a big thank you to all my friends and my Son who wrote very thoughtful and profound responses to my blog yesterday.  They were truly heartfelt and I appreciated them so much.  To Kathy and George well said and to Bobbi it was so good to hear from  you.  My regrets that I didn’t realize your were still there as I would have loved to visit with you for hours.

About the photography or the lack of it.  We went through the town of Standberry yesterday on the way to Maryville.  There was a building on the side of the road with all these sculptures made out of metal.  Fascinating so of course we turned around and took some images.  The beautiful pond is on Al and Pat’s property.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your Saturday (they are very precious and there are only 52 of them a year) and as always please be careful.

Friday ~ August 9, 2013

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

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You can’t go home again.  Yesterday afternoon we said good-bye to Jeanne’s Mother and headed for my home town of Ridgeway.  This is a trip I’ve wanted to make for the last 15 years and I certainly had vivid memories of the way things used to be where I grew up.  I really intended to fill up a few photo memory cards taking pictures of all the areas of my childhood that had become so real to me again once we planned this trip.

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So there was an air of anticipation, excitement, and wonder as we stopped and photographed the welcome to Missouri sign.  Only 12 miles to Ridgeway and the beginning of a tour down memory lane.  Time moves on and waits for no one or nothing.  Of course things change even memories, but not this much.

The road off the interstate into town is even different.  There used to be a great hill with windy curves called “Wet Hill”  and as a young driver it was a hoot to come down that hill as fast as I could and see if I could get my car airborne when going over the rise of the bridge.  🙂  The hill is not so big anymore and the bridge is way more level than it used to be.  No I didn’t even try to get airborne.

The main street of town was the biggest shock.  When I was back 15 years ago it was not the bustling main street of my youth but it was certainly active.  Now many of the building are either gone or boarded up.  We drove most of the streets looking at abandoned homes, where once I delivered the twice daily paper.  Some of them I could remember the people who lived there but most had faded into the dark abyss of my feeble memory.  All the street are gravel as well.  Only the main streets through town are paved.

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We drove to the high school where I attended.  So many changes there as well.  It was depressing.  They have so reconfigured the school that I couldn’t remember where some of the classes used to be.  The school is in pretty bad shape esthetically as well.  We walked the hallway looking at class pictures.  The faces on some of the classes that I should have known didn’t look familiar to me.  Wow, 47 years can sure make a big difference in your memory.  🙂

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Probably the biggest disappointment to me was the house where I grew up was completely gone and over grown.  I knew the house was in terrible shape and I think I remember it had fallen in or been knocked down but I had also heard that someone had brought the property and was going to rebuild on it.  As you can see from the image above that did not happen.  So there is nothing left but weeds and probably a foundation somewhere in there.  Even the big ditch in front of our house where I used to stave off big Indian attacks had been smoothed out and eliminated.

So demoralized and depressed we headed for Bethany.  Jeanne was confident that we would run into people who knew me there.  That used to happen all the time when we would come back for visits to my Mother.   It didn’t really matter where we went there would always be someone around that I knew and we’d strike up a conversation about the “good ole days.”  Not yesterday.  I didn’t see anyone.  We stopped at the new law enforcement center to see if anyone from my days on the Sheriff’s Department was around.  The only name I said to them that they recognized had passed away sometime ago.

We drove by my Mom’s home and it had changed a lot as well.  It was in pretty sorry shape as well.  Bethany, overall  has made improvements and looks to be a healthy community.  It has a brand new Law Enforcement Center on the square and most of the store fronts were full of businesses.  Not bad for a little town of 3,000 plus citizens.

So today we head out for Maryville to revisit NWMSU campus, where Jeanne and I went to college.  We are having dinner with an old friend who was on the police department the same time I was.  I’m really looking forward to that.  I’m sure there are a lot of changes in Maryville as well.

Oh yes I almost forgot about the photo memory cards.  I took a total of 15 images yesterday.  Many of them at the cemetery.   Hope today is more inspiring.  Sorry for the downer blog today.  I suppose if I had been realistic in my thinking I would have been prepared for this.  Like Jeanne said however, I’m glad we came because it has bugged me for a very long time and now perhaps it won’t anymore.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your Friday and the weekend.  I will hope to blog again tomorrow.  Be careful.

