Monday ~ July 06, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 6, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

1952-FirstGrade copy

Happy Monday!

They say, “You can never go home again.”  But for 12 glorious hours I did just that and it was beyond my highest expectations.

The image above is of my first grade class in 1953.  I found it a few days before the “All School Reunion” that was held in Ridgeway, Missouri.  Ridgeway is a little town of 450 people plus or minus a few people over the years.  It is located in Northwest Missouri 22 miles South of the Iowa border.

I graduated in 1965 in a class of 16 students.  Of the 16 students that graduated 12 made it back to the 50th reunion, two have passed away and two were unable to attend.  So it was a remarkable turn out.

July-04-2015

The image above is left to right, Richard, Jim, Sharon, Darrel, Shari, Terry, Diana, Me,  and Everett.  Can you match them up with the original 1953 image.  🙂

More than just our reunion however, because the school was small it was more like one big class.  We knew everyone and knew almost everything about everyone.  So it was one joyous reuniting after another all squeezed into those wonderful 12 hours of reliving a past that was filled with wondrous and happy memories.

These are the friends who know everything about you and still love you in spite of that. I do not have the literary skills to adequately convey the joy, warmth, emotion, and love that I received and gave during that period of time.  It had been 30 years since I had seen most of them, and 40 – 50 years since I’d see some of them.  So there was a lot of catching up to do and so little time to do it.

July-04-2015A

The lovely silver-haired lady in black and white was our 3rd grade teacher “Miss Marilyn.”

One of the greatest things that has happened over the last few years has been reconnecting with many of my childhood friends through Facebook.  Which was the predominate reason I wanted to attend this year’s celebration.

I have some images and video that I will share during the week.  It started Friday evening when I crashed the reunion dinner of the class of 61 and ended Sunday with a two-hour breakfast with my dear friend Kathy and her wonderful husband Phil.

The image above is from our reunion lunch at Sharon’s home.  It was a great time that was over in the blink of an eye.  I didn’t get a chance to visit with all the wonderful people in this image.   If there was one wish I would have asked for the power to slow time down for at least that day.

Thank you for stopping by the blog.  I hope you don’t mind my journey down my memories of those remarkable years.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ July 01, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 1, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-30-2015

Happy Hump Day!

I was sitting on my humble patio last evening contemplating the whys and wherefores of things and decided I should grab a camera and a long lens and capture some images of the little Gold Finches that are now prevalent in our back yard.

June-30-2015A

This was not my intent when I wandered onto the patio but they are such a pretty little creature and as their feathers glistened from the sun I reasoned that it was the proper thing to do.

June-30-2015B

There was precious little sun, hence there is a fair amount of noise in these images.  I had to shoot them at ISO 2000, which is kind of high for the D750.  Also I’m not thrilled with the Sigma 150 – 600 mm lens but it was what I had available on short notice.

So that is what I have for you today.  Three images all Gold Finches.  I hope it was worth your time to stop by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ June 30, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 30, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-27-2015-2AA

Happy Tuesday!

I have some more images from our dinner party Saturday night.  I felt like a black and white rendition for these was appropriate.

I had a close call yesterday on my 27 mile bike ride.  I was only 6 miles into the ride and was going at a pretty good clip when I came to a bumpy part of the road.  There was a car just getting ready to pass me on the left when my seat broke and went flying into the street.  I was lucky enough to maintain control of the bike and got it stopped without incident.

June-27-2015-2BB

Jeanne came and picked me up and we went to the bike shop.  The repairman said in all his experience he had never seen a piece that holds part of the seat together break.  He had a hard time finding a replacement piece because as he said, “They just never break.”

I was very lucky that it didn’t end up badly.  But 45 minutes later I was back on the road completing my ride.

June-27-2015-2CC

This is an image of Steve and Becki’s little dog Mia.  Waiting at the bottom of the steps for Becki to return with some treats.

That’s it for today.  Back at it so I gotta run.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ June 29, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 29, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

June-27-2015

Happy Monday!

I had one of the most enjoyable Saturdays in recent memory.

Back in March, Jessica from the Hurstville Interpretive Center asked me if I would give a presentation on Drones.  I agreed and it was held this past Saturday at the Interpretive Center @ 1:00 p.m.  At 12:55 p.m. there was no one there but Jeanne, Jessica and Me.

Soon some ladies with young children showed up and then a few others came so we had about 20 people in attendance.  I presented a slide show on Drones and then went outside and gave a flying demonstration.  I let everyone look through the goggles (which allowed them to see what the drone saw.)

It was 2:37 p.m. by the time we packed up and left and that was way too long for me to not have eaten anything.  My blood sugar got very low and I could really feel it.

June-27-2015-A

After lunch we drove down Highway 61 just North of DeWitt and stopped at the new Tycoga Winery.  What an amazing place.  The manager gave us a tour and details about how they pick and process the grapes.  We sampled some of the wines and I found my new favorite.

