Fall Harvest

All posts tagged Fall Harvest

Thursday ~ October 16, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 16, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Sparrow

Happy Thursday!

A lowly sparrow for the first image today.  Common bird to be sure, we literally see hundreds of them each day but I’m betting we never really focus on them.  Since I started feeding birds a few months and dollars ago I’ve been watching the birds and photographing them.  I don’t know a lot about them (from research) it’s just not my thing but I do watch their behavior and actions and that helps predict their future movements and when to snap the shutter.

I marvel at the complexity of these creatures and how beautiful they are in their own right.

Fall Color

I have a potpourri of images for you today with no rhyme or reasoning to their selection.   Just some images that for lack of space didn’t make the first cut and now that my photo cupboard is a little sparse they have taken on a new luster.   🙂

I captured this image at Camp Courageous near Monticello, Iowa.  It is a wonderful program that is in operation 12 months a year and gives people with challenges hope and happiness.  We hold some of our training programs there because we like to support the camp and because it is such a beautiful place to be.

Grain Wagons

Normally by this time of year I have shot hundreds of harvest images.  Due to the wetness of the crop and the weather I have very few to show you.  I missed a great opportunity last Saturday because I had commitments I had to take care of but hopefully this weekend I can shoot a bunch.  There are two contests I want to enter before the end of the year and I need some quality images to have a chance.

Another busy day ahead with more cheese moving and challenges to overcome.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ October 05, 2014

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 5, 2014
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

October Moon

Happy Sunday!

I was grilling last night and saw this wonderful moon in the sky.  Well much like seeing an eagle I cannot pass up an opportunity to capture a clear shot of the moon.

I saw my little friend the squirrel at the feeder yesterday afternoon so I know he is still safe.  I worry that feeding at the bottom of the feeder really exposes him to the red-tailed hawk but there isn’t much I can do about that.

Corn Wagon

Yesterday morning I drove to Cedar Rapids, which is not something I particularly wanted to do, however there was a company in town for the day at the photo store I do business with, that were there to buy used cameras.

Yes I had (even for me) an extra camera that I needed to sell and I’ve done business with this company before so I thought it would be worth the while to drive down.  I knew what the camera was bringing on e-bay and what it should be worth and of course I had a bottom price that I would accept.

I have always found these folks to be extremely fair and cordial.  While I was standing in line I was able to visit with a couple of factory representatives from Sony and Cannon.  It was really fun to talk equipment with other people with out someone’s eyes glazing over.  🙂

Anyway, when it was my turn I got into another conversation about the Tamron 150 – 600 mm lens with the guy who was appraising my camera.  I felt guilty for taking so much time but he had just received his lens and was excited to talk with someone who has had some experience with it.

They gave me more money then I figured they would so I was really happy.  I sold the Nikon D600. which was a really good camera but it was the first production run and it had some issues with the sensor.  A year later they released the Nikon D610 and so I bought that one when it came out.  So it was more of just an upgrade for me.

Fall Harvest

I had lunch with my good friend Barb after selling my camera and we got caught up on what she’s been doing.  She likes to shoot sports as her one of her brothers is a H.S. football coach.  Shooting football under the lights with a long lens is really a challenge.  Especially if you don’t have a really expensive and fast telephoto lens.  She was frustrated with some of her results so I gave her some tips that might help but it will be a challenge none the less.

I saw the wagon in the second image on the way to Cedar Rapids.  It was really overcast and I was wanting to make sure I had plenty to time at the camera store so I made a mental note to stop on my way back.  Fortunately the blue sky and sun were out when I came by the second time so I was able to make this capture.

