Friday ~ July 04, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 4, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hole # 16 Thunderhills CC

Happy 4th of July and Happy Friday!  ~  259

I think perhaps I’ve been watching too much news or perhaps not enough.  One of the observations I cannot escape is how deeply divided our country is politically, culturally, and spiritually.  I am reminded of the old adage, “United we stand, divided we fall!”  I can only hope we survive as a nation holding true to the principles we were founded under.

I remembered in dramatic fashion yesterday why I decided to give up golf.  I had a wonderful time with my friends at Thunderhills and truly enjoyed their company.  The golf, not so much. It was like I had never swung a club.  A very frustrating game when you are playing okay, but when you shank every other shot it is maddening.

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So frustrated with my lack of talent I came home and took a nap.  🙂

Taking a nap is many times the best remedy for what ales you.  After my nap I took my camera, long lens, and tripod to the back patio.  After spending a half hour working with the bird feeders and bird bath I settled in my chair and just watched the white clouds drifting slowly across the vibrant blue sky.

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I spent well over two hours watching and photographing the birds.  It was great therapy for me.  I shot over 550 images.

Occasionally other things caught my eye and that is the focus (pun intended) of the images today.  Things I saw while photographing birds in the backyard bird sanctuary.

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There was a small air show down by the river and these jets flew over the house a couple of times while performing for the 4th of July celebration.  I missed them the first time they came over but was ready for them the second time.

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Finally I’ll leave you with the Robin sitting in my neighbor’s large tree.  Nothing special about the Robin but I liked how the soft light of the setting sun shows off his orange chest.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your 4th celebration and for goodness sakes be careful.

Thursday ~ July 03, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 3, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Mr. and Ms. Cardinal

Happy Friday Thursday!  ~  260

Actually it is a Friday for me as I’m off today to play golf with some great friends.  We are supposed to play at Thunderhills Country Club around 8:00 a.m. today so even though my golf game is practically nonexistent I’m really looking forward to playing with my friends.  Hopefully my poor play won’t take too much luster off the day.  🙂

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Jeanne is visiting her Mother in Ames these next few days so I’m holding down the bird sanctuary by myself.  I don’t like when she’s gone, it feels so empty.  But I also understand that she needs to spend time with her Mother and take care of her needs as well.   So she’ll be home tomorrow sometime and we’ll have the weekend together. 🙂

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It was really gray and dark yesterday evening even though it was only 6:30 p.m. when I went out to take my bird feeder image of the day.  So I decided to use a softbox with a speed light and a Pocket Wizard TTL radio transmitter.  It produced a nice soft light to help fill in the shadows.  Otherwise I would have to shoot at such a high ISO with the 600 mm lens that the image ends up being a little soft because I have to reduce a fair amount of the noise in it.

I was happy to see Mr. and Ms. Cardinal make their appearance last evening.  They seem to be getting more comfortable with the sanctuary.  They flew in as I was setting up the softbox and didn’t seem to mind me being there.  They hung around long enough for me to make these images.

That’s it for today.  Hope you enjoy your Thursday and hopefully you have tomorrow off for a nice three-day weekend.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Wednesday ~ July 02, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 2, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

July-01-2014

Happy Wednesday!  ~  261

On the way home last night I stopped and took some images of the flooding from the Maquoketa River.  A lot of corn crops have been lost as a result of the flooding.  I’m sure there has been property damage as well but I did not record that.

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The first two images are of the Hurstville Lime Kilns.  The water was not yet over the road when I left although they had put up the precautionary “road closed” signs, which was an indication to me that they expected it to over flow the road.  I enjoy the Kilns and have photographed the area in and around them extensively over the years.  This flood will take away many of the wild flowers and prairie grass that are behind the Kilns.

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The last image is of what used to be a field of knee-high corn.  I did a panorama of the area and if time permits I’ll do a composite of that and show it here.

I have always been intrigued by floods.  It is interesting to note that we find bodies of water very attractive and desirable.   Properties with a “view” of the water always command higher prices than non view property.  Even the flooded areas have an esthetic appeal.  It is the destruction and debris that the water leaves behind that is so devastating to the folks who have to deal with the aftermath of a flood.

Hopefully the farmers with fields under water are protected with crop insurance.  Even if they are they would much rather harvest a crop from their land.

