Upde Designs

Good Day from the Windy City.  I came to Chicago Monday evening to participate in a two-day training seminar held right next door to Chicago Midway Airport.  The training is over at 3:00 pm today so I will be home for dinner.  🙂

As you look at the image above the building on the right side of the image is part of the hotel I’m staying at.  Every 90 seconds (almost to the second) a jet plane lands.  80 – 90% of them are Southwest Airlines.  Their planes are all shiny (at least the parts I could see) and they all look-alike.  Every 90 seconds.  After awhile you don’t even pay any attention to the noise.

I shot this image on our lunch break.  We had lunch in the courtyard and they fly over the court-yard every 90 seconds.  I was glad to know they have a no flush policy when over the city.  🙂

After the training class I walked over to Midway.  I didn’t realize you could walk right up to the wall (which was on this day the landing path) of Midway.  So I stood there for about 30 minutes and captured 418 images of the underside of airplanes.  🙂  It was wonderful.  Apparently this is kind of a rough neighborhood so a friend from work said he be my wing-man while I took pictures.

Actually he is just a good guy who is my friend and we visited while I was taking pictures.  He is the kind of guy who you could call at 2:00 am in the morning needing help and before you could hang up the phone he’d be there.  The really neat thing about him is he is that way to everyone.

I’m not going to show you just airplanes (even thought they are one of my favorite things to shoot.  Right after lunch I was walking back into the training session and saw this interesting pattern made by the shadow of a chair.

There are 26 of us from our company attending this training so it is really great to connect with all these folks that I don’t get to see very often.  The class is excellent and informative, the weather has been wonderful, and the food….  Well I could write several paragraphs about the food.  Hey I might do that later in the week.  🙂

Okay one last shot of an airplane.  I know you are tried of airplanes but go check out my 365 project (link on the right side of this post) I promise you it is worth the click.  It is my favorite image of the trip, so far anyway.

That’s it for today.  If I jump in the shower right this minute I might just make it to training on time.  No time for breakfast this day.  😦  Thanks for stopping by and reading the blog.  Enjoy your hump day and be careful.

Maybe it’s indicative of my mood or the scene outside my window or it could be that as I was processing the images they just looked better to me in black and white.

Black and white photography is a powerful medium.  I’ve had a lot of people tell me that a black and white image can move them emotionally much more than a color image can.  My friend Dana says that black and white images are always more interesting than color.

I’d like to say that I shot these images with the intent of converting them to black and white.  Some of my images that would be a true statement, that I had black in white in mind when I took them.  That is not the case with this series.  The first image I processed is the last one in this post and it just looked more interesting to me in black and white.

So then I processed the image above and it too looked better in black and white.  So who am I to go against a trend.  🙂  With all do apologies to Julian Dubuque, his monument got the B&W treatment as well not particularly because it looked better but hey by the time I got to it I was in a black and white mode.

Earlier (before going to the monument) we had gone to the river’s edge by the softball complex and while looking at the river (hoping a barge would come by) there were two guys who pulled up in their truck and got their fishing gear out.

By the time we got up to the monument I had forgotten about them.  I was looking up the river and saw one of them standing on this small pier fishing and that for me was the shot of the day.  No I don’t mean my 365 shot of the day, just the best of all the shots I took this day.

This was the one, when I framed it up in the view finder that made me think WOW!  But when I was in post processing I didn’t get that same feeling until I made it black and white.

I hope you enjoy your Tuesday and that it is filled with glorious color.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Boy Mondays sure seem to come around fast.  On Sunday afternoons Jeanne and I like to go on a photo drive.  I usually don’t have a particular subject in mind just travel in a direction and hope that something moves me.

The exception to that has been when we go down to the River Walk.  There always seems to be something going on of interest and lots of things to shoot.  If all else fails there are always an abundance of gulls, and ducks to keep me happy.

I suggested that we go to the river and Jeanne thought that was a good idea but thought it would be fun to check out the pond just off Carter Road.  The pond was like a mirror this evening and with the “golden” sunlight shinning on the pond and the trees it made for a great shot.  The geese were just an added bonus.

So before heading to the river I suggested that we go to Julian Dubuque’s monument.  I hadn’t been there this Summer and thought the light shining on it might make a nice shot.

Of course before we could leave the pond I noticed these cherries blowing in the breeze.  I liked the red, green, and blue colors.   We then drove over to the monument and looked around.  By the way it was just a perfect evening weather wise.

I found some neat things to shoot while at the monument and got some shots that I’ll share with you later in the week.  But I didn’t want to spend too much time at the monument because the sun was rapidly sinking I wanted to get to the river before Mr. Sun turned in for the evening.

This is just one shot from the Julian Monument.  Certainly nothing spectacular but I enjoy shooting flowers.  I did get a couple of cool shots (I think) but will have to wait until I have time to process them.

The Twilight was once again docked at the River Walk.  It is a pretty boat and the sun was wrapping around the boat.  I took some images but there were always a bunch of people in the shot, which I didn’t like.

