Category Archives: Mom

Andy, Boone FUMC, Event, Mom, Shannon, Still Life, Teresa

Methodist Men Pie Auction – 2023

June 17, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

2019. 2019! That was the last time that the Methodist Men held a pie auction. A lot of lasts happened in that year. Most things have come back. But the Methodist Men Pie Auction was not one of them. Until last Sunday. For the first time in 4 years the congregation of the Boone First United Methodist Church gathered in Fellowship Hall and bid on pies made by other members of the church.

I confess to having had limited expectations. Our congregation is considerably smaller than it was before COVID. But I have to tell you, I was blown away. Absolutely blown away.

Here are some pictures of the event. The pictures taken during the auction were taken by Teresa:

I tried hard to guilt Jason into coming to bid on his mom’s pie. It did not work.

Somehow Shannon ended up with a piece of this and I did NOT!

So many people requested that Teresa make this pie with my Mom’s recipe. Teresa practiced this for months. Strange thing is while Mom made this pie for many people it wasn’t one she made for us. I don’t know if she made it ever for us. My favorite pie my Mom made was rhubarb. But every pie she made was good.

Andy told quite a tale about these brownies. And he wasn’t lying, they were delicious.

The pie auction raised $2,500 for our youth ministry program. Now we just have to get our youth ministry program going again. Rumor has it there might be a float trip this summer. That would be a good start.

Birthdays, Drone, Grandma, Mom, Panorama, Shannon

Rodan139: Bluff Creek Cemetery

June 13, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Today is Shannon’s birthday, so I must say, happy birthday Shannon!

I hope your birthday is filled with all the amazement that you can handle!

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On Memorial Day I took Rodan139 to Boxholm, Pilot Mound and then finally to Bluff Creek Cemetery. I wasn’t really planning on going to Bluff Creek Cemetery, but it seemed fitting on Memorial Day. I was in the area. I had been to Bluff Creek Cemetery a couple times with my Mom and my Grandma (Majors) Paris. I honestly don’t know what relatives of mine are buried in Bluff Creek Cemetery besides that they are from my maternal grandma’s side. Which based on Bluff Creek Cemetery’s location, makes sense. The two closest “towns” to it are Incline and Centerville.

Here are the few pictures I took:

If you zoom way in on the panoramic image, you can see the High Bridge.

There are only a few houses left in Centerville and even less left in Incline. But there are historical markers that recognize where they used to be.

9 Emotions Project, Aaron, Alexis, Angie, Baby Got Rack, Bethany, Black & White, Blogging, Boone County Fair, Formal Portrait, Kanoa, Kio, Kupono, Mary, Mom, Road Trip, Saydie, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Town Sign Project, Travel

An Artist’s Notebook Post #4757

March 4, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It has been 6,052 days since August 9, 2006. 16 years. 6 months. 24 days. Since I first posted something in this little experiment known as “An Artist’s Notebook”. 145,2485 hours. 8,714,800 minutes. 522,892,800 seconds. Which is to say, it has been a minute.

There are some very important people in my life that I didn’t even know 16 years, 6 months, 24 days ago. There are people that I thought were important in my life that have come and gone in that 864 weeks and 4 days. It has been a journey. Some good. Some bad. Some of it ugly, I’m sure.

6,052 days ago I started this journal with the following words:

So here is the first journal entry. I felt like having as pretentious sounding name as possible for my journal. I have a few goals about this journal. My main goal is just to actually write in it. My second goal is to be as truthful as possible towards my true thoughts and feelings. I have another journal on another website, but it is really just a collection of sarcastic statements and cheap jabs at open faced sandwiches. This journal is meant to be about what my achievements and failures are in the world of art. What projects I am working on and what I have accomplished and what I have failed to accomplish. What I am photographing and what I am thinking about entering in photo contests. What I am thinking about. It might not always make sense. It might just be things I need to write down because they strike me as poignant or inspirational. This is in a small way an online “idea box”.

Since those words, I have posted 4,756 journal entries. (Normally I would do this little exercise on post #4,750, but I was in Vegas at that time.) This website is still something of an “idea box”. Sometimes I’m just working stuff out here. I don’t know why, sometimes I need to work stuff out in public. But this website is definitely more than just an “idea box”. It is a place where I post a few thoughts and a ton of pictures. I’ve gone through a few photo projects on these pages. From THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT to the 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT to THE SELFIE PROJECT to the POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT to name just a few. This website has also created a community with THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Which is one of my proudest achievements. Even if it sputtered and spit and barely survived in its first few years.

4,757 posts. We’ve been through some stuff. I hope to keep going through some stuff for many, many, many more posts. 4,757 posts and I feel like I’m just getting warmed up.

On these reflective posts, I like to publish a bunch of statistics that me and Joe Duff find interesting. So I might as well get to it.

