Tuesday ~ December 20, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 20, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

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Happy Tuesday!

I have one image for you today.  I have around 2,000 images of eagles from last January and February that I have not shown to anyone for a variety of reasons.   2016 was my best year ever for photographing eagles.  I found two places last year that were just spectacular for photographing eagles.  One of course was Lock and Dam 14 at LeClaire and the other was around the Bee Branch Project.  I’m getting excited to go to LeClaire again soon.

I had my post op check up yesterday afternoon and everything looked great.  I tested 20/20 vision so I’m thrilled after all those years wearing glasses not to have to wear them anymore.  My surgeon asked which procedure I liked the best normal surgery or laser surgery (since I had each eye done differently.)  No question the laser surgery was tops in my view.  🙂

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your day.  Stay warm and be careful.

Monday ~ December 19, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 19, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

december-18-2016

Happy Monday!

I have four images today.  After early church yesterday, Jeanne and I took a photo run down to the river.  We saw a couple of eagles sitting high in the trees but none were fishing at the dam.  The steam was rising for a far as the eye could see with a lot of open water mixed with ice below the dam.  I have never seen this much steam rising from the river.

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We didn’t find anything of interest at the dam so we drove up to Mud Lake Park.  I enjoy going up there and have occasionally be rewarded with some great images.  We saw this pair of eagle watching the river from a fallen tree.  It’s not tack sharp but I thought it worthy of the post.

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I think most of the wildlife was hunkered down as the static temperature was -11 and the windchill was somewhere around -25 degrees.  I know that when I got out of the car to compose and take a photograph my face started hurting by the time I got back in the car.

I saw this little sparrow sitting in the tree and wanted to make an image of him so I didn’t come home with an empty card.  🙂

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On the way home found this guy sitting in the tree.  I figured he would fly when I stopped the car and got out but he didn’t.  He tolerated me while I fired off some images.  He stayed there the entire time and when we left he was still there.

That’s it for today.  Still -4 but supposed to warm up to a balmy 15 degrees today.  I have my final post op check up late this afternoon and hopefully he will tell me I can resume my normal routine.  I’m tired of trying to sleep with that shield on.  🙂

Enjoy your day, stay warm and be careful.

Saturday ~ December 17, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 17, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

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Happy Saturday!

I have four images for you today.  This has become a tradition for me of late to photograph the Christmas tree ornaments.  So that is what I have to share with you today.

It’s been a while since I posted any images.  Several reasons for that.  The weather has been terribly cold, the short window of light for outdoor photography and I have been reluctant to put a camera close to my eye (I’m a left eye shooter) the last few days since my cataract surgery.

I’m going to talk a little about that surgery since this one was much different then my first cataract surgery two years ago.

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I opted this time for laser surgery for two reasons.  The laser procedure has the ability to greatly correct an astigmatism (which I have in my left eye) and because I have experienced on going problems with my right eye after that surgery I decided to get the additional comfort and peace of mind with the precise incision of a computer guided procedure.    I have to tell you it was not what I expected at all but (knock on wood) the results have been better than I expected.

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The laser part of the procedure only lasts about three minutes.  The entire process lasts about 15 – 20 minutes.  I was instructed to look in the center of a device that had 6 tiny led lights and not to move my focus from that point until told to do so.  Then the laser was lowered onto my eye and it felt as if they were drilling completely through my eyeball.  It was unnerving.  I was told to expect a little pressure but it was much, much more than that.  There was no pain but it felt like the machine was going to go clear through my eye.  🙂

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Like I said the results have been great.  I go back for my post op check up on Monday and hopefully can resume my normal daily routine after that.  Right now I can’t lift anything over 20 pounds and have to sleep with a plastic shield over my eye.  An inconvenience but nothing more.

So if you are contemplating cataract surgery and have an astigmatism I would seriously consider the laser procedure.  It may not be covered by your insurance (mine wasn’t) but for me it was worth the additional expense.

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

Monday ~ December 12, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 12, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

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Happy Monday!

Only one image for today.  I actually photographed this old barn a couple of weeks ago but never got around to processing it.

I have my cataract surgery today.  Hopefully that will go okay.  I’m already hungry and it’s only 6:30 a.m.  🙂

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

Saturday ~ December 10, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 10, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

december-08-2016

Happy Saturday!

I have three images for you today.  I must have a thousand or more images of eagles sitting on a tree branch, but when I see one I have to photograph it.  I was down at the Lock & Dam #11 in Dubuque to see if any eagles were fishing.  They were not but there were 20 or more in the trees by the Lock and Dam.  That’s the most eagles I’ve seen by the dam in a very long time.

That is exciting because it means it won’t be much longer and I’ll head a little South of here to do some eagle photography in LeClaire.  🙂

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Come to think of it I have thousands of images of Ring-Billed Gulls and Canadian Geese as well.  Same problem, when I see them I feel compelled to photograph them.  I need to do some traveling and experience some new scenery.  🙂

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My wife and my Friend Betty both love geese and there were hundreds of them at the 16th Basin and at Buck’s Branch yesterday so I had my pick.  I started following this couple right after they swam out from under the bridge on 16th Street.  They were pretty far apart but came within inches of running into each other.  I mean maybe an inch as they were watching me the entire time.

