Farmers’ Market

All posts tagged Farmers’ Market

Friday ~ July 21, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 21, 2023
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Happy Friday!

This is my Friend Ted Strait, founder and manager of the great Maquoketa Farmer’s Market.  He is a man of many talents including former HR Director of a major corporation on the West Coast, a master carpenter, and community leader.

I saw him a week ago at a Rotary meeting and asked him if I could do some aerial and still photography of the Market.  He said sure and so this past Tuesday I spent some time at the Market.

What the Market lacks in overall size is more than made up for in a wide variety of things for sale, delicious foods, musical entertainment and great bargains.  It is the meeting place of people from Jackson County every Tuesday.

This is Santa and Mrs Claus.  This is the first time I have met them.  They do a variety of events in and around the Maquoketa area.   They have their own FB page, so search FB to learn more about them.

The musical entertainment is provided by “Momma J.” known for her beautiful voice and wild hats.

She modeled these for me while she was taking a break from her singing.  Really neat lady.

My friend Sally Davis at the information booth for Alzheimer’s activities.  There is a very active group of supporters in Jackson County.

Some of the many vendors are shown below.

And is you made it far, here is a very short video of the Market.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ September 07, 2015

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

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Happy Monday and Happy Labor Day!

A mixed bag for  you today with no rhyme or reason to my selections.  Just to finish up my Saturday shoot at the Farmers’ Market.

I often times shoot a lot of random images that happen to catch my eye.  90% of them end up in the trash.  Often times Jeanne will say to me what are you taking a picture of now and there are times I honestly can’t tell her other than something caught my eye and may appeal to me when I get into post processing.

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We had the kids over last night for the Labor Day grill out.  Enjoyed their company and playing with the Grand Kids.  Love to see them come over and when they leave it is wow did we do a lot I’m tired.  🙂

It takes a lot of energy to keep up with the little ones.  Gabby wanted Grandpa to come home with them last night.  Melted my heart but when I asked her if she wanted to sleep over at our house she said an emphatic no.

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I’ll leave you with these colorful flowers to celebrate the end of Summer.  I personally am looking forward to the cooler drier air of the Fall season.  Yes I know what comes after that but it’s all part of the journey.

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

Thursday ~ August 20, 2015

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

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Happy Thursday!

A mixed bag of left overs for you today.  This is the last of my Des Moines Photo Shoot.  I looked through the remaining images and as I studied them I can remember why I captured each one however different day, different mood and then they don’t appeal to me.

We were walking along the river and heard the distinctive sound of a flock of geese flying by.  Nothing special but the sky was pretty and I liked the formation so made the capture.

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We stopped at an outdoor restaurant and had lunch.  My friend Terry ordered this as his meal.  I think my blood sugar spiked 80 points just sitting near it.  I watched him savor every bite and half way through the delight he ordered another scoop of ice cream.  Some people just know how to get the most out of life.  🙂

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There are always lots of flowers and groups of arrangements at any Farmer’s Market.  These just appealed to me probably the coloration.

I captured images of a lot of people and when I first looked at the shoot I liked about 75% of them.  Now they just don’t appeal to me.  So I’ll keep trying because street photography does intrigue me.  I’ve taken a few classes on it but just cannot seem to grasp the look I want.  It’s a journey.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your Thursday, you only get one chance at it.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Wednesday ~ August 12, 2015

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

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Happy Hump Day!

One of the things I love about the Farmer’s Market (no matter where) is the people.  I love “street photography” but I’m always a little nervous about taking images of people without their permission.  Unfortunately when you ask for  permission you tend to get poses and that tends to diminish the quality of the image (in my opinion.)

Or you can capture an image of an interesting subject like this rugged man and no matter if he is posing his true self shows through.  I would love to do a photo shoot with him as I think he has a story to tell.

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While the first image begged to be in black and white this image demanded to be in color.  I tried it in black and white but it just didn’t convey the true feeling of the subject.  This was a true street image (grab the shot and move on.)

I’m not out to spoil anyone’s day with my photography and I certainly do not want my day spoiled either.  So I take what I can get and if it feels appropriate I will ask.  If not I grab the shot and continue on my way.  🙂

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I love this tee-shirt.  She said “it expresses what I feel.”  Her honesty was refreshing.  I saw a lot of interesting subjects and could have made hundreds of images but there just wasn’t enough time and I kept my camera under my umbrella a lot of the time because of the continuous sprinkles of rain.