Every post in “An Artist’s Notebook” is tagged with at least one Category. It is one of the easiest ways to navigate around the website. They are listed at the top of each post. Here are some statistics about Categories:

THE TOP 10 MOST USED CATEGORIES (RANK IN POST #4500 & INCREASE SINCE THEN)
10. Macro – 495 (NR)
9. Teresa – 525 (#9 – +70)
8. Carla – 530 (#8 – +54)
7. Shannon – 539 (#6 – +39)
6. Road Trip – 569 (#7 – +92)
5. Art – 622 (#5 – +116)
4. Jesse – 630 (#4 – +51)
3. Animals – 735 (#3 – +37)
2. Flowers – 881 (#2 – +62)
1. Black and White – 992 (#1 – +74)

Dropped from the rankings was WPC – Submissions

THE TOP 10 NON-HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Photoshop – 389 (NR)
9. Nature – 437 (#9 – +41)
8. Formal Portrait – 447 (#10 – +66)
7. WPC – Submissions – 493 (#6 – +38)
6. Macro – 495 (#7 – +54)
5. Road Trip – 569 (#5 – +92)
4. Art – 622 (#4 – +116)
3. Animals – 735 (#3 – +37)
2. Flowers – 881 (#2 – +62)
1. Black & White – 992 (#1 – +74)

Dropped from the rankings is PORTRAIT. I’m trying to eliminate it as a category, so it should eventually drop to zero.

NAIMA and CANDID PORTRAIT have a shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post #5,000.

THE TOP 10 HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Willy – 318 (NR)
9. Logan – 329 (NR)
8. Derrick – 330 (#7 – +10)
7. Kim – 342 (#8 – +45)
6. Jay – 348 (#6 – +11)
5. Mom – 458 – (#5 – +5)
4. Teresa – 525 (#4 – +70)
3. Carla – 530 (#3 – +54)
2. Shannon – 539 (#2 – +39)
1. Jesse – 630 (#1 – +51)

Dropping from the rankings was Jen and Vest.

Micky, Vest, and Jen have the best shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post #5,000.

If you are wondering what is your best way to improve your Photography 139 Score and crack the Top 10, it is simply to be active in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE or go on trips with me or participate in various other photo projects or be related to me. Now these aren’t necessarily the 10 people that have influenced my photography the most, but these are the 10 people that have made the largest imprint on this website.

I can tell you the people that have influenced my photography the most, but that is a tale for another time. But I’m pretty sure you can guess who.

If you have spent any time on the Photography 139 website, you know that on the left sidebar, the “Top 100 Categories” are listed. I thought I would give a little bit of coverage to the Bottom 10 of the Top 100. There are currently 200 categories used on the website. I could cover the Bottom 10, but they are mostly people that either very recently came into the life of this website by birth (Jonah Kahler) or another way (Nathanial, Mindi, Fran). Or people that I thought would be a bigger part of my life and then weren’t. No need to cover those people. The Category that is #200 probably needs to be purged.

THE BOTTOM 10 OF THE TOP 100

#100. Kelly – 71 (NR)
#99. Commercial – 72 (#97 – +1)
#98. Self-Portrait Project – 73 (NR)
#97. Andree – 75 (#94 – 0)
#96. Flat Earth Joe – 75 (NR)
#95. Lowell – 79 (#93 – +2)
#94. Photo Journal – 79 (#92 – 0)
#93. Suzie – 80 (NR)
#92. Pastor Sarah – 86 (#95 – +12)
#91. Becca – 87 (NR)

The following categories have either fallen out of the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 or climbed out of it:

Jaycees, Vacation, Mark, Life, and Birthdays.

Now something I should explain is that I used to put Flat Earth Joe and Joe Duff under the same Category of simply “Joe” out of laziness, but in the last 250 posts, I split them.

Of these categories, I think Pastor Sarah and Suzie have the best chance to climb out of this list. Since I’m not doing the Self-Portrait Project his year, it could fall out of the Top 100. And I’m not sure what part of my life Flat Earth Joe will have in the future. He has taken a hard turn down the path of terrible decision making and has been in jail for over a month now. I hope he gets sorted at some point in the future. But quite frankly, I can’t make a prediction on his future. I can barely make a prediction on my future. So it is hard to say what will happen to that category. As for the category of Andree, I talk to Andree regularly, but he rarely makes an appearance on this website.

The categories that are closest to falling into the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 are Faust, Birthdays, and Joe Duff. But I think at least Birthdays and Joe Duff are pretty safe. I talk to Faust now and again, but he rarely makes an appearance on the website. I still someday need to go visit the Godzilla statue in his town. But I also need to visit Nate and Bethany and Becca and Bill and Sarah and well it is quite a list. When I think about it, I have to sit down on the couch and watch another episode of THE LAST OF US.

That categories that are closest to cracking into the Top 100 are Mark, Layla, and Vacation. But since Mark isn’t really part of my life anymore, I don’t see that busting through. I also can’t see a vacation on my horizon any time soon. But I like Layla’s odds. A lot of spunk in that one.

