I o w a • F a r m • B o y

Today I am officially moving the Iowa Farm Boy blog to a different web service. I will be changing the url on Zenfolio and you can go to my new blog site by clicking the Iowa Farm Boy blog right HERE.

The site will have a new look but the stories will still be the same. I will get everything started over the Christmas weekend. I don't know how you get to the blog. If you find me through Zenfolio - no problem. If you find me through Google - definitely no problem. You should be able to Google Rich Fiddelke or Iowa Farm Boy and find me. If you have the RSS Feed set please make sure you change the url.

And all of these blogs will still be available. At this time I can't pull the files over to my new provider - which is blogger. Just in case you like to type in the url here it is:  http://richfiddelke.blogspot.com/. See, it is almost the same. the only change is blogspot.

This has been a blah week. We had rain (ice) followed by snow. I can't scoop it off the driveway so it will be there until it warms up. Seems like about every other year we get this. Then it has been windy. Like for 3 days the wind was pretty steady at 35-40 mph and gusting highter. Temperatures were cold. Well as much as I don't like Florida it sounded like a good place to go. Oh wait, it was freezing there as well. See what I mean.

Betty and I went to Logan for our grandkids Christmas party at church. I enjoy the programs because not only do I get to see our grandchildren we see a whole bunch of other kids as well. Usually there are a couple that you want to hug and squeeze because they are so cute. One little curly hair blond girl was so darn cute. I would like to take photos of her cause she had more ways to scrunch her face that you could imagine.

This is what it looked like on the way home. It started to snow as we left Omaha and it wasn't much. Just a pain. I was driving so Betty took a couple of images with the phone. I can't remember if the light poles and the fence poles were leaning like that or it is a result of shooting them in a moving car with a camera phone. Anyway, it isn't too bad. I think there is a lot of stuff you can do with the camera. You just have to learn how to use it.

I ask her to take a photo coming into Nebraska on the Interstate bridge. Let's just say you do not want to do any action photography or think it terms of 6 frames a second. More like 1 frame every 6 seconds - after the 4 second shutter lag.

The phones have a long way to go but it isn't too bad. I did some work in Lightroom and Photoshop to give it a little grungy look. So maybe I will do some experimenting with the camera and see what happens. The only problem is it sucks the batteries pretty good. I took some photos during the Christmas program so they might make my annual family book.

If you want some memories think in terms of a memory book. They can be pretty neat. If you do one every year for a bunch of years think of what a rememberence that can be for your children and their children and their children ... I look at photos my mom and dad took back in the 30's - 50's but they are stuck out of the way in boxes or albums. We just don't check them out all that often. What I might do is take a lot of those photographs and make some books of those images. We bought a Fiddelke family book at our family reunion this past year in Germantown, Iowa. There were a lot of photographs from way back when that I vaguely remember. It is amazing how you still remember you aunts and uncles looking at photographs that were taken when they were kids. I can just look at them and for whatever reason say that is my dad, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc. And I wasn't around when they were little. Then I see a photo of me as a little kid and don't know who it is. Wierd.

Well I don't know if I will get another blog out before Christmas. I will try. If not I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Oh, and one last thing. My nephew and his wife had a beautiful daughter December 12th. Her name is Piper and she is one beautiful girl. I can't wait to meet her. I will be taking photos for the family but I probably won't share them on the blog. I will ask for permission.

Please tell others about the Iowa Farm Boy blog and Zenfolio. I appreciate you taking time to read this blog. Let me know some things you might like to hear about. I may or may not decide to use them, depending on the nature, but I can sure think about them.

According to Hallmark TV it is only 14 days to Christmas, I sure am glad they keep reminding me because I can't figure it out on my own. I sometimes wonder if the TV people actually watch the stuff they put out and want me to watch. 

So, what do you want for Christmas? If you are looking for a shiny new camera what do you want to see under the tree? I have two digital cameras available to me (not counting my phone). One of them is a Canon S90 (discontinued and replaced by the Canon S95) which is a high quality point and shoot camera. The other is a Nikon D300 (discontined and replaced by the D300s) which is a moderate level DSLR. It costs a little over 4 times as much as the Canon.

