4th of July Parade Photos
Individual photos follow. Click on any photo to see a larger version.
4th of July Parade Photos, 2026
Category Archives: General
Lamoni High School Baseball Photos
Lamoni High school baseball game vs the Seymour Iowa Warriors. Drew hits a single.
On an increasingly drizzly Friday, June 26, the Lamoni High School Demons played the Seymour Warriors. Lamoni won, 13-0. The JV game was called at the end of the first inning due to the rain. The JV score was 3-3.
Click any image to see a larger version.
Memory Box Vault – Don’t Get Ripped Off
The internet is flooded with a thinly disguised advertorial in the form of a questionable review by a fake reviewer. No responsible review of film scanners (I checked 10, links below) recommends the Memory Box Vault. They don’t even mention it. It ships from overseas so you have no legal protections if you can’t get your money back. And despite the $149 special price, you can buy it unbranded at Amazon for about $55. The reviews at Amazon are mixed and some of the Amazon reviewers say this scanner is terrible.
Video of Ronald Reagan’s Speech On the 40th Anniversary of D-Day
President Reagan’s 13 minute speech at the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc is considered to be one of the great speeches in American History. In addition to President Reagan, these world leaders were present: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, King Olav V of Norway, King Baudouin I of Belgium, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, and Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada.
Links
The Text of Ronald Reagan’s Speech On the 40th Anniversary of D-Day
President Reagan’s 13 minute speech at the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc is considered to be one of the great speeches in American History. In addition to President Reagan, these world leaders were present: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, King Olav V of Norway, King Baudouin I of Belgium, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, and Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada. The text of Reagan’s speech follows.
Video: The Story Behind Robert Capa’s D-Day Photos
John Morris, Capa’s London photo editor, tells the story behind Robert Capa’s D-Day photos, including the terrible darkroom mistake that ruined most of the photos. The high resolution video is best viewed full screen. You can see a contact sheet of the nine surviving negatives (ripped sprocket holes and all), Capa’s photo notes, and hear the story of the rush to get the prints back to the U.S. for publication in Life more. Fascinating imagery.
Link
Robert Capa and D-Day, June 6, 1944
Robert Capa: Normandy. June 6th, 1944.
June 6, 1944 was the allied invasion of Normandy, the largest seaborne invasion in history. 24,000 allied troops parachuted into France shorty after midnight. The next morning beginning at 6:30 am over 150,000 American, British, and Canadian troops landed. There were 10,000 casualties and 4,414 confirmed dead.
My “Toy” Camera Gear
Recent Favorites (April and May) viewed with Adobe Bridge. (Click to see a larger versions.)
I just noticed something. This is a folder of my recent (April-May) favorites, opened with Adobe Bridge and in chronological order. (You can see these photos in the prior two posts.) The first 6 numbers in the file name are the date (YYMMDD), followed by the photo name, the camera, and the original 4 digit file number.
Favorite Photos, May 2026
Lamoni High School track meet at Graceland University. Lamoni wins the women’s 4x200m relay.
Favorite Photos, April 2026
Sunset, Lake LaShane
Big Boy No. 4014 On A Cross Country Tour
Big Boy No, 4014 visits Tama Iowa, June 1, 2026.
Big Boy No. 4014 is the biggest operating steam locomotive in the world. It is on a cross country tour from Wyoming to the east coast and then back across the country to Colorado and back to Wyoming. It is massive at 133 feet long and weighs 1.2 million pounds. That is 44 1/3 yards, nearly half a football field in length.
MEMORIAL DAY, IN REMEMBRANCE . . .
Cemetery, The Presidio, San Francisco, California. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.
Memorial Day began unofficially in a variety of places as people felt the need to recognize those who gave their lives in the Civil War. Memorial Day was officially declared on May 5, 1868, when General John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic ordered a day of observance when all Union and Confederate Graves at Arlington National Cemetery would be decorated with flowers on May 30, 1868. One state after another adopted May 30 as a Memorial Day observance until all of the Northern states had adopted May 30 by 1890. Many Southern states had picked different days to honor the Confederate dead.
Memorial Day, Rose Hill Cemetery
Memorial Day – Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
U.S. Flags at Sunset, Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni, Iowa
From Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.
Memorial Day, A Reflection and a Brief History
Richard Duane Klug (the name just above the rose) was born January 26, 1946. He died in Darlac Province, Vietnam, November 14, 1967 at the age of 21. He is one of over 58,000 American soldiers that died in Vietnam, and one of over 1.1 million American soldiers that have died in all American wars (almost half of them in the Civil War).
Don’t Get Ripped Off! The Spade & Co Watch is a Scam!