It is a wonderful stop for anyone who enjoys pretty scenery, a relaxed atmosphere, and of course wine.  🙂

Then is was on to our dear friends home Steve and Becki and our favorite place to visit the Lazy K Farm.

June-27-2-015-B

Steve and Becki had a fishing contest and invited several of their friends.  We met some wonderful friendly people who we thoroughly enjoyed sharing an evening with.  Great food, conversation, and of course some wine.  🙂

We had to leave much too early as Jeanne’s little dog needed to be relieved.  It’s probably a good thing because the wine was tasting pretty good.

Since I had my drone with me I grabbed some video and this photo of the Lazy K Farm.  More images from the day as the week unfolds.

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

Friday ~ June 26, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 26, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-25-2015-2A

Happy Friday!

I have black and white images for you today.  I didn’t have any lunch meetings yesterday and the people I asked if they wanted to go to lunch all had other plans so I took my favorite camera with me and drove through the countryside.  It is one of my favorite things to do.

Granted the light isn’t always the best at that time of day but then you change your view-point on what to shoot in relation to the lighting conditions.

I was stopped along a public road taking images with the Nikon 750 fitted with the Nikon 80 – 400 mm lens.  I tell you that only because the lens is big and heavy and it is obviously for doing more than just taking a point and shoot photograph.

As I was taking some photographs of this old (seemingly abandoned) structure a man pulled up on a motorcycle and when I acknowledged his presence he said, “What are you taking a picture of?”

Now it’s part of my job over the last 25 years to read people and their body language and I made an instant evaluation that his question was confrontational.

June-25-2015-2B

I responded with the most indignant tone I could find and raised the camera and said, “I’m a photographer!”  It was not my finest hour.  I have taught leadership classes for years and one of the things I try to impart on the participants is that there is a space between stimulus and response for us to choose our response.

Instead of smiling, introducing myself, and giving him one of my photography cards I chose to be equally confrontational.  I was not happy with my response.  He said “Okay” and drove on.  I got back in my car and after having a stern conversation with myself I decided to see if I could catch up to him or find his motorcycle parked at one of the farms along the road.  I wanted to apologize and explain my knee jerk (heavy emphases on the jerk) reaction and handle it correctly.

June-25-2015-2C

Life is a journey and if we’re lucky we get to learn from our mistakes.  I still feel bad about it this morning.  I could blame the stress of the morning on my reaction but in actuality it was simply me not taking the time to evaluate, think it though, and choose the proper response.

Even if my assessment of his confrontational interaction to me was correct I had the opportunity to put his mind at ease, make a possible friend, and share my passion for photography with someone new.  😦

That’s it for today.

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

Thursday ~ June 25, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 25, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-25-2015-A

Happy Thursday!

After the trauma of yesterday’s post how about some pretty flowers today.  I do enjoy photographing and looking at bright colorful flowers.

I noticed on the way home last night that the flowers around the Hurstville Kilns are starting to look very nice so I will make an effort to capture some images of them tonight if the light is good.

June-25-2015

I was going to rant this morning about Mediacom.  I have had such a struggle with them over the last few months and couple of years.  I was trying to watch a video lesson last night and it kept buffering.  When I check my download speed it was 4.65 mps.  I normally get 56 mps.

They had just buried the new cable line in my back yard (which now looks like a tank drove though it) and the speed went down.  I spent an hour on the phone with tech support and although I got a nice young man he had to follow his script (they all do) so we got no where for an hour.

Anyway, apparently my lengthy description to him of my past issues with Mediacom may have motivated him to do more because this morning I am back to a robust 56.2 mps.

June-25-2015-B

I apologized to him for my rant, but he had me moving modems, connecting and disconnecting lines that I tried to tell him wouldn’t make a difference.  I had to remind him that I just had a cable guy here two weeks ago that checked every connection in the house and nothing since then has changed.

While I was doing some of the needless things he asked me to do, he took the time to look at my history and he apologized profusely for my ongoing problems.  So it all ended well, or at least for now.  🙂

That’s it for today (my Friday) 🙂

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

Wednesday ~ June 24, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 24, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-23-2015-A

Happy Wednesday!

Warning!  If you do not like sad stories or the harsh reality of Nature then enjoy this first image and move on.

Last evening I was sitting at the breakfast bar in our kitchen visiting about the day with Jeanne and she was preparing a salad looking out the window.

She started to say “oh look the little bunny… and then she shrieked, Oh no the Hawk!!

For several years we’ve had a rabbit living in and around our back yard.  We see him almost every day and often times we see him sitting at the edge of our property where our neighbor has a lot of plants and flowers.

Apparently he ran across our patio and right in front of our kitchen window when the huge red-tailed hawk swooped down and trapped him.

June-23-2015

Jeanne ran off down the hallway and I opened the back door to see if I could get a better look at him.  Sure enough he had the rabbit in a death grip with his talons.  When he saw me he tried to fly away with the rabbit.  As big as he was the rabbit was simply too large for him to get airborne so all he could do was hop a few feet away.