That’s it for today.  We are supposed to get a major snow storm this weekend.  Jeanne and I have a Christmas party to go to out-of-town and we will be watching the radar this afternoon.  There was a time when it didn’t matter what the weather was we were out among them.  A lot older and a tiny bit wiser has made me much more cautious.

Enjoy your day.  Stay warm and be careful.

 

Wednesday ~ December 07, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 7, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , .

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Happy Wednesday!

“A date that will live in infamy, December 7th, 9141!”  Seventy five years ago, Pearl Harbor was bombed in a surprise attack by the Japanese Navy, which marked the beginning of World War II.

I had to travel to one of our banks yesterday.  The sky was blue and there were some wonderful clouds floating around so I have a couple of images for you today.

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Nothing else on my mind this morning so won’t bore you with endless babble.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ December 06, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 6, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

december-05-2016

Happy Tuesday!

I have three black and white images for you today.  Why black and white?

I went out yesterday to look for some snow images and was greeted by a dense fog.  Not the best formula for landscape photography, however you take what Mother Nature gives you or you don’t make any images.  🙂

I see this bridge to no where everyday on my way to work.  It’s on the far side of the road and the sun is usually shinning directly toward the camera so I don’t often make an image of it.  Yesterday however I had the time and the inclination so I crossed the road (think chicken) to capture this image.

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The Hurstville Lime Kilns always make for a good shot.  I liked the way the snow interacted with them.  Remember you can click on the images to see a larger more detailed version.

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Finally for my good friend Betty.  There were some geese on the “duck pond” resting from their journey.  I couldn’t pass up a chance to photograph them.

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

Saturday ~ December 03, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 3, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

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Happy Saturday!

I have four images for you today and a long rambling story.

I was off work yesterday and had nothing on my “to-do” list.  I was looking forward to a wasteful day of rest and relaxation.  While sitting in front of my computer trying to decide if I should take a photography lesson or play some Xbox.  I hate to admit that the Xbox was winning the debate when I got a text on my phone reminding me I had a pre op appointment at 10:00 a.m.   I was certain it was for Monday but decided I had better check the patient website and sure enough there it was.  So I got a shower, packed some cameras, and decided that I would head down to the clinic a little early.  This turned out to be a good idea.

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So I get to the clinic and stand in line waiting impatiently, I might add, to announce my presence and finally get to the “gate-keeper” who has a puzzled look on her face when I tell her that I had a ten o’clock appointment for a physical.  She says your physical is for Monday not today.  Of course I indignantly showed her the text on my phone and she said,  “That appointment is with Ophthalmology!”  Ugh, it is now 15 minutes before my appointment and I have to drive clear across town to get to the Ophthalmology department.  So I apologized to her and hastened to my car, which was at the far end of the parking lot.  The good news is I made it with a couple of minutes to spare and spent the next two hours  getting all kinds of measurements and testing done to my eye.

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After my exam (fortunately they did not dilate my eyes) I decided to head out to see if I could find some images.  It was a gray day and after an hour or so of exploring I stopped at this little cafe North of Durango for lunch.  Very small place with lots of regular customers there.  It was funny because people who came in after I did and ordered got their food before me.  🙂

Growing up in a small community I fully understand that you take care of your regular customers before a passer-by.

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After 4 hours of looking at some new territory and trying to find something of interest these are the four images I came up with.  Thankful that I found something but of course disappointed that this was as good as it got.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for listening to me ramble on.  Hope you enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ November 30, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on November 30, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

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Happy Wednesday!

Only one image today.  I chased this guy around Green Island for awhile before getting one decent image of him.  He was very active and stayed behind a lot of branches so I have a lot of blue blurry images of him.

Nothing else on my mind this morning.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ November 29, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on November 29, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

november-28-2016

Happy Tuesday!

I have three images for you today.  The first eagle images of the season.  Even though the weather was lousy for photography I decided to go out and see what I could find.

What I found was a few eagles sitting around the Lock and Dam in the trees.  None of them were fishing while I was there but there were a couple of them flying over the park.  I had to shoot at a high ISO (7200) and with the gray sky most of the shots were heavily back-lit so it made it difficult to get any quality shots.  Still these are eagles and I will never pass up a chance to photograph eagles no matter the conditions.  🙂

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This reminded me of a married couple.  Even with my hearing impairment I could hear the eagle on the left screeching.  As the other eagle finally came to the tree where she was, the screeching intensified.  I’m guessing he was in trouble for something  🙂

An interesting story to tell, which again shows why I love photography so much.  After yesterday’s post I received a text message from my good friend Rick.  He was commenting on the barge image and said that he knew the guy who was piloting the helper tug.  He wondered if I would mind if he sent him a copy of the image.   I told him if his buddy would email me I would send him the high-resolution original image and he could print it to whatever size he wanted.

When I got home there was an email from Jeremy, the tug boat Captain.  He thanked me for the image and invited me to come along and ride with him and photograph a locking process.  WOW!  What an opportunity.  Hope to get that done before the barge traffic ends for the season.

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I took a lot of images but there were very few that I would even process.  It was raining intermittently as well so it was not a day for outdoor photography.

That’s it for today.  Back to work for me.  I enjoyed the 5 days off.

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