Category Archives: Nora

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Gratitudo

November 28, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Happy Thanksgiving! Every year on Thanksgiving I like to think about my many, many blessings. I know, real original. You should feel free to try it sometime. But make sure you let everybody know that I invented gratitude.

I am thankful for my family, no matter how family is defined:

I am thankful for my friends:

I am blessed with an amazing church family:

I am blessed with a decent job and work friends that I don’t mind seeing more than 40 hours a week:

I’m blessed to share my house with Naima:

This is only a small sampling of my blessings, but I feel to go on much longer would sound like boasting. Thank all of you for choosing to be part of my life!

Bethany, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Nora, Railroad, Shorty, Street Photography, Tim

Tommy, Can You Hear Me?

October 29, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 8 Comments

Once gain, hitting up that sweet, sweet 2018 backlog. Back in September I went to see and ride Thomas the Tank with Bethany, Nora, and Bethany’s friend Harvey and her kids.

I frequently go down to the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad when Thomas is in town, but this was my first experience riding Thomas.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day:

I’m not a parent, but I think that bringing kids over to see Thomas is a pretty good deal. While riding Thomas might be something of a rip-off, there is plenty of other things to do there for free. Riding Thomas also gets you a free ride on the trolley, so that makes it a little bit less of a rip-off.

Anyways, Nora loved it!

Animals, Bethany, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Macro, Nora, Pufferbilly Days

Pufferbilly Days 2018 Petting Zoo

August 27, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Hitting up the backlog with another collection of pictures from Pufferbilly Days last year. These pictures are from when Bethany, Nora, and I visited the petting zoo.

I believe that to be all of my 2018 Pufferbilly Days pictures backlog.

Bethany, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Contests, Naima, Nora, Pufferbilly Days

Last Pufferbilly Days

August 22, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Hitting up the 2018 backlog, thought now would be a good time to share some miscellaneous pictures from the Sunday of the 2018 Pufferbilly Days. Trying to get these out there before this year’s Pufferbilly Days festivities kickoff in a couple of weeks.

Bethany brought Nora down for Pufferbilly Days. Most of these pictures are from when Nora and Bethany rode a ride in the Pufferbilly Days Carnival.

The last two pictures are the two pictures that won their category in last year’s Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Becca, Bethany, Candid Portrait, Holidays, Jim, Jonah, Nora, Shorty, Tim

Miller-Peterson Christmas

April 25, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Dipping in to the 2018 backlog to share some of the photos from the Miller-Peterson Christmas.

We celebrated in the Fellowship Hall of my church. Almost everybody made it except for the Manhattan Millers. The triplets, I think were still in the hospital at the time.

Hopefully everybody is able to make it this year.

Christmas is just 8 months away!

Andy, Angie, Basketball, Becky, Candid Portrait, Cathie, Holidays, Jonah, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Nora, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

Weekly Photo Challenge – Week 169 – Family

December 10, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There was somewhat of a rebound for FAMILY and this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. There is still hope!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions!

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

SPORTS/GAMES! What a great theme! But what is a SPORTS/GAMES picture? A SPORTS/GAMES picture is any picture that that involves people that are engaged in SPORTS/GAMES. Or a picture of anything used in SPORTS/GAMES.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.
Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very sporty Monday.

9 Emotions Project, Alexis, Anders, Andy, Animals, Baby Got Rack, Baier, Bethany, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Carla, Colleen, Derrick, Elainie, Flat Earth Joe, Iowa State, Jay, Jesse, Johnathan, Jorge, Laura, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Mom, Nader, Naima, Nate, Nora, Russell, Sara, Shannon, State Fair, Tenderloining, Teresa, Tim, Willy

Blessings – 2018

November 22, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving! It is the time of year where we are supposed to count our blessings.

I thought I would share a few of my current blessings:

I am blessed with a great family!

I have plenty of friends that share my love for the Cyclones!

I have a job I don’t hate going to, where I work with several people I don’t want to punch in the face.

I have an amazing church family!

I have an amazing friends family!

I’m blessed to share my life with Naima!