Update: This is a minor update of an article I wrote 4 years ago. Two things have changed since then. The BBB changed the rating for Spade and Company from “D+” down to an “F”. And there are now 151 reviews from mostly unhappy customers.
If it sounds too good to be true . . . .
Don’t get scammed by fake review articles posted online by the company that sells the lousy product. This is just the latest example of a cheaply made Chinese product touted as a high tech wonder. The watch does not work as advertised.
How To Find Wildlife, The Best Books
Wildlife Guidebooks
The first step to photographing wildlife is finding wildlife and one of the best ways to find wildlife is to look at wildlife location books. They will save you hours of frustration by sending you to the best locations to find wildlife.
Cindy Crawford by Patrick Demarchelier
Demarchelier was one of Cindy Crawford’s favorite photographers. She posted two photos they created together as a tribute to him after his passing. This is one of them.
How To Pick Your Best Photos
Contact Sheet. Catherine Ursillo by Al Gruen.
Contact Sheet by Al Gruen is an interesting and worthwhile book. It is about picking your best photos from a contact sheet. (And it also works for picking your best digital images.) In the darkroom you can lay all of your negatives from one roll of film on top of a sheet of photographic paper. You expose the paper and develop it and you have miniature photos of all your negatives on one piece of paper. It is called a contact sheet. An example is the image above. You can look at the little photos with a photographer’s loupe (a kind of magnifying glass) and pick your best images to make enlargements.
Photos: Living Art Studios Dance Recital
Dance Recital, Living Art Studios
At 7:00 pm Saturday evening, April 4, the parking lot was already filling up with cars for the 7:30 pm dance recital. People were arriving early to get a good seat.
Pelicans at 318 Yards
Pelicans on Lake LaShane this morning. April 9, 2026.
Last night I was photographing these pelicans under cloudy skies. The images just didn’t “pop”. This morning I had a 30 minute window with sunlight on the pelicans before the clouds again moved in. This is the full uncropped image, resized for the web.
California Golden Poppies
California Golden Poppies
California is famous for California Golden Poppies in the spring. I was at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge when I photographed these poppies on April 1, 2017. This particular wildlife refuge is a favorite of mine and I try to spend some time there any time I am in the Bay Area.
Texas Bluebonnets
Bluebonnets and Paintbrush, Texas.
One of the best places to photograph wildflowers in late March and early April is central Texas and the Texas Hill country. It was March 31, 2001 when I photographed these wildflowers in central Texas. Driving along I-35 there were vast expanses of wildflowers as far as the eye could see.
Favorite Photos – 2025
Click to see a larger version.
“Why don’t you post your favorite photos at the end of the year?” Good question. A lot of photographers do that. I have not been one of them, at least until today. This morning I decided to pick my favorite photos for 2025 and post them. The individual photos are below.
iPhone vs 400mm Lens
iPhone photo
I took a photo from the same location with my iPhone and a 400mm lens on my Canon 7D2 DSLR. This is the iPhone photo above.
Graceland University Winter Concert – February 19, 2026
Graceland University Concert Choir. February 19, 2026. Click the image to see a larger version.
“Pure Imagination”. That was the name for Graceland’s February 19, 2026 performance. The evening featured an eclectic choice of musical selections from G. F. Handel to contemporary composers. The Concert Choir opened the performance, followed by Graceland’s Harmonium, and the Graceland Jazz Ensemble. Addison Cole and Luke Clark were featured vocal soloists. Instrumental soloists were Brayden Ingram (guitar), Miles Winship (trumpet), and Jamin Wilson (alto sax). A select group of singers joined the Jazz Ensemble for the final number, S’posin’.
President George Washington
This is the famous “Lansdowne portrait” of President Washington by Gilbert Stuart. Stuart painted 3 famous portraits of Washington (and Stuart followed up by painting many copies of the originals due to lots of requests). The Lansdowne portrait is named for the Marquise of Lansdowne, former British Prime Minister and recipient of this painting.
RGB vs Luminance Histograms – How To Use Them
RGB Histogram (upper right) and Luminance Histogram (lower right).
If your camera offers both RGB and luminance histograms, choose RGB. An RGB histogram is one of your most valuable exposure tools. A luminance histogram can lead to bad exposures and poor colors.
Your Camera Loves “Middle Gray” – And Why That is Important
Sarah, Professional Fitness Trainer
Your camera is in love with middle gray. The quicker you learn how to deal with this infatuation, the better your photos will look, including all of your color photos.
How To Series: Snowy Owl Photography
Snowy Owl looking for prey.
If there are cold enough temperatures and plenty of snow cover on the ground, the northern United States has a winter invasion of Snowy Owls. These are magnificent creatures and well worth your photographic time and attention. This series is filled with tips on how to find and photograph snowy owls.