Lock & Dam 11

All posts tagged Lock & Dam 11

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 ~ July 27, 2024

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 27, 2024
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Welcome

Today I have a potpourri of images taken a few days ago, while trying out a new lens.  There  is no continuity to the images other than to say they were mostly captured at the lock and dam 11.

Overall I was very pleased with the new  lens.  It is the 160 – 600 mm from the Z series of lenses.  

I am still trying to learn the Z system of mirror-less cameras and lenses.   Although I am excited to learn this new system I have to confess that on a very recent “head-shot” assignment for a client I went back to my Nikon D5 with the 70-200 mm 2.5 lens. I must say that it was the best head-shot session I have ever shot, requiring only two of the 120 + images to be retouched.

After that experience it may be some time before I totally trust the Z system of Nikon cameras and lenses.

So overall, with this small test of the lens I was happy with the results.  There were about 50 images of various lengths and subject matter that I shot but most were just to test the sharpness of the lens.  I was very happy with the results.

Enjoy your weekend and be careful.

Sunday ~ August 13, 2023

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 13, 2023
Posted in: Aerial Photography. Tagged: , , .

Happy Sunday!

What a fun Saturday I had this week.  I spent a little time with my Grand Kids and took some pictures for a future project.  Gabby has started a dog walking business in her neighborhood, which I think is great.

Then I decided to go down to the river and see what was happening.  I hadn’t been to the river for several weeks.  I had my drone but not a camera.  (I know, WHAT, no camera.)  I generally throw it in the truck anytime I’m going anywhere but for some reason Saturday I did not.

As I was coming off the freeway I looked over at the 16th street basin and couldn’t believe what I saw. I have, for sometime lamented about how all the wildlife has left the basin because they cut down all the trees and put in solar panels.  But today was something else.  There were 30-50 egrets, Canada geese, blue herons, and a variety of ducks all using the basin.

What a time to be without a camera.  So I made the decision to drive all the way home to get my camera on the chance they would all be gone by the time I got back.  30 minutes later I was back at the basin with long lens in hand and shooting up a storm.  699 images to be exact. 

I’ll post those images in a couple of days.  Anyway, after that I drove over to the lock and dam and there were a large group of pelicans in the water.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get any pictures of them because, they were blocked by the lock walls.

So I walked over to the control center of the Lock Master and he was busy getting a boat locked through.  He did come outside for a moment and I asked him if I could fly my drone over the dam.  He was very friendly and said “sure you can.”  I was elated.

 The video is a little over 6 minutes.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

 

 

 

Saturday ~ December 10, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on December 10, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

december-08-2016

Happy Saturday!

I have three images for you today.  I must have a thousand or more images of eagles sitting on a tree branch, but when I see one I have to photograph it.  I was down at the Lock & Dam #11 in Dubuque to see if any eagles were fishing.  They were not but there were 20 or more in the trees by the Lock and Dam.  That’s the most eagles I’ve seen by the dam in a very long time.

That is exciting because it means it won’t be much longer and I’ll head a little South of here to do some eagle photography in LeClaire.  🙂

december-08-2016-a

Come to think of it I have thousands of images of Ring-Billed Gulls and Canadian Geese as well.  Same problem, when I see them I feel compelled to photograph them.  I need to do some traveling and experience some new scenery.  🙂

december-08-2016-b

My wife and my Friend Betty both love geese and there were hundreds of them at the 16th Basin and at Buck’s Branch yesterday so I had my pick.  I started following this couple right after they swam out from under the bridge on 16th Street.  They were pretty far apart but came within inches of running into each other.  I mean maybe an inch as they were watching me the entire time.

That’s it for today.  We are supposed to get a major snow storm this weekend.  Jeanne and I have a Christmas party to go to out-of-town and we will be watching the radar this afternoon.  There was a time when it didn’t matter what the weather was we were out among them.  A lot older and a tiny bit wiser has made me much more cautious.

Enjoy your day.  Stay warm and be careful.

 

Wednesday ~ September 14, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on September 14, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

september-14-2016-08-05-16

Happy Wednesday!

Just one image for you today that I took a couple of weeks ago while visiting the Lock and Dam in Dubuque.  First time out with the new Nikon D500 and I was just making some shots of the river traffic.

Nothing else on my mind today so I’ll thank you for stopping by the blog.

Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ May 16, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 16, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , .

May-14-2016

Happy Monday!

I went out Saturday afternoon looking for images because the sky was a deep blue and there were a lot of puffy clouds.  One of my favorite conditions to shoot in.  Problem was I couldn’t find anything to photograph (well that interested me.)  So I paid a dollar and toured Eagle Point park.

It was a bit chilly and there were several people having picnics in their winter coats and hooded sweatshirts (not my idea of a picnic.)  Anyway I was hoping for some small migrating birds but I couldn’t find anything other than sparrows and red-winged blackbirds.

There is a look out point at the park and so I shot a few images of the lock and dam system.  For those who are not from this country the Mississippi River uses a series of locks and dams to control river levels and to assist with river traffic.  Lock and Dam #11 is located at Dubuque, Iowa.

May-14-2016-A

I noticed these pelicans sitting on the edge of the lock and so I shot this image in crop sensor mode (on my camera) which turned my 600 mm lens into essentially a 900 mm lens.  I was pleased with the results considering I was hand holding the Sigma Contemporary lens.

May-14-2016-B

I noticed this turkey vulture floating over the water so I followed him for a while with my lens.

May-14-2016-C

This fish must have been dropped by an eagle.  I’m sure it didn’t get there by itself.  🙂

Anyway it made a nice lunch for this guy.

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

 

Monday ~ February 08, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on February 8, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

February-07-2016-02-05-16

Happy Monday!

Hey something besides eagles.  🙂

Okay I’ll admit there have been a lot of eagles on this blog of late but I have 1,500 images of them so I’m going to show a few more over the next weeks.  But last Friday I did go looking for other things to photograph.

I photographed this barn several years ago in the Spring of the year.  I had forgotten about it but when I went by it I knew I had to photograph it again.

February-07-2016-02-05-16-A

One lone fishing boat on the river by the lock and dam.  There was a pretty good expanse of open water below the dam, which allowed these fishermen to put their boat in the water.  I would suspect they probably put it in on the Wisconsin side of the river.

Although I wasn’t particularly looking for eagles at the dam there were none to be found.  Normally at Winter time they will sit on the ice near open water and fish from there.  This year I have not seen one eagle at the lock and dam.  The 16th Street Basin is completely frozen over so there is no wildlife there either.

Three years ago there were a lot of blue herons fishing at the Basin and I got a lot of great images of them fishing from the ice.  I haven’t seen a heron at the Basin in a long time.

February-07-2016-01-31-16

I’m sorry I couldn’t go a whole post without throwing in one eagle image.

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