That’s it for today.  I hope you enjoy your day.  This is my Friday.  I’m playing golf with some of my buddies from Thunderhills.  I haven’t played with them for several years so it will be a real treat, even if the golf is not so good.  🙂

Thanks for stopping by.  Be careful.

Tuesday ~ July 01, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 1, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

June-30-2014

Happy (soggy and wet) Tuesday  ~  262

We had a Code Black at work yesterday, which means there is a tornado warning in the area.  We were very fortunate that nothing occurred with the exception of a lot of rain, thunder, and more rain.  My evening commute was in a constant down pour and the many streams I pass on the way home have become much larger “rivers.”  I saw several lakes where just a few days ago there were corn fields.

The weather is not without it beauty however.  Later in the evening when the rain had finally tapered off I noticed this amazing orange light shining through the blinds in my office window.

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I first went to the back yard and was greeted by this incredible sky.  There were layers of clouds moving through the area and all being back-lit by the sun.  Even though I am happy with my images they do not tell the whole story of the magnificent sky that I saw.

I have gotten away from talking much about camera specs but I think it is more interesting with these images.  The first two were taken in a hurry because there was still some rain coming down and I didn’t want to miss the light.  All images were made with a:

Nikon D4 | Nikon 28 – 300 mm lens |  The first image was shot at a focal length of 45 mm (hand-held) 1/100 sec @ f5.6 ISO 800 |  Second image also hand-held taken at 82 mm focal length 1/160 sec @ f5.6 ISO 800 |  Final shot was made 12 minutes later with camera on a tripod at a focal length of 116 mm.  Exposure was 30 seconds @ f 9.0 ISO 100.

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Probably more information than you need or want but it is after all supposed to be a blog about photography.   🙂

Amazing sky and an amazing amount of water.  The back yard is a small lake, which is causing some problems for the ground feeders at the bird sanctuary.   The good news is that as of this morning the lake has gone down and the feeders were booked solid.  🙂

That’s it for today.  I think it is supposed to be a little nicer for the next few days.  There are a lot of people who are or will be dealing with water damage.  It is such an insidious problem when water gets into your home and does so much damage in such a short amount of time.

Thanks as always for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day, watch the water crossing the roadways and be careful.

Monday ~ June 30, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 30, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

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Happy Monday!  ~  263

If you don’t like to look at birds, you may choose to hit the back button cause, that’s all I have for you today.

Great Sunday.  Mowed, swept, and trimmed the yard.  Even changed the oil in my tractor.  I have not done that for several years.   Throw in a couple of naps and it doesn’t get much better than that.

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Jeanne and I made a DQ run later in the evening and then sat out on the patio watching the happenings at the Bird Sanctuary.    It took me 25 minutes this afternoon to fill the feeders and clean out the bird bath.  Fun thing is though they are no longer flying off when I open the back door.  In fact as I was changing out one feeder the birds were busy on the other ones.

Mr. Cardinal is spending more and more time with us.  He was there this morning, around noon, and this evening.  He is spending more time at the feeder too when he does visit. 🙂

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I know this isn’t a very attractive bird but I liked how the light wraps around him and how he is looking up from his feeding frenzy.

That’s all I have for you today.  Enjoy your first day of the week.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Be careful.

Sunday ~ June 29, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 29, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

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Happy Sunday!  ~  264

1,000th Post Today!!!!

That’s a lot of images and a lot of bloviating over a four-year period.  Thanks for putting up with me.

Yesterday we spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with our friends Steve and Becki on their Lazy K farm near Grand Mound, Iowa.  Long drive for us but well worth the investment of time and travel.  Their house is surrounded by trees, and they have areas of prairie grass and there is a pretty good size pond at the back of their house.  Lots of bird feeders set out and lots of different birds visit their property.  They both love nature and enjoy the peaceful surrounds.

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Steve and Becki are wonderful hosts and just do everything to make you feel comfortable.  We had a wonderful meal of pork medallions and an amazing cherry pie (with ice cream of course) to finish it off.

I took the Phantom with me as I wanted to fly it over their property and give them a nice image of their home from the air.  But the wind was very high well outside the limits of the Phantom and with all the trees surrounding their property I didn’t want to risk crashing it into one of those monsters as they would have certainly eaten my craft.  So the Phantom stayed in its case in the car.

