Dubuque

All posts tagged Dubuque

Sunday ~ August 31, 2025

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 31, 2025
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Welcome

I apologize for not posting in some time.  I have some medical issues that do not allow me to walk and that makes it hard to get quality shots when you have very limited mobility.  Hopefully that will be corrected in the near future.

Funny thing about the images I have for you today.  They are similar to what I might take in with a micro lens but in fact they were taken with my long lens / convertor at 1200 focal length.

I was looking for some birds that I could photograph from my car but they were not to be found.  When one door closes another will open and I noticed a lot of activity in the flowers close by the car.

I spotted this wonderful monarch butterfly and even though I had some problems keeping him in focus I was basically happy with the results.

There was also quite a bit of activity from bees and other insects.  As can be imagined they were much harder to keep in focus with the large lens.

Remember you can click on any image to reveal a much larger and more detailed image.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend and be careful.

Saturday ~ July 05, 2025

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 5, 2025
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Welcome

This may be a sad tail, I hope not.  This Blue Heron was at the 16th Street Basin, one of my favorite places to visit.  Well before they cut down all the trees and put in a solar farm it was, but now there are rarely any wild life there.

What makes this a sad story is if you look closely at the haron’s bill (click on the image to make it larger and more detailed) you will see a foreign object in his mouth that prevents him from closing his mouth.

I watched him for 20 minutes and he never once could close his mouth.  I felt bad but didn’t know of anyway to help him.

There were also several double-crested Cormorant sunning them selves and making a lot of noise.

My wildlife images always seems to have at least one Canada Goose.

The above image was taken the next day.  No way to tell if this is the same heron, but to make me feel better I’m going to assume that it is and that he was able to get the foreign object out of him mouth.

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

Wednesday ~ April 30, 2025

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 30, 2025
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Welcome!

Remember you can click on any image to reveal a larger more detailed rendering.

I have been trying to find something worthy of some images but haven’t had much luck lately.

So a couple of weeks ago I purchased a 2.0 teleconverter for my long lens.   I stopped down at the 16th Street Basin yesterday and was trying it out.

Found this goose in the water and he came out of the water and started walking toward me.

Well this is very unusual because they normally walk away from me.  I was using my car as a blind and even though he was close he wasn’t this close.  🙂

No cropping on this image.  It was taken at 1,100 mm.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ January 15, 2025

Posted by Dave Updegraff on January 15, 2025
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

Welcome

Just a quick post today.  Went out yesterday to capture some setting sun images and didn’t do a very good job of that.

So as I was driving to the spot I wanted to take images of I came by this nice home with a big yard and found 7 deer eating the grass.  I almost stopped but experience told me if I did and take the time to get the camera ready they would bolt. 

So I drove on past.  Stopped a way from them, got my camera ready and drove past them again.  I got a couple of images before they took off.  You can click on the images to see a larger more detailed image if you like.So I finally arrived at the barn I wanted to shoot during sunset.  I had a picture in my head that I wanted to achieve but it didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to.  I’ll try again on another day.

I enhanced this a little bit in post processing but got something like I wanted.  There will be another day to try to make the image I have in my head. 

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Saturday ~ December 28, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 28, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

WelcomeJeanne and I went to the river the other day looking for photos.  Saw these Mallards floating by the boat ramp area.  I only have 4,000 images of mallard ducks but what the heck we were there and I had my camera.

However something strange happened.  Normally when I approach any type of wild life they turn their backs to me and swim, fly, or run in the opposite direction.  However, in this case they actually started walking towards me.

Then it occurred to me.  I’ve been to this boat ramp before and have witnessed people throwing bread and other food item at what ever wildlife is available.  Kind of like Pavlov’s dog… (1849–1936), Russian physiologist; full name Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. He is best known for his studies on the conditioned reflex)

As we headed to the lock & dam we saw a lone fishing boat on the surprisingly open water.  We had expected to see more frozen patches on the river.

Finally had to take another image of the lock and dam itself.  The clouds were rolling in and was in the process of blocking the setting sun so it was time to head back home.

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

Saturday ~ November 09, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on November 9, 2024
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Welcome

I did a family photo shoot this past week.  It was very enjoyable although with all the walking I was pretty sore that night.  Awe the joys of getting older.

