Dubuque

All posts tagged Dubuque

Thursday ~ October 11, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 11, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Happy Thursday!

A great day today, which is why I’m late getting this posted.  I normally like to post in the morning but ran out of time this morning.

I had some follow-up photos for my professional assignment, I needed to take in Preston and Maquoketa and I needed to be in Preston at 9:30 a.m.  I rolled in there at 9:32 a.m. and may have exceeded the posted speed limit occasionally.

Then I had a very enjoyable lunch with a dear Friend in Maquoketa.  We visited for about an hour and a half.  We are both recently retired so it was fun discussing the experiences and feelings we’re both having with retirement.

As I was driving around the area taking pictures for the project I was amazed by the flooding in the farm fields around Maquoketa.  Some images from that at another time.

The above image is what is called “selective color.”  It is frowned upon by most serious photographers.  Well I take my photography seriously but I’m the only one who must like it and I thought this image worked better using selective color.  🙂

Most of these images were made in the Millwork District.  It is a fascinating place and I plan on spending more time there in the future.

I left this building art out of my post yesterday.  I didn’t mean to so I include it today.

Enjoy the rest of your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ October 10, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 10, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Happy Wednesday!

Dubuque over the last few years has encouraged and commissioned “building art.”

It has been my intent to photograph some of this building art and finally last week I made some images of my favorite buildings.  So, I have five images of building art for today.  Click on any image to reveal a larger more detailed image.

This building was too large to capture in one image without getting a lot of distracting elements in the frame.  So I took two shots and then stitched them together in Photoshop.  Well that was my original intent but the algorithms of Photoshop failed me this time so I did it manually.  I won’t tell you how much time I spent on this image but it was a lot.  Still it was great practice.

I really like this art work but there were many electrical lines and cables running through it.  When you’re standing on the street just looking at the art I didn’t really notice the lines until I got it in post processing.  I spent over an hour on this removing all the lines.  😦

Another one of my favorite building art image.

There was no angle I could try that would get me a clean shot of this work.  So it is (as they say) what it is.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ October 07, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 7, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

Happy Sunday!

I took a stroll up and down the Great River Walk (Dubuque) last week and made a few images of wildlife that I enjoy photographing.  I have four images today.

This Great Egret was actually at the 16th Street Basin.  Although the city has made an effort to clean the debris from the area it remains inundated with all sorts of garbage.  I cannot believe the insensitivity of some with regards to this wonderful place.

You know, if you’ve followed my photography for very long, that I cannot pass up a chance at photographing a Blue Heron.  The River Walk is high enough and just far enough to allow a great shot with a long lens without stressing the bird too much.

At one end of the River Walk is the barge staging area where they put together barges and load them up.  I had to capture these gulls taking advantage of this temporary resting place.

On my way back I found this guy resting.  So like the one before I had to take the shot.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ June 05, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 5, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Happy Tuesday!

Although the image is of the baby robins, today’s post is a tribute to the most amazing person I have ever met.

Today marks the end of an incredible career of nurturing, compassion, and teaching learning disable children.  For 43 years she has made an incredible difference in the lives of emotionally challenged children and has helped them find their way in a difficult world.

I’m talking about my wife, Jeanne.  I asked her to be my wife after meeting her only 3 weeks earlier.  42 years later we are now starting on a new adventure of retirement together.

Jeanne taught in Missouri for 2 years and then we moved to Waterloo where she taught another 2 years before we settled in Dubuque.  She has the highest seniority level in the entire Dubuque Community School System.  I attended her retirement reception last week and it was a nice event for her but did not really explore her amazing contribution.

On many occasions during the last years when we have been in public together, an adult will come up to her and thank her for how she helped them when they were her student.

There have been many occasions where she has come home in the evening with bruises on her legs from students kicking her and or biting her.  I’ve gone to bed many a night while she was still working on the school work she had brought home.  I’ve seen her so sick that she could hardly put one foot in front of another but still went to work because her kids needed her.

She has taught summer school many years, not because of the additional money but because one of her students needed additional help and she was compelled to give it to them.

Jeanne knew at the age of 6 that she wanted to be a teacher.  If you asked her how much she was being paid she had no idea what her annual salary was.  She knew it once a year when we did our taxes.

On top of all that she was an amazing Mother to our children and now our beautiful grand children have a wonderful opportunity to be with her for many years.

I could go on for many more pages but you get the idea.  The world in a much better place because of her and I thank God every day for letting me share her amazing life.

I think I have also contributed to her career as a test and practice to her patience and compassion for these last 42 years.  🙂

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Saturday ~ May 20, 2017

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 20, 2017
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

Happy Saturday!

I have three images for today.  Yesterday was a miserable day weather wise.  Constant rain, temperature only about 42 degrees and windy.  Not a good day for photography.  I had an appointment to get my hair cut yesterday morning and then an hour to kill before meeting my good friend Mike for lunch at Mario’s Italian Restaurant.  One of my favorite places to eat in Dubuque.

Even though the weather was unfavorable for photography I decided to drive down to the river to see what was going on.  As luck would have it there were two large barges parked one in front of the other waiting their turn to lock through the dam.  I have never seen that before and decided on my return trip I would capture some images.  I drove on to the lock and as I pulled into the parking lot there was a turkey vulture sitting on the asphalt.  I have never been that close to one of them before.  Now the camera is in the back seat still in the bag, it’s raining hard, and the vulture is giving me a close look.