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I couldn’t spend all that time in such a target rich environment and not come away with some bird images.  Mr. and Ms. Cardinal visited the feeders while we were there.  It was kind of tough shooting conditions as their bird feeders are in the shade and at that time of day the birds were being back lite by the sun, plus did I mention it was windy and it made my tripod vibrate sometimes.

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So a great day, great food, and great friends.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  Thanks for your support of the blog over the years.  I hope to keep doing this for many more years so please stay tuned.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Saturday ~ June 28, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 28, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Josh and his camera

Happy Saturday  ~  265

Tomorrow, assuming I post a blog (and I certainly hope to) I will have reached 1,000 blog posts since starting this in 2010.

I used to write a daily journal (started in college) and kept it up for years.  I found it to be a great introspective tool and a great mental health exercise.  Since I started blogging four years ago, the blog has replaced journaling.   I didn’t start with that in mind.  Jeanne use to lament to me that she never saw the images I took.  I rarely printed the digital images so she was right.  I actually started the blog so that she could see at least some of the images I was taking every day.

I now have 276 followers of the blog, plus my Facebook friends, Linkedin friends, and Google Plus friends.  So on any given day several folks see my images., which gives me great joy.  I love-making images and it is an honor to share those images with others.  So thank you very much for visiting the blog when you do.  I am truly honored.   Oh, and by the way Jeanne still reads my blog everyday and gives me a thumbs up or a “nice blog today.” 🙂

Gabby Grace

Angie and the kids came over last night because Ben was on call.  When he is on call that translates into he is going to spend most of his day at the hospital.  Gabby made up to me a little bit yesterday.  I’m slowly winning her over.  I gave her some snacks and I think that did the trick.  🙂

We had great fun with Josh and Gabby and enjoyed Angie as well.  Had a nice dinner and then sat out on the patio watching the birds and showing Josh the different birds.  He got his little camera out like Papa and took some pictures of the birds as well.

Joshua

I had a great time golfing yesterday morning with my friend Jake, Bjorn and Nicki.    We played the Blue course at Lacoma (which, by the way is a wonderful course.)  It was really hot and humid but there was some breeze so it was bearable.  The gnats were not as bad as they have been lately.  My game was in great disorder and I shot a smooth 100.  It is now painfully obvious that I made the right choice when I decided not to turn pro on the Senior Tour.  🙂

So that was my day off.  Pretty fun day.  Today we are going to visit our friends Steve and Becki at the Lazy K Farm.  I’m looking forward to a wonderful time.  Might even take a few images of the event.  🙂

Thanks again for stopping by the blog and your continued support, critiques, comments, and likes.  They are so welcomed and beneficial.  Enjoy your Saturday and be careful.  Yes I did wear a gallon of sunscreen yesterday.

Friday ~ June 27, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 27, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Maquoketa River @ The Dam

TGI Friday!  ~  266

Even though I have the day off, for some reason I couldn’t sleep in, which is frustrating because that is one of the things I like best about being off.

I have a potpourri of images for your today.  For what ever reason they didn’t make it onto the blog earlier, but I had them tagged as a favorite so I’ll share those with you today.

This first image was taken the first of this week and it shows just how much water is coming over the dam at the Hurstville Dam.  Normally there is a steady flow of water over the dam but on this day there was so much water coming over that it boiled up ten to fifteen feet high.  You could hear the roar of the water even with the windows up.

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A couple of weeks ago a caravan of vintage cars were supposed to come through Maquoketa.  It was supposed to last most of the day and there were activities planned around the event including some food vendors and activities for children.  Many of the cars didn’t take the Maquoketa turn off and stayed on highway 61.  I didn’t know that when I took my camera up to where they were supposed to be on my noon hour.  It was disappointing but on the way back to the office I saw this old Chevy pickup and its paint job was just beautiful.

It was certainly the wrong setting and time of day to shoot such a reflective subject but I had no choice.  It turned out okay but I would have enjoyed spending some time shooting this vehicle under different circumstances.

