Monday ~ April 20, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 20, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

April-19-2015

Happy Monday!

Jeanne has been after me for the last few days to shoot some micro shots of the budding trees in our back yard.  Not exactly my favorite thing to do but I do like micro photography so I decided to do it for her yesterday afternoon.

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Later in the afternoon Ben, Angie, and the grand kids came over and as always we enjoyed their visit.  Grandma took the kids over to the playground so I decided to buzz them with my Phantom.  🙂

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I never pass up an opportunity to photograph Gabby.

Below I’ve added a 4 minute video of Grandma taking the kids on a walk.

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

Sunday ~ April 19, 2015

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

Areial-1

Happy Sunday!

A short post today.  One of the projects I wanted to get done was to do an aerial photography of Angie and Ben’s home before their remodel construction began.  So that they could have a before and after to look at.

Yesterday I was able to accomplish that.  Below is the video.  I forgot to add music to it so there is just the video.

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

Saturday ~ April 18, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 18, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

April-17-2015

Happy Saturday!

Just an ordinary Robin.  Nothing special about him, nothing special about the location, the lighting, or the setting.  Just an ordinary Robin up close and personal.

I’ve been in Des Moines for part of the week receiving some training.  Good classes and even at my age I learned some new things so that’s a good thing.

I took my car in for its 3rd oil change on Tuesday morning.  The service manager said there was a software update and that they would take care of it.  Fast forward to today and I still do not have my car.  First let me say it had nothing to do with the dealership or their service department.  They are top-notch.

It had everything to do with a software update that was probably released too soon and it really messed up my car’s computer.  General Motors is still trying to figure out how to fix it so I have been without my car for 5 days and it will be at least Monday before it may be fixed.  No guarantees.  No rant, just an observation.

That’s it for today.  Hope you enjoy your Saturday.  It looks like it’s going to be a day of yard work for me.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be careful.

Tuesday ~ April 14, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 14, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

April-13-2015-

Happy Tuesday!

Fun day yesterday.  Among other things I met the photography crew from the Dubuque Telegraph Herald Newspaper at A. Y. McDonald Park in Dubuque so they could take a look at my Photo Drone and get some hands on experience.

My friend Brian Cooper (editor at the TH) had asked me sometime ago if I would be willing to give his Photo crew a demonstration of my Photo Drone and of course I was happy to do so.

While I was waiting on them to show up I spent about 20 minutes just photographing things around the park.  It was enjoyable just seeing what all I could find to photograph in a confined space.

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This barren tree appealed to me and I shot it from several different angles.  I should do this more often.  Instead of driving around all over the countryside looking for images, I should just park somewhere and limit myself to a confined area.  I think it actually improves your perspective.

April-13-2015

I almost got hit by a car getting this image.  I wanted to photograph the crew and so I was backing up (as I had a long lens on the camera.) Someone yelled at me to watch out and I felt and object to my right side.  Turns out an elderly couple were backing out of their parking spot and didn’t see me.  I didn’t see them either so it was lucky I wasn’t run over by their car.

Anyway it was great fun and Dave, Jessica, and Paul couldn’t have been more gracious.  They asked a lot of questions and hopefully I gave them some useful information.

That’s it for today.  I hope you enjoy your day.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Monday ~ April 13, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 13, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

April-10-2015-2Bc

Happy Monday!

I spent some time on the river this weekend looking for images.  I have three images for you today of tug boats and barges.

This first image is actually two images stitched together in Photoshop®.  I was up by Mud Lake when I captured this barge moving South to the Lock and Dam.  I had the Nikon 80 – 400 mm lens and even at 80 mm focal length the barge was too long to capture in one shot.  So I did a front and back shot of the barge and stitched them together.  🙂

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This tug boat was captured with the same 80 – 400 mm lens as it passed under the Julian Dubuque Bridge.  I shot this at a focal length of 400 mm from the sidewalk below the Great River Walk area.  It was windy and cold so I opted to go down to the sidewalk to get out of some of the wind.

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Finally I’ll leave you with this image (also shot at a focal length of 400 mm) as the tug waits at the railroad bridge for it to swing open.

A train had just passed over the bridge about 10 minutes earlier and perhaps they were waiting for another train because after 15 minutes of waiting for the bridge to open I had reached my level of cold and headed back to the car.  🙂

That’s it for today.  Hope to have more images for you tomorrow.

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

Sunday ~ April 12, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 12, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

April-10-2015-A

Happy Sunday!

I haven’t had much in the way of images to share with you of late.  It’s not from the lack of trying, just haven’t found what I’ve been looking for.

