Upde Designs

A difficult day for shooting with a long lens.  It was overcast, cloudy, and misting.  But I had heard there were eagles at the lock and dam so Jeanne and I set out to see if we could see them.

I shot this sequence of an eagle fishing with the Nikon D700 at ISO 2000  1/800 sec @ f8.0 with the Sigma 150 – 500 mm lens.  Considering the distance I was away from the eagle and the shooting conditions I’m not too displeased with these images.

We walked up to the observation deck at the Lock and Dam.  Lots of obstacles in my field of view  but it was the only place I could find to shoot from where I could get images of the eagles fishing.

There were probably 20 – 25 eagles on the ice and always two or three flying over the open water.  This guy was the only one that was half way in focus.  It is the first time I have captured an eagle catching a fish so I’m excited about that.

In the process of shooting the eagles today we discovered a new place.  More on that in another post.  We could get right down to the water’s edge at the new location and hopefully do so in a way that won’t spook the eagles.

By the time we found this new place it was misting pretty hard and it was getting dark enough that I couldn’t get the lens to focus.

So even though these are not tack sharp and still have some noise I am reasonably happy with the results.  It’s a learning process and I have a long way to go.

Enjoy your Monday.  Thank you for stopping by.  Be careful.

Happy Saturday.  Yes this is a wild turkey.  New Year’s Eve and Day Jeanne and I (well okay mostly Jeanne) stayed with Joshua while Angie and Ben got to go to Lambeau  Field to see the Green Bay Packers play the The Detroit Lions.

They live near a wooded area and the wild turkeys often roam in their back yard much to the delight of Joshua.  He loves to look out the window and see the turkeys.  There were four of them on this day.

New Year’s Day was spent watching Josh play with his toys from Christmas and keeping an eye on the football game.

It’s been a busy week since I shot the eagles on Wednesday so I have not had an opportunity to shoot any images except bank functions.  We also had our annual meeting for the Chamber of Commerce, which I am a board member so that left no time for pictures.

I love this image of Jeanne and Joshua.  She is so much about caring, nurturing and giving of herself for others.  I’m a lucky man indeed.

I plan to get out today and shoot some of the snow scenes. while the snow is still white 🙂  Have fun shoveling out, thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Nikon D3 | Tamron 200 - 500 mm lens | ISO 3200 1/1000 @ f8.0

Long day yesterday.  I left the house at 6:00 am and didn’t get home until 8:30 pm.  Lots of meetings today, both for the company I work for and for the Maquoketa Chamber of Commerce.  I am on the board of directors of the Chamber and this was our annual meeting for investors.  Then meetings this noon and afternoon.

Anyway this evening I attended a program at our bank in Monticello and on the way over about 4:30 pm the light was just beautiful.  I happened by the feeding ground for the eagles and this time I put the Tamron on the D3.  Admittedly they are far from sharp however  they are better than the images I posted a couple of days ago.

Nikon D3 | Tamron 200 - 500 mm lens | ISO 3200 1/1000 @ f8.0

To be fair the conditions were better today than on Monday.  The time of day was about the same but lighting was so much better.  I also had a lower ISO and shot at a slightly slower shutter speed.

I would like to be able to get a little closer to the eagles  but they are so skittish as it is.  When I roll up in my car about half of them fly away.  Once I ease out of the car and shoot over the roof half of the remaining birds fly away.  So if I were to try to walk a little closer to them I doubt that any would stay.

Nikon D3 | Tamron 200 - 500 mm lens | ISO 3200 1/1000 @ f8.0

These are still not very good but as Andreas says at least I was outdoors and had my camera with me so it sure beats not getting to shoot.  Additionally I was around eagles and that’s pretty nice.   I have to remind myself that it is a journey and I have a long way to go.

Enjoy your day.  Thank you for stopping by and be careful.

The elation I felt yesterday over the Sigma lens and the fact that it was taking sharp images was quickly dashed today.  I will say, that it was a tough day for shooting.   Gray overcast skies, brown terrain and very little light so it would have been a challenge for any lens.

I decided to try the eagles’ feeding ground South of Cascade again this afternoon.  I should have gone when it was sunny but it just didn’t work out.  So by the time Jeanne and I arrived there were lots of eagles there but they were far enough away that I couldn’t get a good focus on them for lack of contrast.

So I got some eagle pictures but they are pretty lame.  It’s kind of like going fishing and you catch 3 small fish.  Yes you caught some fish but you wouldn’t have them mounted.  I needed some thing for the blog today and I have no shame.  So this is what you get today.

I had the D3 and the D700 both set on auto ISO and was shooting at 1/1250 sec at f8.  I was getting ISO readings of 6,400.  Talk about noise.  WOW  there was a lot and I had to do a lot of noise reduction on each of these.  I shot 420 images, culled that down to 42 and there wasn’t a winner in the bunch.