You might ask, "Why would I spend that much money on a camera (because the price of the D300s doesn't include any lens)?" I could agree with you if all you want it to set it to "Auto" and fire away and then taking the little memory card to your favorite 13¢ print place so you can share them.

Here we have a photograph of a leaf from a plant given to me by my co-workers when I crushed my left wrist in April 2009. (I won't forget that either)

It isn't too bad. Fairly sharp throughout and the colors are OK. Now I did a lot of work on this in Lightroom and Photoshop. I was focusing on the green part of the leaf but the entire leaf is sorta sharp because this camera has a digital sensor about 1/2 the size of a postage stamp. It sets the camera to be as sharp as possible by stopping down the lens. This would print OK to a 4x6" photo which is what most 13¢ places do.

This is the leaf taken a little later with my Nikon D300 and a macro lens wide open. I focused on the green leaf.

The colors are cleaner, the blacks are neutral black and the red is more true to the plant. I did almost exactly the same thing to this image in LR and PS as I did the Canon. I didn't need to do as much because the digital image quality was much better. There is less depth of field (or overall sharpness) in the image because I only wanted the green part sharp. This image will print OK to a 4x6" print as well. But you would see the difference in the prints. 

I still use the Canon S90 because it still takes pretty good photos. The black and white image of the snow storm on my last blog was taken with that camera. What I am saying is that don't expect the same quality with the point and shoot as the DSLR. It shouldn't happen. Having said that, you put the point and shoot into a professionals hands and they will shot photos that will knock your socks off. And it is small. I can carry it in my pocket. And, the best camera I have is the one I carry with me.

If you get a new camera this Christmas make sure you read the instruction manual to figure out how everything works. Once you do that start taking photos. If you want to learn how to take better images with any camera then think about joining the Omaha Camera Club or a camera club near you. Ask questions and don't be afraid to share you images during competition. You do need to have a little thicker skin because the members will tell you if they don't like something. But if you take away what others are shooting and you decide what you like then you will start to take better photographs.

I decided this year that I like to take photographs of flora and other static items close up. I am working to improve on what I do so I can start to sell those images. I still enjoy taking portraits of people, especially seniors, so I have my "Just As You Are" project for 2011. I still don't know how that will go but I hope to improve that part of my photography. And of course my family is still the biggest part of my life. I enjoy taking photographs from the previous year and producing a book of images. That hopefully will turn into a family treasure when I am dead and forgotten. Maybe they won't know me but I hope to leave a legacy of my family behind.

This would be a good post to leave a comment about which image you like the best and why. Why do that? I can learn from your comments. So help me out here please.

Hey, don't forget to tell folks about the Iowa Farm Boy blog. And don't forget to check out Zenfolio. Until next time.

Ah, the weekend. Time to get out and enjoy the day. Relax and take some of the edge off the work week. Maybe go see the grandkids. Well not today Richie.

This is the view down our street. This is not a full blown blizzard. This is a little inconvenient. I have been in a full blown blizzard in Paullina. It was was January 1975. The snow started Friday morning. By lunch time it was knee deep. When I walked the 3 blocks home after work it was waist deep and I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I made it home (thank God) and we waited it out. All Friday night it sounded like a train going by our house. I woke up Saturday morning and it was still snowing. The driveway was about 6 feet of snow buried. It snowed all day Saturday and night. Same freight train going by all night. 

When I woke up Sunday morning I looked out the window and saw a clean driveway. Whoo hoo! I looked out the east window and couldn't see anything. The snow had drifted between our house and the neighbors to the north, across the street and down two houses. The drift was about 20 feet deep and packed so tight I couldn't scoop anything. 

The neighbors house was buried in snow and one of them had his attic fill with snow and then start to melt. Farmers had to crawl out the second story windows and when they lost power water pipes burst and more damage. Cattle were dead because they could not find shelter. The only mode of transportation was snowmobiles. Cars were buried in snow on the road so they had to be careful when clearing the roads. They brought huge snow blowers mounted on trucks to clear the roads. It took a long time.

So I know what snow looks like. This probably won't amount to too much. One to three inches. But the wind is howling and the snow is drifting. So it is best to stay inside and hope the power doesn't go out. 