Lots of people on the River Walk last evening.  We ran into a teacher friend of Jeanne and they had a nice visit while I photographed a bunch of gulls fighting over a dead fish.

Jeanne’s friend is retired now and is enjoying life to the fullest.  Thinking about all the things she likes to do and trying to figure out some new things to try.  That’s a nice agenda isn’t it?  To get up in the morning and not have anything that you have to do.  Only the things you want to do.

I hope you have a good Monday.  They can be difficult from time to time so be careful.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hope to see you tomorrow.

Happy Saturday.  I have some odds and ends to share with you today.  They do not fit in any particular group so we can call it a Saturday potpourri of images.

Above is a stop and go light at 3rd and Main but you knew that didn’t you.  I’m thinking the reason I took this image was because I liked the fact you could see the opposite colors of green and red at the same time.  When I had the image in post processing I decided it was boring and didn’t use it.   I like this rendition of it though.

Last evening we were suppose to sit with Josh while Angie and Ben attended a hospital function.  Well okay Jeanne was going to do the heavy lifting, I’m just a play toy for Josh.  🙂

Anyway Ben got called in so Angie invited us to have pizza with her and Josh.  I know you get tired of me saying this but he is such a delight.  As soon as we walked in the door he started smiling and talking.  I love to hear him talk.

Finally on the way home I came across this scene.  The D3S has such great low light capabilities.  I only bumped this up to 1600 ISO and then had to tone it down a bit in post processing.

What was going on?  I honestly don’t know.  Having spent several years in law enforcement I know that one of the things they do not need is more spectators getting in the way.  So I made the decision a long time ago not to be come part of the problem when I come across something of interest.

Enjoy your Saturday.   I think the forecast is for mid 70s and sunny so it should be a very nice day.  Thank you for stopping by.  Be careful.

It seemed to take its sweet time getting here but the weekend is just a few hours away.  This is my favorite image from the fly in breakfast last Sunday.

I have a short post today as it has been a long week and I have an early morning meeting.  A friend of mine at work yesterday saw me out in the lobby and said to me, “I really like your images, they are good.”  or something pretty close to that.  WOW!  Talk about making my day, she made my whole week.  🙂

It’s nice when someone expresses an appreciation for what you’re trying to accomplish.  I love-making images and I told Jeanne last night that I am happiest when I have a camera in my hand and something to shoot.

Thank you all for continuing to support this blog.  The only way I can repay you is by taking the best pictures I can.  Enjoy your Friday and be careful.

One of the many things I enjoy about my work is the opportunity I have to travel around our footprint and work with some of the most talented and enjoyable people around.  Yesterday was such a day and I had a lunch meeting near Cedar Rapids.

When I do travel I always take my camera.  I rarely take images on the way to a meeting (because I’m normally running either right on time or a little late.)  On the way back I may “occasionally” let my eye wander, looking for something interesting to shoot.  🙂

I may have made some images of this barn before.  I’m not sure.  I just find it hard to pass up a nice barn with original wood and still has a shingled roof.  Speaking of barns, I’m not really sure what it is that fascinates me so much about them.  But given the opportunity I would take images of way more barns than I do.  I have to pace myself.  🙂

On the way back to the office coming into the small community of Wyoming I saw this wagon sitting abandoned in a field.  Something about it attracted my attention so I made a couple of images.

It looked better to me when I was trying to capture the image that I saw in my mind.  I’m not sure I was able to do that because it doesn’t do anything for me now.

I was shooting away looking for different angles when a car went by and honked several times.  Must have been someone who knows me and I can only imagine what they were thinking about me standing down in a ditch shooting away in a suit. 🙂

Lots of neat clouds in the sky on my drive home last evening.  I decided to go a different route because I wanted to shoot my favorite windmill against the cloudy sky.

I made an image of this wagon last Fall during harvest time.  It sits next to a corn field and it made a nice image.  This time I liked photographing it from a different side but it just didn’t look good in color.  The sky was blown out and I didn’t like some of the colors in the background.  So I tried it in black and white and knew right away it was the right treatment for this image.  Remember you can click on the image and see a full version of the picture.

I’ve shot this windmill so many times, I fully expect the farmer who owns it to some day invite me to supper.  🙂  It is also the windmill on the masthead of this blog.  It sits on a hillside so I can shoot it from a variety of angles.  I have to shoot looking West so depending on the time of the day I can get some cool sunsets, especially in the Fall and Spring.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed some of the farm scenery and a break from all the aviation related photography of late.  I do like airplanes though so I suspect you might be seeing more later.

Thanks for checking out the blog today.  I hope you have an enjoyable Thursday.  We are coming into one of the best times (at least in my mind) of the year.  I love the Fall and harvest time.  Be careful.

Enjoyable day yesterday at work.  Helped do some “culture” training at a day long retreat and it was exhilarating.  Back to the airport on Sunday.  I particularly like the look of this airplane set against the cloud filled sky.

I was watching this airplane continue down the taxiway when all of a sudden I caught unusual movement out of the corner of my eyes.  It was a deer loose in the airport.  More importantly she was running along the runways where planes were landing and taking off.

