Flowers

All posts tagged Flowers

Tuesday ~ July 19, 2022

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 19, 2022
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , .

Happy Tuesday!

I had a lunch today with some close friends.  After our lunch I wandered around a little bit looking for something capture.  It has been a very long time since I did any macro photography and it shows.

I am not happy with some of these images and it points out the fact that I need to do some more work on getting my camera settings better set.

It’s amazing but so true, if you don’t use your skill in a given application you lose the ability to do it well.  I have more or less taken a hiatus from my photography and editing, since retiring four years ago and sadly it does show.

While I was photographing these flowers I was really uncomfortable.  It was extremely hot and humid so I was just anxious to get the images and get back in the air conditioning.

I think very soon I will visit the arboretum and get some more practice in with a different group of flowers.  Maybe a little earlier in the day before the heat builds.

I hope you enjoyed the flowers.  I was aware of this grasshopper in the center of this flower.  Remember you can click on any of the images to make a larger more detailed view of the image.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ July 18, 2018

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 18, 2018
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

Happy Wednesday!

I have three images for today.

I had a wonderful day yesterday spending time with some dear Friends that I haven’t seen for sometime.  Friends are such an important part of my life and when there is discord in a relationship it causes much pain.  When there is tolerance and acceptance then it creates an aura of peace and fulfillment.  🙂

It was my intent yesterday,  to stop by the Dubuque Arboretum for some flower photography.  It’s been sometime since I captured any flower images.  On my way home from Maquoketa I went by some flowers at the Hurstville Kilns so I pulled into the parking lot and spent a few minutes exploring and enjoying the flowers planted there.

I’ve always enjoyed photographing flowers and I follow several photographers who specialize in flower photography.  I guess I’ve been engrossed in trying to get my head shot photography sideline going and I have neglected some of the other subjects I enjoy photographing.

I hope these images brings a little happiness to you.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ February 15, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on February 15, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

February-14-2015

Happy Sunday!

I captured some images from Jeanne’s flowers that I gave her for Valentine’s day.  I always use Butt’s Florist in Dubuque and they do such a great job at arranging the flowers and delivering them on time.

I enjoy photographing flowers, especially in the Spring and Summer months.  Inside, when it -2 outside, not as much fun.

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Jeanne and I went to see the movie “American Sniper” yesterday afternoon.  We went to the 4:00 p.m. movie and there were huge crowds.  I was afraid that we wouldn’t get a good seat.  The lines were as long as I have ever seen them.  Fortunately for us they were mostly there for the movie “50 Shades of Gray.”

We had discussed for sometime about seeing this movie.  I don’t enjoy movies that are sad or have tragic endings.  There is enough strife and grief in life.  But so many people had told us that we had to see it, that it was one of the best movies made compelled us to go.  The theater was nearly full (after all this time) and the movie was riveting and amazingly done.  It gave me a new appreciation of what our soldiers are going through.

I have never been to a movie where people remained silent and in their seats for a few moments after the movie was over.  No talking or laughing or anything.  We all walked out together, some stayed in their seats, but no one said a thing.  Amazing.

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I’ll finish up with these flowers that Jeanne gave me for my birthday a few days ago.  She had them sitting on the window ledge and the evening sun was warming them.  I decided to capture them without a flash and just use the soft sunlight.

We had a wonderful dinner at home.  For the first time in our lives we tried lobster tail.  It was wonderful and I grilled a steak so it was a very special evening.  I am so blessed.  🙂

That’s it for today.  I hope you enjoy your cold, windy Sunday.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Monday ~ February 09, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on February 9, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

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Happy Monday!

It isn’t Spring but maybe these flowers will help brighten your day as they did mine.  My wonderful wife had them for me complete with a happy birthday balloon at the breakfast bar yesterday morning.  A nice way to start the day.

We went to Angie and Ben’s home Saturday evening for my birthday dinner and was joined later by Mark.  We played some cards and had a great time, with wonderful food and thoughtful cards and presents.

I took several images of Gabby but she was covered with food in most of them so I may not show them.  Josh didn’t mind that I photographed him this time so maybe we’re over that phase for now.

February-08-2015

I had a great birthday and I was truly humbled by all the well wishes from my wonderful friends.  I’m truly a lucky man to have such a loving family and so many wonderful friends.  Thank you all.
Back at the grind today.

I was looking back through my blog a year ago.  I was doing a lot of flying with the Phantom.  Today it sits in a case half assembled with some spare parts waiting to be installed.  My new Phantom is still in the box yet to be opened.  I have a lot of work to do on both and soon I’ll be getting them airworthy.  I’m looking forward to doing the aerial photography that I didn’t get a chance to do last year.