“An Artist’s Notebook” is part of Photography 139. The 139 comes from Psalm 139:1-12. The Photography part comes from the fact this website is supposed to be filled with photography. So, what are the most popular photo galleries on the Photography 139 website? Glad you asked:

TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHY 139 PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERIES (LAST 365 DAYS)

To View the Gallery, Click on its Representative Image

10. Las Vegas – 2023 – 42,941 Views

9. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020 – 47,269 Views

8. Jayton Poole – 2022 – 47,464 Views

7. 9 Emotions Project – 51,763 Views

6. Miami Beach – 2022 – 53,087

5. Christopher D. Bennett – 112,907 Views

4. Selfie Project -2022 – 162,595 Views

3. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images – 184,949 Views

2. Town Sign Project – 201,352 Views

1. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9 – 223,723 Views

At post 4,500 these were the 10 Most Popular Galleries:

10. Iowa
9. 9 Emotions Project
8. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 8
7. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9
6. Selfie Project – 2022
5. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020
4. Christopher D. Bennett
3. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images
2. Selfie Project – 2021
1. Town Sign Project

The galleries that are right outside the Top 10 that have a shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post 5,000 are:
+ Drone
+ Daisies
+ FatMumSlim 2022

But considering I’m done with the FatMumSlim project, I don’t know that its gallery will maintain any popularity. I only know one person that definitely loves my daisy pictures, but I don’t think they poke around my website much these days. However, perhaps the Era of Rodan139 is nearly upon us. I could live with that.

But what are the most popular single images of the last 365 days? Don’t worry, I’m gonna feed you baby birds.

Top 10 Photography 139 Images

10. Dexter, Iowa – 1,964 views

9. Badger, Iowa – 1,967 views

8. Selfie with Mom – 1,993 views

7. Coon Rapids, Iowa – 2,146 views

6. Moingona, Iowa – 2,190 views

5. Prego Alexis – 2,415

4. Saydie and Kyle – 3,231 views

3. Baby Got Rack at Boone County Fair – 4,423 views

2. Miami – 6,039 views

1. Selfie at Bellevue – 6,864 views

That selfie at Bellevue was the most popular picture on my website at Post 4,500 as well.

The final statistic I want to share with everybody before riding off into the sunset and not boring you with these statistics for another 250 posts is the 5 people with the highest Photography Subscriber Loyalty Scores.

1. Kio Dettman – 100%
2. Aaron Barnett – 99.7%
2. Angie DeWaard – 99.7%
2. Mary Green – 99.7%
5. Joe Duff – 99.5%

There are a lot of people in the 90% range that could break into this list next time. Jeanette, Jesse, Sarah, Logan, Tamara, Frank, Michelle, and Andy.

To be honest, I don’t know how this number is figured. I believe it is the percentage of emails from the subscriber list that you open within the first 24 hours of getting an email from me, but I really don’t know if we are being honest. But thanks for doing what it is you are doing!

If you are interested in checking out some of the milestone posts of the past, I got you. Click on any of the links below to check them out:

Post 1
Post 750
Post 850
Post 1,000
Post 1,101
Post 1,200
Post 1,447
Post 1,718
Post 2,500
Post 3,000
Post 3,252
Post 3,751
Post 4,000
Post 4,250
Post 4,500

I think that is enough for now. We’ll check in again in another 243 posts.

Art, Automobiles, Baseball/Softball, Basketball, Becca, Black & White, Brandon, Calendar, Christianity, Dad, Flowers, Geri, Gretchen, Holidays, Iowa State, Linda, Logan, Maven, Michelle, Mom, Music, Naima, Night, Photo of the Day, Road Trip, Sara, Self-Portrait, Shawn Lockner, Shorty, Still Life, Teresa, Work

Hello 2023.

January 1, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It is the first day of 2023. I’m not really a “resolutions” person. Pastor Adam was on vacation today so we had a substitute seromizer in church this morning. He gave an impassioned, longwinded sermon on resolve. It took more than a bit of my resolve to stay awake during the longest sermon these ears have heard in quite sometime.

But if I were to take the words on resolve to heart, I would say that I’m not without goals. Last year my main goal was to complete THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. I did that.

My main goal in 2023 is to complete Phase 2 of THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT and put the book together. I should be freeing up sometime to work on that buy dropping a couple of photo projects that I did in 2022.

My second goal in 2023 is to begin work and complete my new photo project. Details are still foggy, but it is to create Boone postcard. Not a bunch of Boone postcards. Not even to print up a bunch of one Boone postcard. But to make one big image of one Boone postcard. While the end goal is one image, it will involve taking at least several hundred (probably thousand) images. It will make more sense when I get going on it.

My third goal in 2023 is to keep the positive momentum that was achieved in 2022 in participation rates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I’m not likely to go out and beat the drums looking for participants, but doesn’t mean you guys can’t. Right?

My fourth goal in 2023 is to consider and maybe take action on visiting and photographing every State Park in Iowa.
That seems more straight forward than it actually is because in addition to State Parks there are State Forests and State Preserves and State Recreation Areas. Boone County contains 3 Minor State Forests alone! We will see where this one goes, but we all know I could use the exercise.