This is really just a handful of the blessings in my life! But I’m already getting this out late, so I’ll cut if off here. I’ll just end with a passage from a Rob Bell NOOMA video that really spoke to me:

“So the verse in First Timothy, it says command those that are rich to not put their hope in wealth… and then it goes on and it continues… and it says, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

That phrase, a God that richly provides us with everything. All that we have is a gift.

Food. It is a gift.

Clothes. Gift.

Roof. Gift.

That breath you just took. It’s a gift.

Now there are some that will say: No, you don’t understand. I’ve worked for what I have. I deserve it. It is mine. But like it says in the book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 8: You may say to yourself, my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your God, because it is God that gives you the ability to produce wealth.”

I thank God for the embarrassment of riches in my life!

Animals, Black & White, Jay, Macro, Nora, Photo Journal, Ruins, Self-Portrait, WPC - Submissions

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 55

September 14, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

A few weeks back Jay sent me an enigmatic message about archaeological photography. After drilling down, I figure out he was talking about taking pictures of a recently abandoned apartment in his building. An apartment that the former occupants left in less than stellar conditions.

One Sunday after a post church meal with the family I grabbed a camera and went over to Jay’s apartment building for a tour of Apartment 4. After a quick look around, I knew that somewhere in this mess was a perfect subject for Page 55 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 55 – ‘I am at war with the obvious.’ William Eggleston. Join Eggleston’s war.

Here is the idea for this page in THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT from the tips in the back.

Sunsets, pretty flowers, and beaches. These are ‘obvious’ subjects offering a conventional idea of beauty. Instead, hunt down more unusual, surprising subjects-the sort that only come alive when they are photographed.

Only one picture can physically be adhered into the physical manifestation of THE PHOTO JOURNAL, however I did take several other pictures in Apartment 4. Here are the pictures that I like, but won’t be place in THE PHOTO JOURNAL.

Next time we check in with THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, we will probably check in with Page 40 or Page 47 or Page 111.

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Here is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is PERSPECTIVE.

A PERSPECTIVE photo is any photo that involves a different perspective from the way you normally see the world. Above where you normally see the world. Below where you normally see the world. Another example of perspective is making something small look big by putting it in the foreground and something large in the background. This is called forced perspective.

PERSPECTIVE!

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Animals, Candid Portrait, Cathie, Kim, Micky, Nora, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 156 – HOBBIES

September 10, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

This ends year 3 of the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE reboot. It still seems popular enough to head onto year 4. I’ve decided not divulge the 52 themes for year 4. You’ll just have to react as the come your way.

There was a good amount of submissions for HOBBIES, but you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about submission rates. You came to see the submissions:

Andy Sharp

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Cathie Raley

Micky Augustin

PERSPECTIVE!

PERSPECTIVE! What a great theme! But what is a PERSPECTIVE photograph. A PERSPECTIVE photo is an photo take that isn’t at the normal straight on view of a human. Humans certainly have varying heights, but the idea is either to get a low PERSPECTIVE by getting down lower than your normal perspective. Or getting up higher for a HIGH perspective than you would normally view. Or to look at your subject from a different PERSPECTIVE than normal. Another type of PERSPECTIVE photo is a fixed PERSPECTIVE photo. You take an object that is small and put it close to the camera and a large object in the background and make them appear to be the same size. A common example of this picture is when you see people touch tall building in the pictures.

As always, I look forwarding to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

+++++++

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very in perspective Monday.

Art, Bethany, Dae Hee, Nora, Portrait, Street Photography, Travel

Franconia: Part III

September 4, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Today I bring you the final collection of images from my trip to the Franconia Sculpture Garden with Bethany, Dae Hee, and Nora.

Don’t be sad. I’m sure I will return there again in the future. I’ve even been in contact with Bethany about it already.

I also think that I will plan on visiting the Minnesota State Fair next year as well.

Here is the balance of the Franconia images:

I didn’t get many pictures of the sculptures at the end of our tour because I planned poorly and ran out of battery power. My bad for underestimating the sheer awesomeness of Franconia!