Sunday ~ May 03, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 3, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

May-02-2015

Happy Sunday!

I had one of the most enjoyable days in recent memory yesterday.  Mark Beck, long time Fire Chief of the Maquoketa Fire Department graciously invited me to attend and photograph a training session and house burn at a location close to Maquoketa.

I had asked Mark sometime ago if it would be possible the next time they had a house burn / training session if I could attend and he remembered my request.  I took two cameras and two Phantoms with me and shot lots of photos and video of the day.

Mark’s oldest son Brandon, who is an investigator with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department also brought his Phantom Vision 2+ and did some up close and personal video of the fire.  He’s a much better pilot than I am so he got some amazing close up video of the burn.

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The temperature was about 78 degrees with an 18 – 20 mph wind.  The firemen started their day at 7:00 a.m. with safety training and a planning session.  Figure the heat of the day plus having to wear full bunker gear and be physically active and those guys had to be exhausted by the end of the day.   I arrived a little after 10:00 a.m. and the training was in full engagement.

The above photo shows firemen training on roof ventilation.  It is an important part of the overall fire fighting strategy.  There were firemen from several of the surrounding communities so it allowed all the community fire fighters the opportunity to practice their skills and learn new techniques.

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Firemen practice with a life-size dummy the technique of rescuing a person from a 2nd story window and how to properly evacuate them down a ladder.  This is no easy task.

In another life I was a Public Safety Officer at Maryville, Missouri.  We were crossed trained in Police and Fire operations.  I have had to climb ladders to upstairs windows with a fully charged fire hose and I can tell you it is a scary proposition.  I never had to extract a person from a window and I don’t even want to think about the possible consequences that might have happened.

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This image is a still photo taken from the Vision 2 copter.  It has a 12 megapixel camera which shoots RAW images.  It also takes video but I’ve got a problem with the gimbal on that copter and the video is very shaky.  I’ve got to get that figured out.

I have a lot of video to edit and I will show that as the week unfolds.  Lots more images as well.

I enjoyed getting to know Brandon much better and learned that we are kindred spirits.  We both love technology and gadgets.  We both have understanding wives and there is no such things as needing something, it is about having something.  🙂

Thanks for checking out the blog.  I hope you enjoy your day.  Be careful.

Friday ~ May 01, 2015

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

April-29-2015

Happy Friday!

I have some images for you from my commute last evening.  I know I did not wait for the golden hour of light but I was wanting to capture some scenes with the dynamic clouds in them.  I enjoy capturing scenes with big puffy clouds against a blue sky.

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We celebrated Angie’s birthday last night with some cake and ice cream.  I had a little too much ice cream and paid the price but it had been so long since I last had some it was worth it.  🙂

I got to hold Austin for some time and he didn’t cry.  Okay well he was asleep but he still didn’t cry.  Gabby was enjoying showing me how high she could jump.  Josh was very helpful bringing his Mommy her presents without opening them for her.  🙂

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I went by my favorite tree hoping to capture a “Spring” type shot of it with new leaf buds showing, but it has not happened yet.  I wasn’t going to waste a trip to the tree and those beautiful clouds so I grabbed this image of my tree.

Thanks for checking in on the blog.  Hope you have a wonderful day.  Be careful.

Wednesday ~ April 29, 2015

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

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Happy Hump Day!

Here is the image of a Double Crested Cormorant.  This is a bird that I have never photographed before.  This was as close as I could get to him so it’s not the best image, but since it is my first I thought I would share it.

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This image demonstrates their habit of spreading their wings to dry them. It’s not a sharp image (too much camera shake) but again I wanted to capture this amazing looking bird.

Double-crested Cormorant
The gangly Double-crested Cormorant is a prehistoric-looking, matte-black fishing bird with yellow-orange facial skin. Though they look like a combination of a goose and a loon, they are relatives of frigatebirds and boobies and are a common sight around fresh and salt water across North America—perhaps attracting the most attention when they stand on docks, rocky islands, and channel markers, their wings spread out to dry. These solid, heavy-boned birds are experts at diving to catch small fish. ~ source www.allaboutbirds.org

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Above a common grackle.  I know you see them all the time but I love their piercing eyes and this one sitting on a branch with the river in the background was too good to pass up.  🙂

That’s it for today.  I hope you have a good day.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Tuesday ~ April 28, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 28, 2015
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Gabby, Josh, and Austin

Happy Tuesday!

A quick post today as I am running late!  Go figure.  This was the best image I could get of all three kids.  Austin was not a happy camper and Gabby was not interested in having her picture taken at that moment.  The only one into it was Josh.