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It is always fun to capture the image of a child finishing up a ride on the slide.  A couple of weeks ago we met Ben and Angie at the Asbury Park and let the kids enjoy all the activities.  Josh took right to the slide and before long he was climbing and sliding in all one motion.  He also engaged a couple of young ladies who teased him a lot but when his attention turned to something else they tried to entice him back to them.  I suspect that will happen a lot in his lifetime.  🙂

That’s if for today.  I hope to play golf today with my buddies.  The weather is a bit iffy but hopefully we’ll get the game in.  If so a nap will be in order this afternoon.  Maybe I’ll have some time to work on the Phantom tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by the blog.   I hope you enjoy your day.  Fridays are special even if you have to spend a good part of it working.  Be careful.

Thursday ~ June 26, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 26, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

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Happy Thursday!  ~  267

I have a few bird images for you today.  No exotic birds but some that I haven’t seen very much of lately.

Hectic day at work yesterday filled with lots of disruptions so I didn’t get much of my to-do things done.   When I got home I had to do my chores at the sanctuary and there were two feeders that were empty again, which were the two feeders that were attracting the birds I do not particularly want.  So I made the decision to remove those feeders from line. Hopefully that will slow down the number of birds I don’t want, coming to the buffet.

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I have found that setting on the patio just watching the birds is very peaceful.  It helps relieve the stress of the day and I thoroughly enjoy photographing the birds as they do their thing.  So I guess you could say it is the best of both worlds for me.  Certainly worth the effort in cleaning up after them, restocking the feeders, and filling up the bird bath.

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This is my Friday today.  I’m taking a mental health day tomorrow and playing some golf with my friends at Lacoma.  I had such a good time there a couple of weeks ago with my Son so when a friend asked me if I had any desire to play there again I said yes. I know the forecast has some rain in it but hopefully we’ll get the game in.  Then with the extra time off I plan on making needed repairs to the Phantoms and getting them air worthy again.  I think I now have all the parts to get them ready to fly.  Who knows maybe some video soon.  🙂

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So my big surprise last evening were these guys.  I was just about ready to call it a night, as I had several good images for my project when I saw, literally two flashes of red.  I swung my camera over to the blue feeder and sure enough Mr. and Ms. Cardinal were there at the feeder.  I ripped off 35 – 40 images during the short time they were there.  He took several passes at the feeder.  She turned her nose  beak up at it and acted like she was quite impatient  with him for stopping there to eat.  It wasn’t long before they were gone.  The good news is that he is coming more frequent and although she turned her nose beak up at the offerings, it’s something that she came at all. 🙂

That’s it for today.  Thank you as always for stopping by my humble blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ June 25, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 25, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

It is Balloon

Happy Hump Day Wednesday!  ~  268

Jeanne and I sat out on the patio after work last evening.  She with her binoculars and me with my camera and 600 mm lens.  We both enjoy watching the bird but probably for different reasons.  She texted me around 2:00 p.m. and told me there was a real party going on at the sanctuary.  I guess I didn’t fully understand until I got home.  All 6 bird feeders were empty.  I’ll swear these birds have to be putting on weight.  My God, they are going through bird feed like gas through a funnel.  🙂

Anyway after dinner we were sitting at the table and I said to Jeanne that I wasn’t sure what if anything I was going to have for the blog tomorrow because I hadn’t taken any images this day.   I said I supposed I could always put more bird images on the blog.  I mean I take a hundred or more images of birds each day.  She thought more images of the Grand Kids might be nice.

It was then I looked out at the bird sanctuary and saw this hot air balloon looking like it was going to land on the school grounds behind our house.  Fortunately I still had the D600 set up with the Tamron 600 mm lens so I grabbed it and went outside to see what was going on.

Another Balloon

There were actually three balloons floating.  The one below was pretty high in the air.  The one just above was just above the roof tops and looked like it was going to land.  The first image is of a balloon also pretty low and looking like it was going to find a place to land any moment.  It did later gain some more altitude but I think the one just above did in fact land over by the school.

Still Another Balloon

Anyway it got most of the neighborhood out and looking around.  I saw people coming out of their homes and looking towards the sky.  It was fun to watch them float though the sky.  There use to be a Re-Max hot air balloon that would fly over town occasionally but I had not seen any of the balloons before last night.

So a little excitement for the neighborhood and something different to capture images of.  I hope you enjoy the balloons.

That’s it for today.  I hope you have a great mid-week hump day.  Thanks for stopping by the blog during your busy day and be careful.