I don’t have any goals related to the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. That type of stuff is a considerable amount of luck. So best not to have goals that are out of one’s hands. Maybe my goal should just be to give my best effort.

Hopefully 2023 is a good year for all of us!

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Time to share the December images for the FatMumSlim Photo A Day Challenge. This is also the final collection of images as I will be dropping this pursuit in 2023. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it still eats up a fair amount of time. Hopefully time freed up that I can use to pursue some of those 2023 goals.

Here are the December images:

December 1 – I Love This!

December 2 – I Bought This!

December 3 – Starts with T

December 4 – I Held This

December 5 – Something Red

December 6 – Peace

December 7 – Tree

December 8 – Looking Up

December 9 – Small

December 10 – Out + About

December 11 – Free Choice

December 12 – Lights

December 13 – Something Green

December 14 – Decoration

December 15 – A Star

December 16 – Candy Cane

December 17 – A Hat

December 18 – I Made This!

December 19 – Joy Is…

December 20 – Begins with S

December 21 – On the Floor

December 22 – A Gift

December 23 – A Tradition

December 24 – Someone I Love

December 25 – My Day

December 26 – This is Delish

December 27 – Colourful

December 28 – A Book

December 29 – Us

December 30 – How I Relax

December 31 – Best Part of 2022

Top 9 Most Popular Images

I did enjoy this project and I’m not walking away from it because I didn’t enjoy it. I “met” numerous other people in this community that I will continue to follow, like @bea.photoaday, @sara.fms.photoaday, @outnbout, @gerkgirl, @pink_koffie, and @lostfate13.

But there were other things I didn’t like. Most people used the challenge to curate images, rather than take new images every day. The person that ran the challenge is Australian. That meant that a lot of the prompts were seasonal for Australia, meaning they weren’t seasonal for Iowa. Prompts repeated an awful lot. Not that they wouldn’t after 365 days, but I felt like they repeated more than necessary.

These minor complaints aside, I would consider doing it again in a future year. Just not this year. I’m sure many of you have minor complaints about how I run THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE as well.

Art, Calendar, Flowers, History, Macro, Mom, Railroad, Road Trip

Fayette & Winneshiek County Aux – Vol. 3

December 28, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to reveal the September image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:

September

The September image is a macro image of a gazania. This picture was taken in my yard. I put this picture in September because that is the birthday month of my Mom and she taught me the joy of growing flowers. She had some of the best flowerbeds and was constantly experimenting with new flowers.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: June 23 – 1:23 PM
LENS: Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro
FOCAL LENGTH: 105mm
APERTURE: f/11
EXPOSURE: 1/160
ISO: 800
EXPOSURE BIAS: +.3

Tomorrow I will reveal the October image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

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Time for another collection of auxiliary images from my road trip to Fayette and Winneshiek Counties to harvest their town signs. Many of these pictures were taken at the Bily Clocks Museum in Spillville.

Here is some information on a pretty cool little piece of Iowa history and some amazing clocks:

The history of the Bily Brothers, Frank and Joseph, began on the farm where they were born and raised. Located between Ridgeway and Spillville, Iowa, the farm is where the two brothers started their carvings. These uniquely designed clocks have attracted people from all areas of the United States, Canada and from many foreign countries as well.

Beginning in 1913, the brothers employed the idle hours of long winter days and evenings with their skills of woodcarving. Being farmers and carpenters, they carved only as a hobby while still doing their regular chores and maintaining a well kept farm. In 1915 and 1916, they built the Apostle Clock from which the Twelve Apostles appear on the hour. During the period of 1923-1927, the Bily Brothers added their masterpiece to the collection, The American Pioneer History Clock. A memorial clock to Charles Lindbergh was carved in 1928 commemorating his historic flight. In these beautiful artistically carved clocks the brothers have used woods from a number of foreign countries as well as numerous pieces of walnut, butternut, maple and oaks from North America.

The Bily Brothers moved their collection to Spillville in 1946. They bequeathed the clocks to the town of Spillville with an agreement that they would never be sold or moved from their present location.The second floor of the building was the home of the famous Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak, and his family during the summer of 1893.

-From https://www.bilyclocks.org/the-bily-brothers

It is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

Here is the 3rd collection of auxiliary images from these counties:

Spillville

Ossian

Calmar

Postville

Postville is actually mostly in Allamakee County and partially in Clayton County.

One more collection of pictures from this road trip still to come.

Art, History, Mom, Road Trip, Teresa, Town Sign Project

Town Sign Project: Davis County

November 29, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

A few months back I travelled around Davis County with Teresa harvesting the town signs of Davis County. Davis County was the last county in THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. It was left for last for a reason. It was left because of some family history in Davis County. The ghost town of Paris is in Davis County. Paris was formed when Jackson Paris donated land for the Rock Island to build a railroad depot there. Why does that matter? Cause Jackson B. Paris was the father of Lewis Marion Paris. Lewis Marion Paris is the father of Matin Henry Paris. Martin Henry Paris is the father of Lyle Ronald Paris. Lyle Ronald Paris was my Mom’s dad. There really isn’t much left in Paris, except some ruins and a cemetery where a bunch of Parises are buried. I wanted this to be the last town of what is principal photography on THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT for symbolic reasons.