Photo specs: Nikon D4 | Nikon 105mm macro lens | Nikon SB910 speed light | ISO 100 1/60 sec @ f8.0

That’s it for today.  I hope you have a great day and as always thanks for stopping by.  Be careful.

 

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 14, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

August-13-2013

Happy Hump Day.  Back at it today after an enjoyable vacation.  It, like all things in life, had its great moments with the reconnecting of old and valued relationships and it had some down times as well.  But we came through it safely, more reflective, and hopefully a little wiser and very thankful.

My last day of vacation was filled with appointments in the morning.  Hearing aid adjustments and then a much-needed haircut.  After that I took off for some of my favorite photography places to see what I could find.  Jeanne was having lunch with some of her teacher friends so I did my own thing today.

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I didn’t start with the idea of taking images of flowers.  In fact that was the last thing on my mind.  I was actually looking for some wildlife images to capture.  But when I drove into one of my favorite parks in Dubuque I saw something that peaked my interest.  Upon exploring a little I was not all that excited with what I found, however on my way back to the car I came across all these wonderful flowers.  Well, I enjoy shooting flowers so that’s what you get today.  🙂

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So I shot a few images around the park and then I drove up to Mud Lake Park.  Not much going on there.  I did see a guy waxing his big RV Bus.  That work didn’t look like it was the way to spend an enjoyable vacation but to each their own.

I was hoping to find some birds that I don’t normally see around our place in Dubuque, but that didn’t work out so all you get today is flowers.   I actually shot more images today than I did the entire vacation.  🙂  Back home I did a bike ride.  I had a lot of getting re-acquainted again with the bike but it was fun.  If you’re bored and need to kill a few minutes head over to my biking blog.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your middle of the week hump day.  Be careful.

Tuesday ~ August 06, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 6, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

August-05-2013

Good Day.  A quick post today as I am later than even I’m use to.  I didn’t get home until late last evening because I had to attend a Maquoketa City Council meeting as a representative of the Maquoketa Chamber.  So I worked at the office until 6:00 p.m. and then decided to see if I could find something to shoot.

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I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t do a very good job on these flowers.  These are the best of a forgettable bunch of shots.  I should have set the tripod up as the light was such that I could only shoot at 1/50 of a second.  Too lazy to do that and I wanted to keep the ISO as low as possible so I have a lot of flowers that are soft around the edges or just a big blur altogether.

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These flowers were at one of the many parks in Maquoketa and attended by the Master Gardners of Maquoketa.  For a small community Maquoketa has a wonderful park system and their trademark park Little Bear is going a complete make over.  I’ll get some images of the new park when it is completed in late September.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy this Tuesday.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Wednesday ~ July 31, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 31, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , .

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Happy Hump Day.  Earlier in the week I had an opportunity to tour a tree farm and look at some prairie grass and wild flowers.  I did a shoot of this tree farm a couple of years ago and this is a new growth of prairie grass since that time.

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We toured the farm in a 4 X 4 and that is a great way (for someone who doesn’t like snakes) to get around.  🙂    There are a lot of old trees and many new ones of varying species.  Two years ago I photographed a giant oak tree that would be over 150 years old.

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We didn’t have much time to tour the farm but it was a beautiful day with the temperature in the mid 60s.

Short post today as I’m late as usual.  Enjoy your mid-week hump day.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.

Tuesday ~ July 16, 2013

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 16, 2013
Posted in: General Posts. Tagged: , , , .

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Some more images today from our trip to Cedar Rapids.  Barb took us to a park with a lot of flowers.  I enjoy shooting flowers and I thought I grabbed my macro lens when I was packing Saturday morning but instead I grabbed the 85 mm portrait lens.  So I shot these images with the 80 – 400 lens.  They are okay but not to my liking.

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If the weather is good I would like to go to the Dubuque Arboretum this Sunday evening.  I usually try to get there once a year.  By the looks of these flowers the ones at the Arboretum should be great to shoot.  It had stopped raining by the time we arrived at this park.  As I mentioned yesterday I used a flash to get some better light on the flowers.

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If you click on this image to enlarge it and look carefully you will see a worm and a flying insect on the flower.  I didn’t notice them when I was photographing it.  I had a lot of trouble getting the composition I wanted with the lens I had so I limited my shooting to a very few flowers.

Barb and Emily

I couldn’t resist grabbing a shot of Barb and Emily discussing their shots of this flower bed.

That’s it for today.  Just a couple more images to show you of the CR  shoot and then it’s on to something else.  Thanks for stopping by today.  Enjoy your day and be careful.