Now ever the photographer I ran inside grabbed a camera and without checking any of the settings (which by the way were not correct) I started firing away.  It was after a few seconds I noticed the rabbit was still kicking (literally) and so I grabbed a rake and brushed the hawk away from the rabbit.

I could hear my Friend Ann (the DNR Naturalist) saying in my ear, you have to let Nature take its course.  But I couldn’t help myself.

June-23-2015-B

I tried to help the rabbit but it was obvious that the damage had been done.  He couldn’t get up and I could tell he was suffering.  The hawk hadn’t gone too far so I left the rabbit and went back into the house.  It was sad but it is the cycle of life and I shouldn’t have interfered.

I suspect it won’t be long until the squirrels are gone too.  😦

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

Tuesday ~ June 23, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 23, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

June-21-2015-2B

Happy Tuesday!

Thank you for all the kind words and sentiments you offered yesterday.  If you have a pet that you love you fully understand the emotion and feeling of loss that we feel.

Because of events of yesterday I neglected to wish a Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people on the planet.  My Son-in-law Ben.

He is an amazing Father, Husband, Doctor, and of course Son-In-Law.  Yesterday he celebrated a birthday and we got to watch Austin while they had a nice birthday lunch.  The weather washed out other plans but I know Ben took it all in stride because that is the kind of man he is.

June-21-2015-2A

This is the other image of my little Sweetheart that I took on Sunday.  I’ve mentioned before how she loves to wear the Mardi Gras beads whenever she is at our house.  The kids collected them every year at our church’s Mardi Gras celebration and it is one of the first things she does when she is over.

That’s all I have for today.  Back to work today and a busy day at that.

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

Monday ~ June 22, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 22, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-21-2015

Happy Monday!

I have a mixed group of images for you today.

I had a wonderful Father’s Day yesterday.  Started off with a nice brunch at home prepared by Jeanne.  Angie, Ben, Josh, Gabby, Austin, and Mark were all here.  I am so proud of my children and the adults they have become.  🙂

After brunch we went over to the playground for the kids to play and burn off some energy.  I flew the Phantom for about 20 minutes video taping the kids playing on the equipment.  Made a perfect landing and then discovered that I had turned the off camera instead of starting it.  Ugh!

After that Mark and went to Lacoma and played 9 holes of golf on the old front 9.  The golf was pretty bad but the companionship and conversation were just wonderful.  Neither Mark nor I made a par but we had a lot of fun.

The old front 9 of Lacoma is where I learned to play golf and it always brings back a lot of good memories of all the friends I played with over the years.  Jeanne and I used to play every Sunday afternoon (before kids.) 🙂

June-21-2015-A

Ended up the day sitting on the back patio watching and listening to the birds.  We have a lot of Gold Finches in our area and I really like to watch them.  They are such a pretty bird.

It was a pleasant evening and the humidity was low so it made watching the bird very enjoyable.

June-21-2015-B

A sad day for us today.  We have to take our beloved friend Maggie to the vet for her final visit.  We have tried everything to help her and make her last days comfortable.  We wanted the kids to see her one more time.

But now she is starting to suffer and we can’t let that happen so this morning Jeanne and I will take her to the vet and be with her until the end.  She has been a great little friend and we will miss her terribly.

That’s all I have for you today.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Be careful.

Friday ~ June 19, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 19, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-06-2015-5A

Happy Friday!

I have colorful images for you today from the Farmers Market shoot of a couple of weeks ago.  I enjoy wandering through the Farmers Market and capturing images of colorful things that catch my eye.

June-06-2015-5B

I admire people who create things, no matter what, and are proud enough of them to display and sell.  I’ve never really been one to want to put a price on something that I’ve done.  I’m not really sure where that comes from but it is reality.

June-06-2015-5C

I remember when I first got out of High School I started working for a furniture store in the little community of Bethany.  I was paid $1.50 per hour to do all sorts of things from assembling furniture, delivering it, doing maintenance on the building, and vehicles.  In other words whatever needed to be done.

Then I received the opportunity to go to carpet installation training and that really opened up the opportunity to make more money then I had even dream of.  One day I received a call at home (those were in the days of the party line.)

Ms. Frisby (the richest family in the county) had purchased an expensive rug in Kansas City and wanted it installed in a room that was a little too small for the rug in its current size, which meant that it needed to be trimmed a little and she wanted to know if I would do it for her.

June-06-2015-5D

Always wanting to please I said sure and so after work I stopped by their huge stately home and in 20 minutes had the rug neatly trimmed and looking nice in the room.  She asked me what I wanted for payment and I said, “Oh nothing really it didn’t take that long and I was happy to help her.”

I will never forget what she said that day and it has stayed with me ever since.  She said, “David you must learn that you need to charge based on what you know how to do, not necessarily what you actually do.”  So I thought a moment and said, “Okay well that will be $25.”

Boy did she get angry with me.  Said something like “Well of all the nerve.”  But she paid me and I was on my way.  🙂

Sorry for all the babble.  Doesn’t have anything to do with photography but it popped into my head so there it is.

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