Here are some facts about Davis County:
+ Population is 9,138 making it the 81st most populous county in Iowa. Below Emmet County and above Palo Alto County.
+ Largest town and county seat is Bloomfield.
+ Named after Garrett Davis, a politician from Kentucky.
+ Major highways are US-63, IA-2, and IA-202.
+ Adjacent counties are Wapello, Monroe, Van Buren, Jefferson, and Appanoose.
+ Population peaked in 1880 at 16,468.

Davis County has a gorgeous courthouse:

The Davis County Courthouse located in Bloomfield, Iowa.

The Davis County Freedom Rock is located in Drakesville, Iowa:

With Davis County conquered, here is the updated and final Photography 139 Conquest Map:

PURPLE=COMPLETED

99 counties completed. 100% of the Cyclone State conquered.

Here are the town signs of Davis County:

Bloomfield, Iowa
WELCOME TO BLOOMFIELD
Population: 2,682 (+42)

Pulaski, Iowa
WELCOME TO PULASKI PARK
Population: 264 (+4)

Drakesville, Iowa
DRAKESVILLE
Population: 164 (-20)

Floris, Iowa
Floris Veterans Memorial Park
Population: 116 (-22)

Paris, Iowa – Ghost Town
PARIS CEMETERY
FIRST BURIAL
L.B. PARIS
APRIL 20, 1854

You may be wondering what will happen now that principal photography for this project is done. The answer is the next thing I will do is start working on the book. I’m not sure when it will be finished or ready to be published, but it should be sometime next year. The book won’t probably be what you imagine, but I will get into that more in a future post. There still might be a few more Tuesday posts dedicated to THE TOWN SIGN project in our future.

Davis County isn’t loaded up with great town signs. It is a county that only has 4 incorporated towns. They are kinda terrible, but Floris’ town sign isn’t really a town sign, so it is the worst.

But who gets the purple ribbon. I guess I have to give it to Pulaski, even though it is really more of a sign for a park than a town, but at least it is in one piece.

Pulaski – Best in Show – Davis County

I should point out that there are lots of ghost towns out there that only have a cemetery to mark they ever existed. I don’t stop and photograph these cemetery signs. I only photographed the Paris sign because of the family connection and the fact that it was the symbolic last town.

There were a couple of alternate town signs in Davis County:

Bloomfield – Alternate

Here is the final list of Best in Shows:

Best in Show – Adair County

Best in Show – Adams County

Best in Show – Allamakee County

Best in Show – Appanoose County

Best in Show – Audubon County

Best in Show – Benton County

Best in Show – Black Hawk County

Best in Show – Boone County

Best in Show – Bremer County

Best in Show – Buchanan County

Best in Show – Buena Vista County

Best in Show – Butler County

Best in Show – Calhoun County

Best in Show – Carroll County

Best in Show – Cass County

Best in Show – Cedar County

Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County

Best in Show – Cherokee County

Best in Show – Chickasaw County

Best in Show – Clarke County

Best in Show – Clay County

Best in Show – Clayton County

Best in Show – Clinton County

Best in Show – Crawford County

Best in Show – Dallas County

Best in Show – Davis County

Best in Show – Decatur County

Best in Show – Delaware County

Best in Show – Des Moines County

Terril – Best in Show – Dickinson County
Best in Show – Dickinson County

Best in Show – Dubuque County

Best in Show – Emmet County

Best in Show – Fayette County

Best in Show – Floyd County

Best in Show – Franklin County

Best in Show – Fremont County

Best in Show – Greene County

Best in Show – Grundy County

Best in Show – Guthrie County

Best in Show – Hamilton County

Best in Show – Hancock County

Best in Show – Hardin County

Best in Sow – Harrison County

Best in Show – Henry County

Best in Show – Howard County

Best in Show – Humboldt County

Best in Show – Ida County

Best in Show – Iowa County

Best in Show – Jackson County

Best in Show – Jasper County

Best in Show – Jefferson County

Best in Show – Johnson County

Best in Show – Jones County

Best in Show – Keokuk County

Best in Show – Kossuth County

Best in Show – Lee County

Best in Show – Linn County

Best in Show – Louisa County

Best in Show – Lucas County

Best in Show – Lyon County

Best in Show – Madison County

Best in Show – Mahaska County

Best in Show – Marion County

Best in Show – Marshall County

Best in Show – Mills County

Best in Show – Mitchell County

Best in Show – Monona County

Best in Show – Monroe County

Best in Show – Montgomery County

Best in Show – Muscatine County

Best in Show – O’Brien County

Best in Show – Osceola County

Best in Show – Page County

Best in Show – Palo Alto County

Best in Show – Plymouth County

Best in Show – Pocahontas County

Best in Show – Polk County

Best in Show – Pottawattamie County

Best in Show – Poweshiek County

Best in Show – Ringgold County

Best in Show – Sac County

Best in Show – Scott County

Best in Show – Shelby County

Best in Show – Sioux County

Best in Show – Story County

Best in Show – Tama County

Best in Show – Taylor County

Best in Show – Union County

Best in Show – Van Buren County

Best in Show – Wapello County

Best in Show – Warren County

Best in Show – Washington County

Best in Show – Wayne County

Best in Show – Webster County

Best in Show – Winnebago County

Best in Show – Winneshiek County

Best in Show – Woodbury County

Best in Show – Worth County

Best in Show – Wright County

There is no county next week. The road trip is over. The car is in the garage. It was a crazy ride.