Fun stuff for sure.  Jeanne and I think we’ll go to the Dubuque Farmer’s Market this Saturday and see what else we can find to eat and of course make images of.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your mid-week happy hump day.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and thank you for all your wonderful complementary comments.  It makes me feel so good to know that my images are enjoyed.  So thanks and be careful.

Tuesday ~ September 30, 2014

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

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Happy Tuesday!!

Something a little more tame today.  Mainly shapes, colors, and patterns.  When I go to the farmer’s market I’m not looking for things to buy or people to visit with.  I’m there for one purpose, to capture the experience with images.  I love to photograph people but many times I just can’t find a location that will let me do that without drawing attention to myself.  I’m not out to ruin anyone’s day I just love making images of people doing their thing.

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So I generally photograph objects for their interesting colors or shapes or the patterns of their arrangement.  It’s common for Jeanne to be a half block down the street before she realizes that I’m still back where we were photographing a basket of fruit.  🙂

I also enjoy watching the people interact with the vendors.  Many have developed friendships over the years from selling and buying food and it is evident from the banter back and forth between them.

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There are always craft items there as well and sometimes I like to take images of them.  This week there was a young photographer showing her images and offering them for sale.  Most of what I saw of her work centered around commercial buildings from different perspectives than you would normally see them.  What I saw of her work was very good and it made me wish I had taken them.

I’m reading a book now on backyard bird photography.  It’s interesting to see how many of the things he talks about as his techniques for capturing images are things I’ve already stumbled upon.  He has given me lots of ideas that I’m thinking about trying if I can convince Jeanne to let me build a blind on our patio.  🙂

The chapter I’m on now talks about how additive shooting small birds can become and I have to agree with that.  I’ve let other parts of my photography slide because I have been preoccupied with the little feathered creatures.

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I’ll leave you with this image of a bee on a sunflower.  Jeanne likes to buy a sunflower to teach a unit at school so she picked out four very nice flowers and was carrying them when I noticed this bee on one of them.

I tried to talk her into holding it still so I could photograph it but she wanted no part of that.  Thankfully Ben took the flowers from her and held them.

He said by the time we had made it three blocks there were more bees and several wasps that landed on the flowers.  We put them down and took the only one that didn’t have a bee on it.   🙂

That’s it for today.  I hope you have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by the blog and be careful.

Tuesday ~ September 24, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 24, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

September-20-2013-3A

Happy Tuesday.  I have three completely unrelated images for you today that are from Saturday’s shoot.  I finished up another project yesterday, so now I’ve only got a couple more things that I’ve promised to do for people to get off my plate and I’ll finally be caught up.  🙂

I always enjoy taking pictures of the Spirit of Dubuque river boat.  This is not a particularly good shot but I saw it on the river and I couldn’t resist shooting it.

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With almost 600 images made of Great Egrets over the weekend I’ve got to show at least one more.  What you do not see in this image is the 15 minutes I spent removing debris and junk that have accumulated around the Basin.  From the ubiquitous water bottles to tennis balls and everything in between.  With the water level as low as it is all the ugly junk that people throw in the water is beginning to show up.  It is hard to take a picture at the Basin free of junk. 😦

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Finally this candid street image shot at the Farmers’ Market.  I like to find a spot that is out-of-the-way of traffic and look for interesting people to capture.  By the time we arrived last Saturday there were not a lot of people around.  I watched this threesome for several moments but they always had their back to me.  Putting food in their mouth is still not a flattering image but better than a butt shot.

Nothing very inspiring about today’s post.  Not the images nor the cometary.  I get a rare opportunity to play golf this afternoon with a Client so that should be enjoyable.  I originally turned down the offer and then was reminded by my friend that even a bad day at the golf course is better than a good day at the office.   Covey said, “No one on their death-bed every said I regret not spending more time at the office.”

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

Sunday ~ September 22, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 22, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

Joshua

Happy Sunday!  Hope you are having an enjoyable weekend.   Jeanne, Angie, Josh, Gabby, and I went to the Farmers’ Market again yesterday.  It was another perfect day, but we got there kind of late and there wasn’t as much to shoot as last weekend.  I did take some street photography shots but most of those were from the rear and just like with wildlife it is unflattering to take a butt shot.  🙂

It was so much fun watching Josh experience everything.  After awhile Jeanne started carrying him and then he wanted me to carry him because I held him higher than Grandma.  So I decided to put him on my shoulders but that proved to be a little too high for his taste.