The image just above was captured near Anamosa, Iowa and I’m sure the farmer and his helpers wondered what that Dude with the camera was up to.  I shot several passes of him harvesting but finally got one of him harvesting and unloading at the same time. 🙂

That’s it for today.  Angie and Ben have hired a photographer to take their family picture out at Swiss Valley today.  They have invited Ben’s family and our family to also have a group picture taken.  So Mark came up last night and we’ll meet at the park this morning.  Going to be chilly but hopefully a nice day for the shoot.  I have seen the work of this photographer and she is very good.  Maybe she’ll talk cameras with me.  🙂

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

Saturday ~ October 19, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 19, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Harvest time in Iowa

Happy Saturday:  I’m sorry for the lack of activity on the blog the last couple of days.  My work has been hectic and yesterday I was out of commission for most of the day.  I was behind on so many things so I can’t imagine how much father behind I’m going to be on Monday.  Feeling much better today.

I’m still adjusting to my new iMac desktop computer system.  I do a lot of customization to every computer I’ve had so I am always tweaking various settings.  Then when I move to a new system it is very uncomfortable for a while until I get it configured to all of my weirdness.  🙂  Anyway I’m about there and I will tell you how much I enjoy working on images with a 27 inch monitor compared to my little 14.5 inch laptop screen.  Of course it allows me to see all my mistakes in a much bigger way but it also helps in correcting said mistakes.

I was able to find a couple of harvest scenes on the way home Thursday night.  The image above was taken from the shoulder of Highway 61.  There was a lot of activity in this field and I shot about 20 images of the two combines and two tractors pulling grain wagons.  When I got the image loaded for processing I noticed two very prevalent power lines running through the middle of the image.  They would ruin the image in my mind so I spent about 25 minutes removing them.  I honestly didn’t see them in my viewfinder as I guess I was concentrating on the equipment and not the peripheral area in the scene.

Combine at rest

For those of you who have followed this blog for sometime this combine should look familiar.  I shot this same combine in a similar composition in October 2010.  In fact that image will be on next month’s (November) calendar of the IBA calendar.  I have two images for the 2014 calendar and I am in the process of submitting more images for the 2015 calendar.  It’s a lot of fun to see your image printed and distributed beyond what I’ve done with it.  The IBA calendar hangs in a lot of homes in Iowa.  🙂

Enjoy your weekend.  Love these cooler temperatures.  I know I’m in the minority but my thermostat has been out of whack for a long time so I like the colder weather.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Wednesday ~ October 02, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on October 2, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

October-01-2013-B

Happy Hump Day!  I stopped by the Duck Pond yesterday on my lunch break and was able to get fairly close to the swans.  The light was high and bright but I was more interested in getting a shot of the swans than trying to make a prize-winning image.  They seem to be doing well, although there is little water left in the marsh, it appears they are doing what is necessary to stay fed and safe.  One of the dangers they will face before too much longer is when they start to fly.  There are some high voltage power lines on the North side of the pond and they’ll have to navigate beyond them.

October-01-2013-A

I love this time of year and the harvest.  I enjoy the softer light on my evening commute and the machines in the fields harvesting the crops.  I saw a half-dozen combines in fields on the way home last evening but this one the only one that I could get a safe place to park and capture a couple of images.

October-01-2013

Another field where the harvest is completed.  A couple of grain wagons sit at the far end of the field and they have already baled up the corn stalks.

So you can expect to see a fair amount of harvest type images in the month ahead.  I really enjoy shooting the process and the wonderful warm colors of Fall.

I hope you have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Be careful.

Saturday ~ September 21, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 21, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

September-20-2013

Happy Saturday!  I shot this image on the way home last evening.  It is rapidly becoming the time of the year that I enjoy the most.  Crisp cool temperatures, golden sunlight (during my commute), fall colors, and harvest time.  I really enjoy taking images of the harvest.  Much more so than of the planting and cultivating.  There is just something so special about this time of year and the flood of wonderful memories it brings.

It’s been a busy week and I still have a few wedding images to process but that should be all finished up by the end of today if I stay on task.  Jeanne and I plan to visit the Farmers’ Market again this morning.  I’d like to do some more street photography.  It really depends on the weather.  I think it is supposed to be a great weather day with highs only in the 60s.  🙂

Thanks for stopping by the blog this day.  I hope you enjoy the weekend.  Safe travels if you are on the road and of course as always please be careful.