Thursday ~ August 08, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 8, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

August-07-2013

Good Day.  Day one of the vacation is history.  We left home around 12:45 p.m. and drove over to Ames, Iowa to visit Jeanne’s Mother.  Several photo opportunities along the way but we had told her we would be there at a prescribed time so I passed them up.

We spent the rest of the day visiting with her and working with Media Com to help her get connectivity at her home.  The technician will be there next week so the next time we visit there will be WiFi.

Jeanne’s Mom enjoys the internet but has had an unreliable system so this will make it much better for her.

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The second image has little value other than I wanted to take a picture for Jay of her tomatoes.  I had one for dinner last night and it was very good.

Today we are traveling to the little town that I grew up in.  Ridgeway, Missouri.  When I lived there it was a community of about 450 people.  I knew most of them and wanted to spend the rest of my life there.  It was the center of the universe for me. 🙂

More to come.   Enjoy your day.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful

Wednesday ~ August 07, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 7, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Shellby Golf Cart

I’m in full vacation mode today as this is the first day of our vacation.  Short trip today and then a little more driving tomorrow.  More on that later.  I hope to blog everyday but connectivity will be the main issue as we travel.

Yesterday was the Maquoketa Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Golf outing.  It is the largest fund-raiser the Chamber does each year.  We had a good turn out and the weather was great.  Since I don’t golf as much as I use to and since I love to take pictures my assignment for the last two years has been to capture the fun of the event and make an image of each team participating in the outing and that is a fun assignment for me.

I even had a chauffeur to drive me around all afternoon.  So we have a list of the participating teams and what hole they started on.  Our assignment was to make an image of each team and then we had 5 master sponsors and we wanted to capture an image of them at the place on the course that was set up to show case their products.   Additionally I need to point out that there was absolutely no drinking of adult beverages involved in the entire process, especially by the chauffeur and photographer.  🙂

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The customized golf carts in this post are the property of Ron Burnett.  He is the owner of BURNETT – THIEL FORD, INC., in Maquoketa.  He has these golf carts for sale at his dealership in case you are interested.   Before the golf event got started and before I got my chauffeur I drove around the course to take some environmental shots and verify my camera settings.  Ron was by his display automobiles and was polishing these carts.  They are just beautiful and I can tell you if resources was not a question I would own one of these machines.

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About two hours into the event and we are driving all over the course trying to make sure we captured everyone’s image and we stopped by to see Ron again and take an image of him with his cart.  He said, why don’t you guys go in style and take my personal cart for the rest of the afternoon (the first cart image on this post.)  WOW! What a fun ride.  Headlights that dim, turn signals, stereo am/fm radio, cushy seats and lots of chrome.  Oh yes it has a horn so we could bug the golfers.  🙂

It was a fun afternoon and I shot about 180 images (with lots of duplicates) to make sure I got everyone in their best pose.  I did something yesterday that I have not done before.  I shot in RAW + JPEG.  I do a slide presentation after the event, while folks are eating dinner and during the auction.  Last year it took too long to process the images so this year I just dumped the JPEGs into the slide show and let her rip.  It worked perfectly.

Well that’s it for today.  Enjoy your mid-week hump day.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Tuesday ~ August 06, 2013

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

August-05-2013

Good Day.  A quick post today as I am later than even I’m use to.  I didn’t get home until late last evening because I had to attend a Maquoketa City Council meeting as a representative of the Maquoketa Chamber.  So I worked at the office until 6:00 p.m. and then decided to see if I could find something to shoot.

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I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t do a very good job on these flowers.  These are the best of a forgettable bunch of shots.  I should have set the tripod up as the light was such that I could only shoot at 1/50 of a second.  Too lazy to do that and I wanted to keep the ISO as low as possible so I have a lot of flowers that are soft around the edges or just a big blur altogether.

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These flowers were at one of the many parks in Maquoketa and attended by the Master Gardners of Maquoketa.  For a small community Maquoketa has a wonderful park system and their trademark park Little Bear is going a complete make over.  I’ll get some images of the new park when it is completed in late September.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy this Tuesday.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.