Alexis, Animals, Art, Black & White, Boone County Fair, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Dad, Dahlia, Flowers, Football, Iowa State, Jay, Jesse, Johnathan, Mom, Nader, Naima, Night, Photo of the Day, Pufferbilly Days, Railroad, Still Life, Street Photography, Willy

Fat Mum Slim – July 2022

August 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

A quick heads up. If you were thinking of going to or entering an animal into the Pufferbilly Days Dog and Exotic Animal Show, because of the extreme heat of today it was postponed. It is now tomorrow at noon at the park on 9th and Story.

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I have another month done in the Fat Mum Slim Photo a Day Challenge. This month wasn’t as difficult as last month because they were just standard themes. I think the images I took are a fair record of my experiences in July.

July 1 – Reflection

July 2 – Letters

July 3 – Human

July 4 – I’m Working On This…

July 5 – Wall

July 6 – Bright Colours

July 7 – A Fave Place

July 8 – Out of Focus

July 9 – A Boomerang

July 10 – Behind Someone

July 11 – Interior

July 12 – Exterior

July 13 – Life

July 14 – Create A Postcard

July 15 – Where I Stood

July 16 – Pattern

July 17 – Water

July 18 – Street Photography

July 19 – A Cylinder

July 20 – Hug

July 21 – A Church

July 22 – Current Interest

July 23 – Still Life

July 24 – A Metaphor

July 25 – Beauty

July 26 – Beauty

July 27 – Countryside

July 28 – An Old Car

July 29 – Black and White

July 30 – Happy Days

July 31 – Sunday Morning

I think there was some pretty good work in July. Hopefully some good work to be done in August.

Here are the August prompts:

August 1 – I Am…
August 2 – I Love This Colour…
August 3 – I Walked Here…
August 4 – I Like To…
August 5 – I Love This Time of Day…
August 6 – I Love…
August 7 – I Made This…
August 8 – I Work Here…
August 9 – I Held This…
August 10 – I Wrote This…
August 11 – I Saw…
August 12 – I Like To Drink…
August 13 – I Stood Here…
August 14 – I Do This On Sundays…
August 15 – I Once…
August 16 – I Never…
August 17 – I Went To…
August 18 – I Read This…
August 19 – I Did This Good Thing…
August 20 – I Love This View…
August 21 – I Don’t Life To…
August 22 – On Mondays I…
August 23 – I Sat Here…
August 24 – I Like To Eat…
August 25 – I Have To…
August 26 – I Wore This…
August 27 – On Weekends I…
August 28 – I Watched This…
August 29 – I Can…
August 30 – I Can’t…
August 31 – I Believe…

I guess people will get to know me better this month… unless I can help it.

If you want to follow this project on the daily, they are posted on my Fat Mum Slim Instagram account.

@fmsbennett

Otherwise, we’ll check in on this next month.

9 Emotions Project, Alexis, Angie, Animals, Black & White, Blogging, Carla, Derrick, Football, Formal Portrait, Frank, Jay, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kalista, Kanoa, Kelly, Kim, Kupono, Michelle, Mom, Nader, Saydie, Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Shannon, Still Life, Taylan, Teresa, Town Sign Project, Vest

Four Thousand Five Hundred

June 21, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

It has been 5,795 days since August 9, 2006. 5,795 days since I first took keyboard in hand and started the blog portion of the Photography 139 website. The portion I pompously named “An Artist’s Notebook”. The part I started with the words:

So here is the first journal entry. I felt like having as pretentious sounding name as possible for my journal. I have a few goals about this journal. My main goal is just to actually write in it. My second goal is to be as truthful as possible towards my true thoughts and feelings. I have another journal on another website, but it is really just a collection of sarcastic statements and cheap jabs at open faced sandwiches. This journal is meant to be about what my achievements and failures are in the world of art. What projects I am working on and what I have accomplished and what I have failed to accomplish. What I am photographing and what I am thinking about entering in photo contests. What I am thinking about. It might not always make sense. It might just be things I need to write down because they strike me as poignant or inspirational. This is in a small way an online “idea box”.

Over the years this website has transitioned less from an “idea box” and more into a “show and tell”. I keep my idea box more private these days. I didn’t even publish a picture on “An Artist’s Notebook” for months.

In fact, it wouldn’t be until October 20, 2006 that a blog post included an image. This image to be exact:

It is a picture of “Steve” the Groundhog that lived behind the Computer Mine for years.