About the only consolation is that I did shoot some images of eagles.  That’s about it.  I spent some time sneaking up on them this time and that worked well until a guy whipped over on to the shoulder got out of his SUV, slammed the door, raised the rear hatch, grabbed a video camera, took about 30 seconds of video and then slammed both doors and sped off.   😦

Wasn’t much doing after that.  My goal is to get at least one good eagle picture this year.  I’ve got my work cut out for me, that’s for sure.  Enjoy your day.  Be careful and that you for reading the blog.

Happy Monday.  Hope you have the day off today.  Yesterday I decided to take my Sigma 150 – 500 mm telephoto lens out for a test shoot.  My first experience with it was not very good.  I sent it back to the company to have it calibrated.  Additionally my experience with their customer service people really left something to be desired but that is another story for another time.

I took the Sigma and the Tamron out for a side-by-side comparison shoot.  First stop was lock and dam #10.  No eagles or birds of any kind flying there so I shot some signs for a test of sharpness.  I was pleased with the results of that test.  Next I remembered my encounter with the geese on 14^th street and decided to see if they were still there.

They were indeed there along with a pretty good number of ducks.  So I slowly walked up on them and sat on one of the big rocks until they became comfortable with me being there.

I shot about 100 images with the Sigma and the same number with the Tamron.  The good news was I couldn’t tell much difference.  Both lenses rendered reasonably sharp images.

I took the advice of my friend Burt and shot at 1/1250 sec at f8.  ISO was set to automatic and varied between 200 to 600 depending on the angle I shot.  I might even bump that up to f9 just to check it out.

So it was a fun experiment and I enjoyed watching the ducks and geese swimming and grooming themselves on land.  There must have been around a 100 birds there and they were enjoying the open water.

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

Nikon D700 | Nikon 24 - 70 mm f2.8 lens SB800 SL | ISO 200 1/125 sec @ f22

It is hard to believe that we are already half done with January.  A few weeks ago I saw (on one of the blogs I follow) an idea of dropping a die in a container of water and capturing it as it hit the water.

I figured if they can do it with one die I would use two dice for twice the action. 🙂 It took me about an hour to get everything set up.  I am not going to say I captured the image I had in my head but after looking at these images I’m okay with them.

Nikon D700 | Nikon 24 - 70 mm f2.8 lens SB800 SL | ISO 200 1/125 sec @ f22

I set up two foam-core sheets on the kitchen breakfast bar.  Then took a container that I bought at Wally World for $4.00 just for this project.  I set up one SB800 speed light with a modified beauty dish diffuser over the top of the container.

I set up a gold diffuser behind the container and lit that with another SB800 speed light.  I used sparkling water in the container (big mistake was to add regular tap water to increase the water level.)

Set the D700 on a tripod and put waterproof material on top to protect the camera and lens.  Then I dropped the dice while pressing the cable release for the shutter.  I missed the first shot but then being the super brain that I am I stuck my hand into the container to recover the dice and of course that pushed half of the liquid out over the foam-core and everywhere else.  Duh!! 😦

Nikon D700 | Nikon 24 - 70 mm f2.8 lens SB800 SL | ISO 200 1/125 sec @ f22

Anyway I like this image the best.  It’s like anything else.  Experience is the best teacher and there are a lot of things I would now do differently but it took another hour to put everything away so three hours for three images.  I don’t know how soon I’ll try this again.  🙂

I’m going to take my long lens out today and see if the factory recalibration made any difference.  My friend Burt from LeClaire gave me some shooting tips (he has the same lens) on how to get the best results with this lens so I’ll practice with it today.

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

I had a 45 minute break yesterday in an otherwise swamped day so I grabbed a sandwich and with camera in hand went exploring.  This was the first time I have been able to shoot any images of the first measurable snow of the season.

I went out to the small dam in Maquoketa but there was no water flowing so no ice formations around the doors.  On the way out I notice this small stream meandering through the woods and I liked the way it looked with all the trees around.   I tried this image in black and white and it just didn’t work as well as it did in color.

I decided to see if there was anything going on at the  “Duck Pond” and there were 9 swans swimming in a very small patch of open water.  By the time I was able to creep up within camera range they were moving toward the center of the pond (very unsociable.)  So the only thing I could do was grab this shot of one of the groups walking away.

Mindful of the image I showed you yesterday of the Hurstville Kilns I went back to them to capture this image with snow.  Again I liked this image better in color than in black and white.

So it was a fun 45 minutes.   I shot up about 50 images in a very short amount of time and I’m really glad I decided to go with my camera.  I got my long lens back from the factory this week (supposedly calibrated) so I’m anxious to take it out this weekend and see how it performs.

A new feature I’ve added to the blog is now if you click on an image it will take you to a larger image.  Then all you have to do is press the back key and you will be returned to the place where you were before.  WordPress limits me to 500 px wide images for the post but I can have a larger image on a page by itself.  So if you see one you like and would like to see more detail just click on it.