I was on my way to the Mississippi River to see what I could find and I saw in the distance a pair of Great Egrets in a marshy area.  They were too far away and there were too many obstructions between us to get a good photograph of them so I opted to wade through some of the marsh.

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I had the Tamron 150 – 600 mm lens with me and i have to say I continue to be pleased with the results I am getting with it.  There was so much tall grass between me and the Egrets I wasn’t sure I was really getting a good focus lock but I had a pretty high rate of keepers.

I didn’t realize this Egret was working on a frog.  From where I was standing it looked like he was getting a clump of weeds but in post processing it was very evident that he was trying to devour a frog.

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I came across this little guy at Mud Lake Park.  I did find an eagle fishing but he was too far away to get a lens on.  I drove about a hundred miles on Friday looking for subjects.

Monday afternoon I’m meeting Dave Kettering, the head photographer for the Telegraph Herald. He wants to look at my drone and see how it flies.  Should be fun, I’ve been a big fan of his photography for years so I’m looking forward to visiting with him.

That’s it for today.  I hope you enjoy your Sunday.  I’m doing taxes this afternoon.  😦

Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Be careful.

Tuesday ~ April 07, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 7, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

April-05-2015-2A

Happy Tuesday!

Back at it today.  A short post as I have a couple of images from Easter Sunday to share today.

I was lucky enough to capture this moment with Angie and Gabby playing catch.

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Another special moment with Ben and Gabby.  Ben was able to join us for a short time as he had been called in to the hospital earlier in the morning.

It was a short but enjoyable visit with the kids and grand kids and made this Easter very special.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your Tuesday and be careful.

Monday ~ April 06, 2015

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

April-05-2015

Happy Monday!

We had a great Easter and so that is what I share with you today.  Snapshots of the grand kids playing on the slide after our Easter brunch.

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Even though this is the tallest and steepest slide on the play ground Gabby showed no fear and climbed to the top on her own and came down without coaxing.

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Josh and Gabby discussed who would go first on this slide and of course Josh won the debate.

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Ever the grandma Jeanne came down the slide at the request of Josh.  I’m not sure she enjoyed it by the look on her face but she did it none-the-less.

So that’s it for today.  Hope you had an enjoyable Easter.

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

Sunday ~ April 05, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 5, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

April-03-2015

Happy Easter Sunday!

I went to Green Island this past Friday looking for some migrating birds.   I was hopeful that the trip would yield a bounty of spices all happy to pose for my camera.  I was sorely disappointed.  I spent 4 hours at the preserve and only came away with a hand full of images including this turtle who was crawling out on a discarded tire to sun himself.

Although the sun was shinning intermittently it was windy and uncomfortably cold.

Camera specs:  Nikon D4 | Tamron 150 – 600 mm Sports Lens |  Manual settings 1/1250 sec @ f8.0 auto ISO.

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I believe this is a Pied-Billed Grebe.  That’s as close as I could get to identifying its species.  I’m not very good at bird identification because I don’t have the patience to look through all the pictures.  I’m not a true naturalist I guess I just like to take their pictures. 🙂

I had a great visit and lunch with a friend of mine Friday at Bellevue.  We caught up on old times and what he has been doing the last few years.  It was very enjoyable.

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I’ll leave you with this bird, which I believe is a Wilson’s Snipe.  Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.  When I finally left Green Island it was obvious the sun was not going to come out anymore as the sky had grown mostly cloudy.

I did drive down to Sabula, Iowa but there wasn’t much going on there.  There were a few pelicans out in the middle of the lake to far for my lens and of course the ubiquitous gulls.  So it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but any day that I can hang out taking pictures of whatever is a pretty good day in my view.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy this very special day that we celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior. Blessing to you.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Friday ~ April 03, 2015

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

April-01-2015-2A

Happy Friday!

Blessings to you on this Good Friday! 

I saw this old windmill when I was a passenger in a vehicle a couple of days ago and I had return to photograph it.  Even though it was a mile and a half on gravel road (which I do not like to take a clean car on) I thought it worthy of the sacrifice.  🙂

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On the way to the windmill I came across this old hay rake sitting rusting in a field. I won’t draw all the obvious analogies but I do like to photograph old things especially farm equipment.

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I saw this other old rake on the way back to town on a different route.  I liked the way the softening sun shown on it so I left it in color.  The first rake the light was more harsh and hence the black and white rendering.

I plan to spend the bulk of the day at the Green Island wetlands so if I’m lucky I’ll have some wildlife images for you in the coming days.

There should be some migrating birds at the preserve so I’m excited to see what I can find.

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