Tuesday ~ February 27, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on February 27, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Happy Tuesday!

Last Sunday afternoon Jeanne and I decided to travel some of the back roads and byways of Eastern Iowa to see if there was anything worthy of a image on my memory card.  It was a most enjoyable drive and the weather was almost  perfect.

I have a soft spot in my heart for barns and find it difficult to pass up a chance to photograph one.  The images on this post look a whole lot better enlarged and more detailed if you click on them.

We ended up in Guttenburg and found this really nice little ice cream shop on main street.  The selection was varied and funny that we both ended up selecting the strawberry cheese cake cone.

I also have a problem with passing up and interesting tree.  I love the green leaves and especially the fall colors but I do think trees are more interesting when the are “naked.”

Finally ended up in Peosta and had a nice dinner at Round 2.  Great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Short video with some interesting views.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Thursday ~ February 01, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on February 1, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Happy Thursday!

I had the opportunity to spend some time this afternoon at the river.  I was reminded of the fish on a board and when you pushed the red button it would sing, “Take me to the River, throw me in the water.”

It was an unusually warm day in Dubuque and the sun was shining so it was the perfect day to go down to the river.  I was surprised, (although I shouldn’t have been) to see so much open water.  There was very little ice on the river.

Found a bunch of Mallard Ducks along the shore line and I had fun trying to photograph them.  At first they all swim away from you but after they determine you’re not a threat to them they be come more relaxed.

I did a far amount of walking to day, which is good I need the exercise but it was tiring and so I was a little bit sore when I got home.

Remember as always you can click on the image to reveal a larger more detailed rendition of the image.

I couldn’t pass up a chance to photograph a tree that was so perfectly surround by the river.

Once the ducks got use to me they started getting back on the ice and settling down for a nice afternoon nap.

It was a fun afternoon.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your weekend and be careful.

Wednesday ~ January 17, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on January 17, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

A chilly happy Wednesday!

RotarI had a really great day today.  I had been asked to present the program for the Maquoketa Rotary Club.    It is a small club but filled with many dear friends.  The subject I was asked to present was about drones. 

I’ve been flying and sadly crashing drones since 2014.  I love the hobby and as I said today the drone allows us the opportunity to make images that could not be made with a hand held camera.I have, unfortunately, drifted away from photography since my retirement but I plan to change that in 2024.  In preparing for my presentation I went back into the past looking for images to support my presentation.  I quickly discovered the enjoyment and wonder of photography as I looked back on the last 12 years.  Photography has brought me so much joy over the years and with the added enhancement of aerial photography I feel like I can once again share my passion for making images.

I did not fly any drones today for a variety of reasons.  Mainly because it was so damn cold.  The other reason was that where I took these images did not lend itself to launching a drone.

So I hope you enjoy the trees today.  I know you get tired of me telling you that you can click on any image and it will give you a much larger print with more detail.  Beauty is actually in the eye of the beholder so if you like small images so be it.

Enjoy the rest of your day and be careful.

Monday ~ January 15, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on January 15, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Thank God It’s Monday!

A quick side note.  The organization I retired from had a consultant who had written a book entitled “Thank God It’s Monday.”  It was a theme we carried for several years, TGIM.  To be perfectly honest I never really bought into the concept that I was so happy it was Monday!  That is until I retired.  Now I can honestly say TGIM!

It was a motivational concept, and I understood the meaning of it and espoused it continuously.   Any way this has nothing to do with today’s post.  Just struck me as funny.

Below is an aerial of St. Lukes Methodist Church.  It is the oldest church in Iowa and was the first organized religion in Iowa.  The church has magnificent Tiffany windows and is a regular on the tourist agenda.   My wife along with other women of the church give tours of the church and tell of its vast history.  It is a must see for all the different cruise ships that dock at Dubuque.

Anyway, I have, for the last couple of years wanted to do an aerial shot of the church.  Either I had a drone with me and wasn’t anywhere near the church or if I was near the church no drone.

Today I was lucky enough to have lunch with my wonderful daughter and when we finished, I decided since I was already downtown that today was the day for the church shot.  It was -4 degrees and there was some wind, but the sun was shining, and I reasoned it would be an easy thing to do.  I was wrong.  I about froze my fingers off and trying to fly a drone with gloves on is nearly impossible.  But I got it done and now I hope to do a series of seasonal images of the church in 2024.

If you click on the image you can see a much larger more detailed version of the image.

By the time I got the drone up and in place my poor fingers were hurting so much.  So I took the picture and then put the gloves on.

I usually don’t get myself in the image but wanted to demonstrate trying to fly with gloves.  It is hard to make precise movements with the drone.  The good news was that I was able to land the drone without hitting my truck and didn’t have frost byte either.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Friday ~ January 12, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on January 12, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Happy Friday to all my Friends who are working.