The photo for today is black and white. I figured since it was snow that was the best way to present it to you. I hope where ever you are you are safe. Any maybe if you are lucky you are sitting on a beach enjoying the surf. And I ask you, "Why didn't you invite me?"

Don't forget to mention the Iowa Farm Boy blog to your friends, neighbors and relatives. Heck, if you don't like the Iowa Farm Boy blog (and who wouldn't like it) tell someone you don't like. There is still three days to order some prints from the Zenfolio web site. Even if you don't order something take some time and visit. Comment on some of the photos. If you buy one before December 15th you will get a 15% discount. 

Right now it is pretty nice in Omaha. The temperature is unbelievable at 54° and the rain/snow is still to the west and east of us. We have a high wind advisory until 6 pm tomorrow night. So who knows what will happen.

With that in mind I thought I would provide a little bit of a nice, warm fall day in downtown Omaha.

You might remember the photograph of this as a vertical. I like the horizontal more since it offers more of the cables holding the bridge.

When I was walking back to the car I saw this and I thought it was neat the way the tower looked like it was holding up the ground. The black light was a nice contrast against the white tower and blue sky. There was no way with the lens I have to get a wide shot closer to the tower to remove the light so I tried to make the most of the situation. The black street light also looks about as big as the tower, which is sorta interesting - at least to me.

If you come to Omaha and you like bridges, hights and the Muddy Mo then look no further than the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge. Parking is bad and you are in for a pretty good hike but that is apparently what makes it fun.

So if you are going to get cold through the night and into tomorrow stay warm. Please pass on the Iowa Farm Boy website to your friends, neighbors, relatives and others. Something for them to do on these cold winter nights. I need to find other things to photograph during the winter. I have some ideas but if you can think of something let me know. Remember, I am doing macro (close-up) photography. So I tend to think of the 'little' picture rather than the big picture.

There is still time to order a print at 15% off and still get it by Christmas. You can check out the images at Zenfolio.

Betty ask me tonight if anybody wanted the M&M? Nope. So she ate it.

At least I have a photograph of the M&M. As you can see the shell did not go all the way around the M&M and there was part of the chocolate showing. The 'm' was sprayed on the M&M and it got out the door.

What makes this so interesting to me is the fact I am a fan of How It's Made and I have seen how they make these things. They have machines that blow off the offending candy if they find a flaw such as this type. I have always wondered if they get them all and now I know - they don't get them all.

It has been cold here this week. Tomorrow is supposed to warm up. Friday is supposed to warm up. Saturday the high is supposed to be 18 degrees and snow. 18 degrees ... for the high. And it isn't even winter. There is a giant storm off the west coast that is heading our way. Once that is past then the cold will be here again.

Just a few days to order a print from Zenfolio and get a 15% discount. The last day to order is the 15th. Please tell others about the Iowa Farm Boy blog and stay warm if you are in cold weather.

Today hasn't been the best day for me. This morning I got up from my chair, grabbed my coffee cup and the lid came off as it hit the floor. So it rolls and coffee is just about everywhere. Got that cleaned up but there was coffee on my fleece blanket.

On Saturday we take our youngest daughter out to lunch. Nothing fancy. We ate at Runza (Nebraska thing) and I wanted to get some ketchup for my hamburger (no bun or fries). I pressed on the catsup (figured I would cover all the spellings) dispenser and there was dried ketchup around the nozzle. Luckily for me it broke open and I got a bunch of catsup on my coat.

Betty now has two items to wash for me.

After lunch we needed to stop at Shopko to pick up some items. I went to the restroom and after washing my hands - no paper towels. At that point in time Betty said I couldn't drive and we were going home. So that is how my day went.

The second project is "Just As You Are". This will be a different type of project and probably the toughest.

Most of the time people plan for a photo session. They plan the clothes each person will be wearing, the hairstyles - everything.

What we don't get are photographs of people doing what they do every day. I suppose this could be called street photography and in a general sense that is what it is. I don't want to take photographs of people on the sly. I want them to know that I am taking their photograph. They can ham it up or whatever, but I want it to be a photograph of them, "Just As They Are". Next time I won't have my eye closed.