Children Photographers are an amazing group of people.  They certainly earn their money.  🙂

Austin

I was finally able to get a close up of Austin.  He doing well for a new-born and is adjusting to all the new everything.

I hope you enjoy your Tuesday.  Thanks for checking out the blog.  Be careful.

Monday ~ April 27, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 27, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

April-26-2015

Happy Monday!

Great day yesterday.  Jeanne and I stopped by Angie and Ben’s to see Austin and of course Josh and Gabby.  He is doing well in his new environment.  I was reminded once again why young folks have kids and older folks don’t.  The level of energy in their home was at a peak.  🙂

Before going over there I took the Phantom over to their real home and did another fly over to see the progress of their remodel project.  The change is dramatic and I’ll hopefully be able to get that video processed today and post it later in the week.

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Jeanne stayed to help out a little and I took my camera and the long lens and went looking for some wildlife.  I photographed a bird that I have never photographed before.  Kind of a strange-looking guy and I’ll do my best to identify him when I get time to research him.

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I found this Blue Heron at Mud Lake.  I was able to get into a position where I was kind of shielded from his view and then just sat very still and let him come to me.  I photographed him for about 25 minutes and he got very close to me.  In fact he got close enough that I had to change my focal length from 600 mm to 400 mm to keep some of the background in the frame.  He finally took off when a fishing boat left the harbor and startled him.

Later in the day I brought my bike up from the lower level and did some maintenance on it.  Then went for a ride.  It felt so good to be on the bike again and because I’ve been exercising all winter I was able to take some hills that normally at the beginning of the season I can’t get up.  I was able to get 15 miles in on a route that normally I don’t ride until mid-summer.

So it was a very enjoyable day and I got a lot of photography in, which made it even a better day.  I have a lot of projects planned for today including another bike ride. This semi-retirement is pretty nice.  🙂

Thanks for stopping by the blog.  I hope you enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ Apirl 26, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 26, 2015
Posted in: General Posts, Phantom Flying. Tagged: , , , .

Dave-Dave_Caddies

Happy Sunday!

After 9 days of trying to figure out a computer problem I finally got my car back Thursday.  It was good to be able to drive it again.  My good friend Dave asked me to stop by his favorite watering hole for a visit after work and when we came out I thought this would make an interesting image.  Mine is on the left.

What’s the best camera?  The one you have with you and in this case it was the iPhone.

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I shot this image earlier in the month and for some reason just never processed it.   I tried several angles to eliminate the highway but decided to make it a part of the scene.

That’s it for today.  Hope to get out this afternoon and find some new material for you.

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

Thursday ~ April 23, 2015

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

Grandpa and Austin

Happy Thursday!

I am delighted to tell you that little Austin is off the breathing machine and doing well.  The swelling has gone down and even though he remains in NICU he will probably be released from there today.  🙂

Angie took this image of me holding him, with my cell phone.  There is nothing like holding a new-born.  The smell, the facial contortions, the little sounds they make.  It’s simply wonderful.

Thank you for all the prayers and support for Austin as they did their job.

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The sky was filled with beautiful puffy clouds on a blue background last evening on my way home so I had to capture some farm scenes.  This and the last image were made with the Nikon D750 | Nikon 80 – 400 VR mm lens | ISO 200 1/800 sec @ F8.0.

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I have driven past these three silos almost every day for the last 15 years and for some reason last night they caught my eye.  I actually stopped and went back to capture this image.  I’ve thought about photographing them before but by the time I have passed them I would just continue on.

Who knows, maybe I was inspired! 🙂

That’s all I have for you today.  Thank you for stopping by my blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ April 22, 2015

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

Austin

Happy Hump Day!

Meet my new Grandson, Austin Benjamin Roling.  All 8 lbs, 5 oz of him.  He had some breathing issues shortly after his birth and so he is spending some time in the NICU. The prognosis is excellent, so I look forward to thousands of more images of him.

Angie and Ben are both doing well and are anxious to spend time with the new edition to their family.

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

Tuesday ~ April 21, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 21, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Tree Bark

Happy Tuesday!

I’ll finish up my micro photography of Sunday with this image of some tree bark.  I should do more micro photography but it’s been difficult of late because my tripod is still in the trunk of my car, which as of today has been in the shop an entire week.  😦

Leaf Buds

Hopefully I’ll get some information on where they are with the repair of the computer today.  I’m starting to get a little frustrated.

Gabby

One more image of Gabby.  We have a bunch of Mardi Gras beads as our church celebrates Mardi Gras with music and costumes during the season.  Gabby hunts them down and covers herself with them every time she is over here.

Another short post.  Hope you enjoy your day.  I’m back at work today.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Be careful.