Sure enough when I stopped the car he started unfolding his wings and as soon as I opened my door to get the camera he flew a few feet away to a large rock.  Not too bad, still well within range of my big lens.  Just got the camera out and a train came though.  The tracks run between the bluff and the parking lot, so away he flew and I couldn’t find him after that.  😦

This lonely pelican was floating near the lock so I thought I would capture him since I already had my long lens on the camera.  Back in the car, I dried off the equipment and then headed out to see if anything was going on at McDonald park.  Of course I had forgotten about the two barges sitting there.  It  was raining harder and I’ll admit I didn’t want to get out and change lenses in the rain.  So I just continued on my way to the park.

The only thing I found of interest at the park were some Common Grackles feeding on some berries.  They looked miserable in the cold rain but at least I was able to photograph them from the dryness of the car.  🙂

Do you get the idea that I’m somewhat of a fair weather photographer?  I don’t mind getting wet but I don’t like getting my gear wet and of course I forgot to pack my rain pouch for the camera.

Anyway it was time to meet my friend for lunch.  We had a great lunch with wonderful conversation and a few self-deprecating jabs.  Then home for a nap.  🙂

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Tuesday ~ May 16, 2017

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 16, 2017
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Happy Tuesday!

I have three snapshots for you today.  We celebrated Mother’s Day by having a picnic at Eagle Point Park with Angie, Ben, Mark, and the Grand Kids.  Been a long time since I’ve been to a picnic.  Ben offered to do the grilling on this obsolete charcoal grill, which proved to be quite the challenge.  He did a great job the burgers and brats were prefect.

Considering it was a celebration of Mother’s Day I don’t have any images of the two Mothers.  I didn’t take many shots as the kids wanted to play.  🙂

After the picnic we stopped at the DQ near the park and stood in line for a long time to get an ice cream treat.  It was a fun day and a great way to honor these two wonderful women in our lives.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Saturday ~ March 25, 2017

Posted by Dave Updegraff on March 25, 2017
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

Happy Saturday and Happy Birthday to one of my favorite grand-daughter, Gabby!!

I did a few thing around the house yesterday and then was lucky enough to meet Angie at a restaurant for a long lunch.  It’s always so much fun and satisfaction to spend time with my children who have both grown to be wonderful, responsible individuals.

After lunch, I drove down to the Great River Walk and spent a couple of hours just walking, sitting, and observing.  I made 140 images and have one worth showing.  A ubiquitous Ring-Billed Gull.  I’ve only got 10,000 images of them.  🙂

I watched him for about 25 minutes and each pass he made he came a little closer to me.  I shot this image with the Nikon 80 – 400 mm lens and the focal length was 105 mm so he was getting very close.

One more pass and I was afraid he was going to dump on me.  🙂

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

Tuesday ~ August 30, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 30, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

August-30-2016-08-13-16-AS

Happy Tuesday!

I have three images for you today from my photo shoot at the Dubuque Farmers’ Market of a couple of weeks ago.

I contracted  a nasty stomach bug Saturday afternoon that pretty much sidelined me for the entire weekend and yesterday as well.  Today I am feeling much better today and I think I have it behind me (no pun intended.) 🙂

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Jeanne and I had dinner plans for Saturday evening and then we were going to the Irish Hooley to see our favorite band Gaelic Storm.  Those plans got derailed around 6:00 p.m. when the bug hit me with its full fury.

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So I’m back at it today and hopefully I will have a chance to capture some images of interest.  I’m excited that we are getting close to the harvest season, which is my favorite time of the year both for photography and the weather.  I know it’s what comes after, that is the problem.

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

Monday ~ August 15, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 15, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

August-15-2016

Happy Monday!

Another Black and White day of images for your today.  This is St. Luke’s Methodist Church located at 12th and Main in Dubuque, Iowa.

The church can trace its origins back to the founding of the city of Dubuque, when Methodist Ministers arrived in the city and began work with the miners in the city.

The present church was built-in 1896, and the congregation began worshiping in the building in 1897. The church is noted for the collection of Tiffany Stained glass windows. It has been called “one of the five finest Religious Tiffany collections in the world.” The Angel in the window of the Angel among the Lilies is rumored to bear the likeness of the young deceased daughter of the people who had sponsored that particular window.

The pipe organ in the church is also of historic interest. When the Farand and Votey organ was purchased, two train cars were required to bring the parts to Dubuque. Because the train could not get across the river, barges than were used to float the parts over so that they could be installed in the church. The organ has about 1,000 pipes. At the time of installation, it was one of the largest organs in the area, however over the years it has been eclipsed by others. The pipe organ contains 36 ranks or pipes, about 2,200 total and was restored in 1992 by the Fowler Organ Company, Lansing, Mi.

Several years ago I shot several hundred images of the sanctuary and of the Tiffany windows.  I shot 9 bracketed HDR images which turned out really well.  However since that time the sanctuary underwent a major renovation and has been restored to its original beauty.  Sometime this Fall I am going to ask for permission to once again do a photo session in the sanctuary to update the looks of this masterpiece.

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I photographed a couple of interesting doorways (to me anyway) while we were out exploring on Saturday.  Greg Nauman a photographer from Dubuque photographed “Doorways of Dubuque” and had a lot of success with that image.  There are a lot of interesting doorways in our community.

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Not so much of an interesting doorway on its own right but this building is down by the river close to where I photographed the JD Bridge.  I enjoy photographing doorways, what can I say?

That’s it for today.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.