Now - Where did that Deck Go?

We had a deck on the back of the house that was in pretty bad shape - had to fix it or lose it. You can see the choice we made...
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Patriotism

Showing the flag at the Memorial Day Service in Waterloo, Iowa...


...moments before she placed a flag on her father's memorial brick.
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Memorial Day 2009

In gratitude for those who have served, and in sorrow for those who have lost their lives.
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Generation Gap

I don't know if it's a generation gap or a difference in perception, but... Yesterday my grandson came into the house and said, "Grandpa, I drew a picture of the Enterprise can you take a picture?"

Grandma always supplies the kids with chalk so they can draw on the driveway and as I grabbed my camera I was expecting a rendition of the USS Enterprise (aircraft carrier) and then I saw that it was the Starship Enterprise. It probably just means I'm not a treckie... an excellent rendition...hope it doesn't rain.
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Statue of Christ

I went wondering around a cemetary and it seems there are a ton of photo opportunities.   This photo was just one.

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Well Fed

Saw this guy at a rest stop - appears to be well fed...
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What's In Here?

What's in here?
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Another T-Pot

This is not our T-Pot but our daughter's - m-m-m-m must run in the family.
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Colorful Cabin

A cabin in a field of yellow.
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Scarey Guy Stands Guard

Not sure what this it is... It's either a scarey looking frog or a real ugly bug. At any rate it is standing guard in a flower garden. It probably works too - I imagine as the birds fly down to pick up the seeds they see this guy and say to themselves, "what is...". And, as they are distracted they fly into a wall. [I just made that up - this guy may be there just to make visitors say, "that's so ugly it's cute."].
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St. Patrick

St. Patrick's Catholic Church, St. Patrick, MN.
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Wind Crop

2nd only to California Iowa's newest crop is wind energy.
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Minnesota Mobile Home

We've been visiting in Minnesota the last several days and I have shot at least 150 photographs. The difficulty is now which one do I use for the photo of the day? I have chosen to go with a bit of levity, so pictured above is a Minnesota Mobile Home (my apologies to any Minnesotan who may see this - but with all the Iowa jokes...).

To view a series of other photos you can visit my Flicker Photos.
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Geometric Shapes

Rectangles


Circles
I went to a middle school concert last night where my grand daughter Ania was performing. Since grandpas always take cameras to such events I was ready to take pictures. As I was sitting in the auditorium I noticed interesting shapes in the room. I shot in black and white - just 'cause...
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Ania's Artwork

I'm in Minneapolis, MN attending a Credit Union seminar. As a side benefit I also get to visit my daughters and grand daughters (Ania (12), Emily (10), Abbie (8) and Ellie (5)). Now, when you are with grand kids their are tons of photo ops - but, the above art work taped on a door got my attention. Ania showed me several pieces of her art and I do believe she is a budding artist.
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Spring Color

I just love the color green and add red, white and blue and it's a perfect combination.
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Grocery Shopping - Robin Style

As I was continuing my safari I had the opportunity to view the food chain at work. Mr. Robin had completed his kill and was standing guard. Right after this picture was shot he took off with a moutful [beak full] presumably to feed his family.

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Backyard Safari

I've been roaming around my yard on what I call my "Safari" in search of photo opportunities. The top photo is a photo of a bleeding heart. [As a quick side note - I have not planted these and grown them on purpose. I have a black thumb and if I had planted these and wanted them to grow - they would have died.]

My last attemp to grow something was right after we moved into the house. I thought pampus grass was cool so I bought some, planted it and waited. It grew, grew, and grew. Then one day my sister-in-law came over and asked about the patch of weeds in back. It seems the pampus grass had died somewhere along the line and I was culvating some sort of giant weed. I did think it looked funny - but, I just thought it was going to morph into grass...


Does anyone know the name of this flower? (Don't tell me if it's a weed - just make up a name!!)
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Dandelion

I used to see the "ugly" dandelion. You know - the one that was no longer yellow and was about ready to spread the seeds. But, now looking through the camera lens I see some gorgeous colors.

I had to post 2 photos again. Actually this one was the top photo and I painted it with Corel Paint4 software.
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Huey

I made a return visit to the Sullivan Brothers Museum with my new wide angle lens and took some new photos. This Huey is NOT a replica. The back half is missing - but the front half is real - including the caked on bugs...
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Changes Over Time

2009
There is a tree behind Trinity Episcopal Parish which we have called "Trini-tree". The parish has watched this tree grow over time -and, die over time. Kind of mirrors life...


2005




Unknown (Photo courtesy of Brandon Nieman)
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Candid Cookie Shot

My brother-in-law Robert passed away last Saturday and we had the funeral yesterday. During a lighter moment after the service my sister-in-law Carol was clowning around with a cookie. [People need to be careful when there's a photographer with a camera in the room]

In Bloom

Note the water droplets...
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Irritated Customer

This little guy came up to the credit union's front door - knocked on the window, waited, layed down, knocked on the window, and then left in a huff when we refused service.
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Music

I was hired to do a photoshoot Saturday night and part of the program was young musicians.




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Wide Angle

I have a new lens in my tool box - a Tamron F/3.5 10-24mm Wide Angle. It works great - but (why does there always have to be a but?) it has been giving me an occasional communication error on the camera. Not every time, but often enough to bug me. So, I am going to exchange it on Monday and hope the relacement works with no hitches.
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May Day

On the way home from work the clouds were gorgeous, so I pulled into a parking area and took a photo.


An interesting shape and color.



A remainder (or reminder) of winter.
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Silhouette

A silhouette of a photographer against the sunset.
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Motion

Motion + Photo = video - that is what most people believe. Is it possible to depict motion in a still photo? Yes - take a picture of a 3 year old.



As a follow up to my post about the Robin's Nest. It appears that our Robins failed their course in engineering and their condo collapsed. The good news is that were no eggs in the wreckage on the driveway.
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Hands

Some pictures just beg to be taken.
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A Robin Condo

A Robin condo. This is really quite an engineering feat as they have bulit their nest on a round platform. I don't have the heart to knock it down, so I will let nature takes its course. I'll also keep the light off so the eggs don't cook...
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An Engineer In the Making

"M-m-m-m-, I wonder what would happen if I poked this in there?"
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Mini-Reunion

We were in Iowa City wandering around downtown whre there was a small ballet troupe performing and I caught this young lady mid air.
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Spring Is Here - No, Really!!!

Spring Flower


Singing a spring song


New life

Dare I believe that spring is really here? There are signs every where.
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Mount Mercy College

A view of the Administration Building, Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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Sunset on Golf Course

We were driving home from choir last night and I noticed the sun setting on the golf course. I did a bat turn in traffic so I could get a picture. As I was printing this last night I noticed a bird at the top of the tree in the middle - it's probably an Eagle "taunting" me. I'll get a good picture of an Eagle some day...


I was playing around with the photo and ended up painting it with Corel Paint4. It turned out pretty good.
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