I have been wanting for sometime now to photograph a Blue Jay and while I was waiting for the family to show up I found this little guy.  It made my day.

I did the shoot at the wonderful 4-Mounds retreat.  I had never been there but will visit it more frequently now.  It is really pretty and some neat things including this wishing well to add to the ambience of the setting.

I was out on the road home a couple of days before and found these naked trees.

I love photographing naked trees against a great sky.  I believe the tree is more beautiful and interesting without leaves.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Friday ~ October 18, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 18, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Welcome

I had spent a fair amount of time at the river earlier this week as I discussed in my previous post.

I was working my way back home ~ (isn’t there song with those words in it?) ~ any way I came across this amazing car sitting in a parking lot.  I had to drive a fair amount more to find a place where I could turn around and get back to it.

In an earlier life this was a 1953 Ford.  I say in an earlier life because there was not too many original parts on this amazing car.

I spent a fair amount of time photographing this beauty and frankly just looking at it from all angles.

The speedometer showed a mere 1,878 miles and I would suspect that those are the actual amount of miles on the new motor.  I really wanted to look at the engine but I didn’t want to touch it without permission and I just imagined what it looked like.

Remember you can click on any image to reveal a much larger and more detailed version of the image.

Enjoy your day.  Pray for our Country and stay safe.

Sunday ~ September 29, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 29, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Welcome

What a great time I had yesterday.  My wife Jeanne has been going to our friend Sara’s ball game every Saturday this summer.

I haven’t gone to any of the games because it was hot and it too early for me.  Okay, I can hear you chastising me, and I deserve it.

But yesterday it was not hot, and the final game started an hour later, which really worked for me.

It was a pretty long way from the parking lot to the ball diamond, but I made it fine and got to count the walking as exercise.

So briefly each team get to let everyone on the team bat.  There are no strikes or balls called and most of the players get a hit and if not they can use the tee.

All most all of the hits turn into home runs with lots of high fives and congratulations from all the coaches and players.  It is wonderful to see.

The announcer is amazing.  He has a nick name for all the players and is a cross between Bob Uecker, and Harry Carry.  He keeps everyone laughing and really makes all the players feel like they are in the big time.

Oh, did I mention they don’t keep score.  Which, is great because it’s all about the players having a great time, which they all do.

A one minute video of our friend Sara singing the National Anthem. 

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Friday ~ September 13, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 13, 2024
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Welcome & Happy Friday!

I had a delightful lunch with a dear friend today.  Long discussions and sharing of past events.  On the way home I decided to take the back road.   Doing so brought me to the above image.  Then I had a long debate with myself.  Was it worth turning around and looking for a place to park.  The road is barely wide enough for two cars let along parking on the road.

Given that this was a rare sight I thought perhaps it was worth the effort.

However I reasoned that It was not that feasible, so I drove on.  finally came to a T intersection and said, “what the hell.” So I turned around and was lucky enough to find small road leading to a field and it only left me a short walk to make the image.

While I was there the farmer was cutting silage so kind of a two for one.

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

Thursday ~ 08-22-2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 22, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Welcome

When we first moved to Dubuque I can remember if you were on highway 151 N you could see a lighted cross amongst the trees.  Never really thought much about it and as time passed you could no longer see the lighted cross.

With the completion of the Southwest Arterial I became aware of this awesome Cross that stood out above the trees.  It was a large structure.

About THE Centennial Cross

History of the Cross

The Centennial Cross was constructed in 1937 to commemorate the Centennial of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The blue cross overlooks Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Key West, IA – just South of Dubuque. It has been a symbol of Christian faith for over 8 decades!

A New Cross

Over the years trees had grown tall enough to block the lights on the 75′ Cross making it hard to see. In addition, the Cross’s neon bulbs were fragile and broke easily. We have added a new concrete footing and erected a new steel cross that is 137′ tall with LED lighting on 2 sides.

After seeing this beautiful cross I wanted to know if it too lit up like the old one did.

So one evening Jeanne and I took a drive on the arterial after dark and was delighted to find it did indeed light up.

Remember you can click on any image to enlarge it and see more detail.

Enjoy your day and be careful.