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I won’t be able to attend the Farmers’ Market next weekend as Maquoketa is having a huge celebration (Home Coming Weekend) and the Hillbilly Hot-Foot and Color Me run.  I will be there most of the day taking pictures and doing my thing as a Chamber Board Member.  It should be a lot of fun and there will be lots of activities, music, kid’s rides and activities, the run itself, and food vendors.  Then in the evening we will have a Muscle on Main, featuring vintage cars from the Coronado Car Club of Maquoketa.

If you are looking for something fun to do next Saturday you might consider driving the 25 miles South of Dubuque to Maquoketa.

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After the Market, Ben was able to join us and we had lunch (breakfast) at the Burnt Toast Restaurant next to the Okay Doaky Store.  Wow what a great place to eat breakfast.  I can count the number of times on one hand that I have not been able to finish my meal because I was just too full.  That was the case Saturday.  The three egg ham, bacon, and cheese omelet with the cheesy hash browns and sour dough toast were just more than I could handle.

I also have to tell you that my omelet was one of the (if not the) best omelets I have every enjoyed.  I can highly recommend the Burnt Toast with our reservation.  Speaking of which you won’t need a reservation either.  🙂

Before lunch, while I was waiting on Jeanne, Angie, Ben and the Kids I drove down to the 16th street basin.  I didn’t really expect to see anything but to my surprise and delight there were 8 Great Egrets at the Basin.  I only had the 28- 300 mm lens so I didn’t really get any good shots of them but I will slip down there again today with a bigger lens to see if they are still there.

Finally I can tell you that I finished the wedding pictures and they are ready to give to the bride.  I have three other projects to finish up and then I’m going to be very selective about what I take on next.  🙂

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your Sunday and 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.

Friday ~ September 20, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 20, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

September-14-5A-2013

Happy Friday!  It took its sweet time getting here,  but it finally did.  Yesterday I spent most of the day at Camp Courageous near Monticello, Iowa.  What a wonderful place for folks with special needs.  The facility itself is magnificent and is only surpassed by the caring and dedicated staff that supports the visitors.

We held a culture day for some of our staff and along with other team members we taught customer service, our ability to choose our attitude, and a host of other organizational and cultural items.  It is a fun day filled with lots of energy, music, good food, and comradely.

The images for today’s post are from last Saturday Farmers’ Market and they are some of the more colorful sights at the Market.

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A couple of my friends and followers of this blog have asked me if I would show my top five favorite steps in Lightroom for the post processing phase of RAW images.  There are lots of videos out on the internet about that very subject but for them I am going to see if I can put together my favorite workflow in a short video presentation to help them get more familiar with and more out of LR5.  I’ll work on it this weekend as I’ve just about got the wedding images done. 🙂

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My plan is to go back to the Farmers’ Market tomorrow and do some more street photography.  That is the plan, but Saturdays are made for sleeping in, so who knows what will happen.

I hope you have a great day.  Fridays are usually special and Friday evenings are even more special.  Thanks for checking out the blog and be careful.

Tuesday ~ September 17, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 17, 2013
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

September-16-2013

Big day today if you are a gamer.  If not then have pity on us poor fools who are.  Today GTA5 is released and even though I’m working late tomorrow I’ll have to stop at Best Buy and get my copy on my way home.

I was worried about the Cygnets over the weekend and I didn’t see them this morning so I made a point to stop by the Duck Pond last evening on my way out-of-town.  The good news is they seem to be doing fine.  The pond is really low and not much water anywhere but enough for them and the little Coots that were swimming by when I made this capture.

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A couple more images from the Farmer’s Market last Saturday.  I intended for both of these images to be in black and white.  I’m told that the Amish do not like to have their picture taken. Yet I’ve seen many images of them.  I thought this one would be okay since you cannot see his face.  I really missed a great shot and through my own ineptness it got away from me.  There was a gentleman who was confined to a wheel chair.  He had the most interesting face, chiseled with age and hard knocks.  It would have been an interesting image.    I tried to take it without him knowing I was taking it and that was a mistake.  He left without me getting the image and I’m willing to bet if I had simply asked him if I could take his image he would have said yes.  My loss.

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I have a lot more images from the Farmers’ Market to show you during the week.  Some good and some, well you’ve heard the phrase the good, the bad, and the ugly.  🙂

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