I know there is a  fence around the airport property and it is a pretty tall fence so how she got into the airport is a mystery.  You can look just above the “C” on the runway sign and clearly see the deer.  The wing protruding on the right side of the picture is the twin-engine plane from the top picture.

I would think this would be considered a serious breach as the deer was running along side of and over the runway.  They dispatched a truck (I assume) to take care of the deer because after a short delay the planes started taking off again.

Airport personnel were handing out these little whirlybirds, so I got one for Josh.  He enjoyed holding it.  Above Grandma shows him how it flies.  I wish I had the video turned on while Jeanne was trying to make it fly.  🙂

He loved to watch it fly and then would run over and grab it.  If he saw a dandelion in the process he would ditch the toy for the weed.

Enjoy your middle of the week today.  Thanks for checking out the blog.  Hope you have a wonderful day and be careful.

Doesn’t seem possible that 11 years ago the world changed dramatically.  I’ve been watching the History Channel for the last couple of evenings and they have taken an in-depth minute by minute look at 9/11.  It has been an interesting couple of evenings learning about many of the things that happened on that day and before that we didn’t know about for some time.

I thought about Joshua and he will not have 9/11 as an anchor point in his life.  He will certainly learn about it when he is in school but he won’t have that memory like the Kennedy assignation, or Challenger.  I wonder what will be his anchor point?

Josh’s Mother wants to be a flight nurse.  Hard to do with a family but that was her goal when she graduated college.   When I took this image I was thinking about what he might become when he grows up.  Will he be in the medical profession like his parents or go in a completely different direction?  Hope I’m around to see that.  🙂

Josh loves to pick dandelions.  Either the flower or just the stems.  Then he will play with them for awhile and from time to time he will offer you  one.   He had such a good time at the airport.  Seeing the planes, listening to the engines, and playing in the expansive field area next to the taxiway.

It was a great way to spend a Sunday morning.  I’ll have some interesting images for you tomorrow about the airport and some of the planes we saw.  Busy day today as we have a day long training session I’m helping with.

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

I took the weekend off.  Did you notice? 🙂  No this isn’t from last week’s airshow.  Jeanne and I met Ben, Angie, and Joshua at the Dubuque Regional Airport for the annual fly in breakfast Sunday morning.

What a beautiful day.  Temperature was 61 degrees with a gentle breeze and lots of clouds in the sky.  Just about perfect for me anyway.  Everyone else complained about being chilly but I was comfortable in shorts and a tee-shirt.

We had a nice breakfast.  If you haven’t gone to the fly in before you should try it out.  A reasonably priced meal and lots to eat.  $7.00 for adults with juice, milk, and coffee included.

Josh had such a good time.  he was thrilled with the airplanes and wanted to go up and touch them all.  He would point to the sky and say “airplane, sky.”   There were a fair amount of experimental aircraft there and lots of private planes.

Only two war birds there this year (at least while we were there.)  There were some skydivers as well.  We saw a couple of them land.    This is a Navy air plane.  I’m not sure what model it is or era it is from.  I know they used planes like this in the beginning of the Vietnam War.

I asked one of the airport personnel but he didn’t know either.  I’ll do some research on it.  I made a lot of images (some of them very interesting) which I’ll show you as the week unfolds.  Lots of great captures of Joshua enjoying the day and being around all the airplanes.  Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your Monday as we have a full week ahead of us.  Be careful.

Today I wrap up the airshow images with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.  Like I mentioned earlier in the week they were unable to perform several of their routines because of the low cloud cover.  It was still a nice presentation but I did miss some of the formations they normally present.

The answer is, No I did not mess with this image.  They actually flew that close together.  Although it is starting to get some real age on it the F16 is a great aircraft.  It saw a lot of action in both Gulf Wars and is a real work horse for the Air Force.

This image shows the pilot putting the F16 through a high-speed turn.  Because of the condensation around the wings and the speed of the air craft I had some difficulty getting a really sharp focus on the plane.

It was a fun afternoon.  We enjoyed sharing the experience with Steve and Becki and My friend Dave who gave me the tickets stopped by for a quick visit with his Son.  I will certainly keep this on my radar for next year.  The only thing I would do differently is get there sooner so I could see some of the static displays.  In particular they had a beautiful F86 Saber Jet on display.

This is the Thunderbirds’ classic fly by for photographers.  They do this fly by and then later in the show they do a big slow sweeping turn so that you can have a good look at top of the plane and then they do the say maneuver for the dirty side of the aircraft.

Finally this image of a mirror image.  Compare this one with the first image I showed you.  I would think they would have to have a spotter telling them what their distance apart was because obviously they cannot see each other.

When you stop and think about this formation it would have to be one of the most difficult.  I didn’t pay all that much attention to it when they did it because it just didn’t register.  It wasn’t until I was processing the image that level of difficulty was significant.

That’s it for the airshow.  It’s been a busy week and a couple of nights I had to really scramble (Jeanne calls it lame) to get my 365 picture of the day.  Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your Friday and be careful.