Yesterday evening our granddaughters, Gabby and Addie came over to do some snow boarding on our hill.   Gabby pm the right and Addie on the left.  We have a great hill behind our home and they wanted to use it.

Before they went snowboarding they decided to clean off the patio and grandpa’s grill.  It’s so fun to watch them do things and the level of energy they have.  I’m not sure I ever had that much energy when I was there age.

Click on any image to reveal a larger and more detailed version.

They did a decent job clearing a path to the grill and to the back door. (spoiler alert) today mid-blizzard the grill looks the same and there is no path to the grill.  🙂

Then it was time to go snowboarding. “you want to come with us Papa?”  I would have loved to but not in the condition I’m in now.  😦

Even Grandma got into the act.  It was a fun evening with the girls and then all to soon they had to go home.

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

Friday ~ January 01-07-2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on January 5, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Happy Friday!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2024 is to shoot more images.  I’ve gotten away from taking images that catch my attention.  To  that end I purchased a used / refurbished camera that is small enough to carry with me all the time and yet has the ability to deliver some quality images.

Interestingly, I had  this same camera in October 2018 and liked some to the features it had but it didn’t deliver the things I wanted in a camera at the time.  You can see some of the images I took with it at this address on my blog –> November 2018.  (i.e., use the list of dates on the right side of this blog to see the images.

So today I took it with me as I drove around down by the river before a lunch engagement I had.  I came to realize some interesting things.

This camera is good at so many things, (i.e., quick point-n-shoot images, far away images, and images that do not demand a “tack sharp” rendition of the subject of the photo.) As an example, like the one above.

So as long as you understand its limitations and its strengths you can use it to your advantage.  We all have said strengths and weaknesses and it’s important to use them when possible. The above image was taken because it had the Dubuque Water Tower in the background and there was a lot of smoke coming from the smoke stack on the building.  The problem is  the smoke did not get captured by the camera.

So using this camera in the proper settings will deliver great images.  But don’t expect it to do everything that a high quality DLSR will produce.

Remember you can click on any of the images to show a larger more detailed image. 

So that ‘s it for today.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and remember to enjoy your day and be careful.

SUNDAY ~ December 31, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 31, 2023
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

Happy New Year’s Eve.

First, let me apologize for this lame blog update.  I was trying out a new technique with my camera and given that it was a cloudy gray day and snowing I just took some random shots.  While I was happy with the results the images themselves are a poor choice.

Having said that I wanted to post something in the final day of 2023 so this is it.  Feel free to close out this post and move on.

I did at least finish my New Year’s Resolutions.  One of which is to be more active with my camera and drones.  Which should improve the quality of my up coming posts.

Enjoy your day, drink responsibly, and be safe.  See you next year.

Monday ~ November 27, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on November 27, 2023
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Happy Monday!

I did some pro bono work for Jackson County Historical Society and made a “nice” video to promote the Fair grounds.  It’s 5 minutes if you’re interested.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ October 24, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 24, 2023
Posted in: Aerial Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Happy Tuesday!

Okay, by now I’m sure you’re getting tired of Fall colors shot from a drone.  Sorry, I just have to add another round.

So 7 or 8 years ago I was in an officer waiting to see my client and in their lobby they had a image similar to the one above.  I was really intrigued by it and made a mental note to do something similar when I had the opportunity.

Last Sunday I decided to take some drone shots of the water tower with the beautiful Fall foliage and see if I could get close to replicating the image I saw back then.

The technique used to capture all sides of the subject (the water tower) is called point of view circle.  It’s not all that complicated but it does take some practice.  I used the DJI Mini 3 Pro drone for this project.  It weighs under 249 grams and on a calm day is the perfect drone for this type of flight, with one exception.

The drone has sensors facing front, back, and down but not sideways.  So it makes this maneuver a bit risky if anything gets in the way of the drone moving sideways.  I published a video a month ago called “water tower madness” which clearly demonstrated this weakness.

Anyway a short 3 minute video below will show the maneuver so I hope you’ll watch and enjoy it.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ October 18, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 18, 2023
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Happy Wednesday!

As of September 20th I have been posting on the blog for 13 years.  Jeanne often times will pick a year and month just to look back.  I don’t do that because in the beginning I was pretty bad.  🙂

Okay, I know I just posted some fall colors a couple of days ago but that was in and around Dubuque.  Tuesday I went to Maquoketa to have lunch with a couple of good friends and I decided to do some flying around the Hurstville, Iowa (close to Maquoketa.)

My original idea was to get some aerial images of the bridge to no where. It has been the subject of several of my posts over the years.  It was a good idea in my mind.

The problem was, there were some very tall and thinks trees around the bridge.  If you could hike back there or wade in the river you could get a nice shot of it.  But because I had to fly high and was worried about the trees you just catch a glimpse of the bridge.

Take a look for it when you view the video below.  It’s only 5 minutes long.

Enjoy your day and be careful.