I’m lucky to have a three-day weekend so hopefully lots of shooting ahead.  Enjoy your weekend.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Nikon D3 | Nikon 28 - 300 mm lens | ISO 200 1/125 @f13

Tuesday the temperature was 51 degrees and on my lunch break I drove around looking for images to capture.   Everything was so bland, brown, and barren.  I just didn’t see anything that I liked.  On my way back to the office I went past the Hurstville Kilns.  The sunlight caught the four kilns and I thought it would make a nice image.

What really amazed me was it wasn’t until I brought the image into post processing that I noticed all the tree limbs.  All my eye caught was the interesting light on the side of each kiln.   It’s like when you take a nice landscape picture and then discover all the telephone lines in the image.

I was taking a course the other day and the instructor discussed that very topic.  Apparently our brain interprets what our eyes see in a way that we can understand.  In other words it filters out a lot of the distractions so we don’t have to spend a lot of time looking at the fine detail.

But when you make an image that moment is frozen in time and you see all the fine detail because there is no other stimulus competing with your brain for attention.  I remember in one of Scott Kelby’s photography books he talked about how he shot and entire wedding and was really pleased with his shoot only to get into post processing and discover that the bride had a huge blemish on her neck, which of course required a Photoshop adjustment on about 1,000 images.

Nikon D3 | Nikon 28 - 300 mm lens | ISO 200 1/45 sec @f13

One thing I’m trying to remember to do is “trace” the frame around the viewfinder before I press the shutter.  It is an exercise designed to bring you back to the matter at hand, which is to create a compelling image.   It is not my normal routine and I forget to do it a lot as these two images would suggest.

Winter came back with a vengeance.  I want to capture some of the aftermath over the weekend.  I hate driving in this stuff but I have to admit that it is nice to see some other color than brown.  That feeling won’t last long 🙂

Enjoy your Friday.  Hopefully you get Monday off as well.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful it’s slick.

I had a real treat yesterday in that I got to do a photographic assignment for one of my favorite communities.  One of the things I love about working for our organization is that we are a community banking organization.  We are deeply integrated into the communities we serve and the philosophy of our ownership is to be involved, engaged, and contribute to the communities we serve.

The Gentleman that I work for began working with the DeWitt Opera House over 30 years ago to rescue and preserve this vital part of the community’s cultural  center.  That is a long story in itself.  However the purpose of this post is to chronicle another chapter in a long list of events that have impacted the Opera House.

This wonderful structure also serves the community as a movie theater.  The Opera House was originally constructed to attract the traveling Vaudeville troops that would tour the small communities.  DeWitt did not have a place for them to perform so they organized a fund drive and built the Opera House.  It immediately became the communities’ cultural center.

Later a movie projector was installed and the Opera House became one of the first theaters in Iowa to show “talkies.”

The latest renovation to the Opera House is the installation of digital projection.   All movie theaters will have to be digital in the next couple of years and so faced with a $150,000 outlay the community once again stepped up and raised the necessary funds to install a digital projection system.

The purpose of my photography was to be used in a presentation at the dedication ceremony, which will be held this coming Monday.  It was an enjoyable project and I learned a lot about the rich heritage of this wonderful old Opera House.

Thanks as always for stopping by.  Enjoy your Thursday.  Watch the snow and be careful.

I will post a few more images from my stroll about the neighborhood last Sunday.  One thing that stuck in my mind is that we have lived here for 19 years and I have never just walked around the neighborhood looking at things from the perspective of something to shoot.  My tendency is to load equipment in the car and take off for parts unknown.

It was fun to see what all I could find in a very short amount of time. This image just does not do justice to the moon I saw.  It was massive and such a soft pale color.  I had a hard time focusing on it because it was so soft, I suppose because of the hazy sky.

Having sat through several hours of lessons looking for geometric shapes and repeating patterns I couldn’t help but shoot this swing set.  One of the lessons dealt with the rule of threes.  It suggested that you look for groupings of objects or patterns in groups of three.  Unfortunately this swing set had four swings but at least it had only three metal supports and I liked the repeating pattern.

One of my biggest (at least in my mind) faults is I don’t “look around the frame” before pressing the shutter.  That causes me to cut off things that should be in the image and have things in the image that should not be there.   I get so focused on my subject that I forget to look around the edges to detect and evaluate proper composition.  Above is a good example of that.  I cut off the top of the swing set.  It probably is okay, but it would have just been a better image if I had not done that.  Would you have noticed if I hadn’t said anything?

I have mixed feelings about this image.  I have seen many photos shot through a fence.  Some very artistic.  I liked this when I first looked at it but the more I look at it the more distracting I find the fence.  I saw a brilliant image once of a young man playing basketball in an urban setting.  He was shot through a chain link fence and that made the image even more compelling.

Nothing compelling about this image but again I just can’t decide if I like it.  Thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy your day and be careful.