While the format and what has posted on An Artist’s Notebook has changed several times over the years, its main goals of “actually writing in it”, “being truthful as possible”, and of course the goal of having produced something worthy as being as “pretentious sounding as An Artist’s Notebook” have remained intact.

On these periodic check-ins I like to overwhelm those that stick around this long with a ton of meaningless statistics. Today’s post should be no different. Every post in “An Artist’s Notebook” is tagged with at least one Category. It is one of the easiest ways to navigate around the website. They are listed at the top of each post. Here are some statistics about Categories:

The Top 10 (Most Used) Categories (Rank in Post #4250 & Increase since then):
9. WPC-Submissions – 455 (#9 – +38)
9. Teresa – 455 (NR)
8. Carla – 476 (#7 – +41)
7. Road Trip – 477 (NR)
6. Shannon – 500 (#5 – +42)
5. Art – 506 (#10 – +92)
4. Jesse – 579 (#4 – +50)
3. Animals – 698 (#3 – +33)
2. Flowers – 819 (#2 – +65)
1. Black and White – 918 (#1 – +99)

Top 10 Non Human Categories:
10. Formal Portrait – 381 (NR)
9. Nature – 396 (#9 – +17)
8. Portrait – 435 (#4 – -15)
7. Macro – 441 (#8 – +51)
6. WPC – Submissions – 455 (#5 – +38)
5. Road Trip – 477 (#7 – +83)
4. Art – 506 (#6 – +92)
3. Animals – 698 (#3 – +33)
2. Flowers – 819 (#2 – +65)
1. Black and White – 918 (#1 – +99)

Top 10 Human Categories:
10. Jen – 286 (#9 – +9)
9. Vest – 294 (#10 – +20
8. Kim – 297 (NR)
7. Derrick – 320 (#7 – +9)
6. Jay – 337 (#6 – +8)
5. Mom – 453 (#4 – +31)
4. Teresa – 455 (#5 – +50)
3. Carla – 476 (#3 – +41)
2. Shannon – 500 (#2 – +42)
1. Jesse – 579 (#1 – +50)

If you have spent any time on the Photography 139 website, you know that on the left sidebar, the “Top 100 Categories” are listed. I thought I would give a little bit of coverage to the Bottom 10 of the Top 100. There are currently 194 categories used on the website. I could cover the Bottom 10, but they are mostly people that either very recently came into my life by birth (Dahlia, Anela) or another way. Or people that I thought would be a bigger part of my life and then weren’t. No need to cover those people. The Category that is #194 probably needs to be purged.

The Bottom 10 of the Top 100:

#100. Jaycees – 65
#99. Vacation – 67
#98. Mark – 69
#97. Commercial – 72
#95. Pastor Sarah – 74
#95. Life – 74
#94. Andree – 75
#93. Lowell – 77
#92. Photo Journal – 79
#91. Birthdays – 80

Some of these are bound to slip out of the Top 100. For example, there will never be another Jaycees post. Ever. I also apparently don’t take many vacations. Mark, not really part of my life any more. Life, is a broad category that I’ve tried to eliminate over the years. Photo Journal, a project I have completed, so there will never be another post on that. Birthdays, I currently don’t wish people “happy birthday”, but maybe I will again someday.

So what has a shot at cracking the Top 100? These are the 5 that are the closest.

+ Self-Portrait Project
+ Dae Hee
+ Kelly
+ Layla
+ FNSC

So, you might be wondering, how do you improve your Photography 139 score?

The easiest way is simple. Participate in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. You don’t even have to be around me and most people will tell you that being around me isn’t all that great. I mean look at Shannon. She is still #2 on the Big Board and I haven’t seen her in person since October 22, 2021. It can be done!

Other ways to increase your score:
+ Act as a Photo Assistant
+ Show up in THE SELFIE PROJECT
+ Go on TOWN SIGN PROJECT road trips with me… that one to Scott County is going to be epic!
+ An underated way is to assist with the FatMumSlim Photo a Day Project.
+ Doesn’t hurt to be related to me, but most of those slots are taken.
+ Doesn’t hurt to work with me, go to the same church as me, or otherwise engage me socially.

That is probably enough Category nonsense. I bet at least Joe is still here with me though.

“An Artist’s Notebook” is part of Photography 139. The 139 comes from Psalm 139:1-12. The Photography part comes from this website is supposed to be filled with photography. So, what are the most popular photo galleries on the Photography 139 website? Glad you asked:

TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHY 139 PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERIES (LAST 365 DAYS)

To View the Gallery, Click on its Representative Image

10. Iowa – 35,595 Views

9. 9 Emotions Project – 69,259 Views

8. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 8 – 74,730 Views

7. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 9 – 77,929 Views

6. SELFIE PROJECT – 2022 – 84,763 Views

5. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020 – 95,358 Views

4. Christopher D. Bennett – 104,433 Views

3. Town Sign Project – Auxiliary Images – 108,873 Views

2. Selfie Project – 2021 – 120,185 Views

1. Town Sign Project – 176,664 Views

At post 4,250 these were the 5 most popular galleries:
5. Gorshe Family
4. Town Sign Project
3. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 8
2. Selfie Project – 2021
1. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020

But what are the most popular single images of the last 365 days? Don’t worry, I’m gonna feed you baby birds.