My grandson took this photograph of me "Just As I Am" to him a lot of the time. He is somewhat interested in photography. In 2009 he won several ribbons at the Clay County Fair. This year he didn't enter any. That's the way it is with photography.

This will be the most difficult project for 2011 since it means I will need to go out of my way to ask people if I can take a photograph of them. That means I will need to talk to them, to find out a little bit about them, get them to sign a release so I can put the photo and their story on the Iowa Farm Boy blog. See, this can be tough to do. But I think in the long run it will benefit me and hopefully the people that I photograph. The first photograph is a black and white. For most of this series I envision the photographs in black and white. That means I will need to learn my software a little better. As I move through the project I hope the quality of the output will improve.

I will probably use flash for some of the photos so that will be a technique I will learn better. So for me there are a lot of challenges and a lot of benefits. Wish me luck and maybe I might take a photo of you.

The BIG 15% discount is available on all the photographs in Zenfolio until December 15th. By the way that is 12/15/2010. And please tell others about the Iowa Farm Boy blog. Come back because Project 3 for 2011 is coming up soon. It is going to be somewhat difficult to explain. It isn't original but I wished I had thought

My first project for 2011 is Family. Every year I take photographs of my family - kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, etc. For 2011 I plan on doing more of that. I start out pretty good but by the middle of the year it gets a little less until by December it just doesn't happen.

First, I post these photographs on Zenfolio in the family section. That section is password protected and no, I won't give you the password. That gives my family an opportunity to view and order the photos they may want.

The second thing I do is produce a calendar each year. Each month features one of my grandchildren. The calendar is a quality calendar printed on heavy stock paper and open it is 17x11". It is spiral bound in the middle. I put all the family birthdays, anniversaries, special days, etc. on the calendar and give one to each of my children. They can be made at several places but I prefer Mpix. They are not as cheap as the ones you buy everywhere but they are a lot better - they have pictures of people that are special to you. Now you know the lab I use. They are professional and they have the best turn around time I have ever seen.

The third thing I do is to produce a bound book for Betty. I use Mpix for that as well. I usually get around 200 of my images from the previous year taken at family events and random photos throughout the year. I do a pretty good job of building the pages and Mpix has software to help you build the pages. I caption some of the pages.

This book provides a documentary of each year. Alone they don't mean much but someday when I am gone my kids, grandkids and hopefully my great-grandchilden will be able to see our family. Good or bad - our family. They will remember with us the events of the year as seen through my camera lens. These books can get pricey, but given the fact they are press printed they should last a long time. Think of the high school annual - that is what these are like.

The last thing I do with the photos for the book is to produce a DVD of all the images. There is software that does a fantastic job of producing a DVD. It has titles, music, fades, the whole thing. There is a lot of time spent on all of these things. They don't happen in 15 minutes. A DVD with 100 photos can take 7-8 hours to determine arrangement, titles, fades, special effects, etc. Same thing for the book. But these projects are done with love so time really doesn't matter. I don't do the book and DVD until January because I want to get all the 2010 images into the product.

On Thanksgiving I had a photo session with my daughter and her family. This is the last year with two grandchilden. Next year a new boy will be added to their family. They think they are busy now, they haven't seen anything yet. This was just about the end of the session. When you have a 5 and 3 year old they wear out pretty quickly. I decided to leave this image in the group because sometimes these are the ones that they will remember.

So, maybe 2011 will be the year for your Family Project. With digital it is easier than ever. Take your very best and favorite photos for a calendar and a photo book. Think long-term and it won't be so bad. I spent the most time year photographing landscapes and close-ups. But they are not the most important thing in my life. So my family is first moving forward. I don't make a living at this and probably never will so I might as well provide something that will have a lasting value.

There are 15 days left for you to order a photograph from Zenfolio at a 15% discount. A photograph can be a long-term investment of enjoyment. Thank you for reading the Iowa Farm Boy blog. If you like it mention it to others. If you don't like it mention it to others so they can agree with you or maybe enjoy it. You just never know. And stay tuned because there are two more projects to unveil.