Top 10 Photography 139 Images

10. Coon Rapids, Iowa – 2,319 Views

9. Carla and Teresa – 2,379 Views

8. Dexter, Iowa – 2,426 Views

7. Scranton, Iowa – 2,484 Views

6. Moingona, Iowa – 2,770 Views

5. The Howards – 2,842 Views

4. Miami – 2,920 Views

3. Alexis Pregnant – 3,458 Views

2. Me and Mom – 4,134 Views

1. Bellevue – 14,629 Views

Top 5 Photography 139 Loyalty Scores
5. Frank Meiners – 97.0%
4. Michelle Haupt – 98.6%
3. Angie DeWaard – 99.5%
2. Joe Duff – 99.7%
1. Mary Green – 100.0%

People right outside the Top 5:
+ Linda Bennett
+ Tamara Peterson
+ Jeannette Duff

To be honest, I don’t know how this number is figured. I believe it is the percentage of emails from the subscriber list that you open within the first 24 hours of getting an email from me, but but I really don’t know if we are being honest. But thanks for doing what it is you are doing!

I think that is enough. Here is to the next 4,500 posts!

Mom, Photo of the Day, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

Fat Mum Slim – April 2022

May 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday I completed another month of the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. It was a month entirely comprised of food prompts. Which seems perfect for me, as I do enjoy eating and I do enjoy trying new foods. However, I have to confess it didn’t ring my bell as much as I thought it would.

That being said, I feel there are a few winners in the month:

April 1 – ON MY PLATE

April 2 – A VEGETABLE

April 3 – A FRUIT

April 4 – BREAKFAST

April 5 – LUNCH

April 6 – SUPPER

April 7 – RAW

April 8 – COOKED

April 9 – IN MY PANTRY

April 10 – DESSERT

April 11 – A GREEN FOOD

April 12 – A SNACK

April 13 – A FAVE RECIPE

April 14 -INGREDIENT

APRIL 15 – KITCHEN

April 16 – 2 THINGS

April 17 – A DRINK

April 18 – A WHITE FOOD

April 19 – HEALTHY

April 20 – INDULGENT

April 21 – A RED FOOD

April 22 – SAVOURY

April 23 – SWEET

April 24 – IN MY CUP

April 25 – ON MY FORK

April 26 – YUK!

April 27 – I EAT HERE!

April 28 – DELICIOUS

April 29 – UTENSIL

April 30 – IN MY BOWL

The month of May has some good themes. Here are the May themes:

May 1 – This is Me
May 2 – Good Morning
May 3 – Free Choice
May 4 – Trees
May 5 – Mirrors
May 6 – Leaf
May 7 – View from Here
May 8 – Love
May 9 – A Seat
May 10 – Where I Stood
May 11 – Something Small
May 12 – In Nature
May 13 – Green
May 14 – Sunshine
May 15 – Upside Down
May 16 – This Season
May 17 – A Shape
May 18 – Door
May 19 – Creative
May 20 – I Read This…
May 21 – Waves
May 22 – Flying
May 23 – Stairs
May 24 – A Pair
May 25 – Something Warm
May 26 – Pink
May 27 – Lucky
May 28 – Horizon
May 29 – A Car
May 30 – Sky
May 31 – This is Also Me

A reminder that I post these pictures daily on my dedicated Fat Mum Slim account: @fmsbennett. Follow that account to follow along.

+++++++

This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SQUARE:

SQUARE

SQUARE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a SQUARE image? A SQUARE image is any image where one of the major elements of your composition is a SQUARE. Remember, all SQUAREs are rectangles, but not all rectangles are SQUAREs. If you look around, you will see that there is are SQUAREs all over the place. Once you see them, you won’t be able to stop seeing them. The next step is to photograph one. I wouldn’t even hate on you if you took a picture of your dog and used a 1:1 aspect ratio.

There are also other definitions of SQAURE you can ponder.

While thinking on your possible subjects for SQUARE, meditate on the following song lyric:

It’s not too hard to figure out
You see it every day
And those that were the farthest out
Have gone the other way
You see them on the freeway
It don’t look like a lot of fun
But don’t you try to fight it
An idea whose time has come
Don’t tell me that I’m crazy
Don’t tell me I’m nowhere
Take it from me
It’s hip to be square

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Black & White, Flowers, Grandma, Macro, Mom, Photoshop

2011-06-08

March 26, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 2011-06-08 are from a time I went with my Mom over to my Grandma’s house to photograph some of her flowers. She always had beautiful flowers.

WEEK 22 - SHADOWS - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

RWPE Y2 #22 – SHADOWS

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #76 ALPHA

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #76 BETA

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT #76 GAMMA

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT.