Category Archives: Becky

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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!

Alexis, Andy, Becky, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Carla, Dawn, Drone, Elizabeth, Michelle, Micky, Monica, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 219 – SHADOW

November 25, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Running just a tad bit behind schedule today. As I am on vacation and my motivation levels might not be what they normally are. Fortunately, for the 9th straight week, motivation levels were high enough that we had double digit submissions. Perhaps a record. I don’t know. I’ll have to check with the Photography 139 historian.

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

Andy Sharp

Elizabeth Nordeen

Dawn Krause

Micky Augustin

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Tamara Peterson

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Monica Henning

Becky Parmelee

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:

COLORFUL

COLORFUL! What a great theme! But what is a COLORFUL photo? That is pretty straight forward. Any photo that is filled with COLOR. Find something COLORFUL and photograph it. Go crazy with the saturation in your photo editing. Remember, there is more than one definition of the term COLORFUL.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations.

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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.

I now allow people to text me their submissions. In the past, I had made exceptions for a couple people that aren’t real computer savvy, even though it was an inconvenience for me and required at least 3 extra steps for me. I am now lifting that embargo because I have a streamline way of uploading photos. I’m not giving out my phone number, but if you have it, you can text me.

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 colorful Monday!

Andy, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Jen, Kim, Michelle, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 218 – PURPLE

November 18, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

PURPLE was not anywhere near as popular as ORANGE, but I don’t think that is a reflection of the color so much as the time of year. However, PURPLE did inspire enough people that we manage to hit double digits for submissions for the 8th week in a row!

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

Dawn Krause

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Tamara Peterson

Carla Stensland

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Michelle Haupt

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

SHADOW

SHADOW! What a great theme! But what is a SHADOW picture? It is simply any picture that features a shadow as a main part of its composition. A silhouette, for example, is a SHADOW picture.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

+++++++

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 shadowy Monday!

Animals, Becky, Candid Portrait, Cousin Amy, Dawn, Event, Formal Portrait, Geri, Jay, Jaycees, Jen, Music, Sara, Shannon, Teresa, Willy

2009-07-10

November 16, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder 2009-07-10 are all from an Ames on the Half Shell concert that featured by far my favorite artist that we ever booked. Her name was Bonne Finken and she was one of maybe 3 artists that we booked during my entire run with the Jaycees that couldn’t be described as generic classic rock cover band.

Listen, that isn’t an insult. There is nothing wrong with a classic rock cover band. They are usually pretty enjoyable to listen to, but they certainly don’t challenge you as a music enthusiast.

I’m terrible at describing her sound, but it both pop and rock and it is undeniably powerful. Bonne is still producing music, but she has moved on from this local scene. She moved to Tennessee. She released her third album earlier this year. It was produced by a member of Slipknot.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Bonne Finken’s conert:

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

Bonne Finken

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flowers and sparklers, but not necessarily together.

Andy, Animals, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Kim, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Shannon, Tamara, Underwater, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 217 – ORANGE

November 11, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I would be remiss if I didn’t start out this post to saying Happy Veteran’s Day. I don’t have a photo to back up these sentiment, so instead, let me remind you that veterans often struggle greatly when they leave the military.

The suicide rate for veterans of 35 per 100,000. The suicide rate for homeless veterans is 81 per 100,000. Veterans make up approximately 9 percent of all homeless adults.

Thanks to our veterans! They bear more scars than the ones that we can easily see.

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ORANGE once again proved to be a popular theme. For the 7th straight week, the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE brought in double digit submissions:

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

Jesse Howard

Dawn Krause

Andy Sharp

Elizabeth Nordeen

Cathie Raley

Micky Augustin

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Logan Kahler

Kim Barker

Becky Parmeleee

Carla Stensland

PURPLE!

PURPLE! What a great theme! But what is a PURPLE picture? A PURPLE picture isn’t all that much different than an ORANGE picture. Only instead of ORANGE, it should incorporate the color PURPLE. This one might be a bit trickier as PURPLE isn’t as prevalent in nature as much as ORANGE is this time of year, but I have no doubt, that you will be able to find PURPLE somewhere in your life.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

+++++++

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 purple Monday!

Becky, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Event, Formal Portrait, Geri, Jaycees, Logan, Music, Night, Shannon, Teresa

2009-07-06

November 9, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 2009-07-06 are from my 2009 Independence Day. I spent the day immersed in Ames Jaycees projects.

The beginning of my day was spent helping with the special Independence Day Ames on the Half Shell with The Nadas. Then I finished the day helping out with the fireworks display.

Shannon’s cousin Matthew came down to help with Half Shell. Teresa helped as well. Logan and Willy were in attendance at the concert.

It was a very long day. Now I barely even leave my house on Independence Day. I should probably remedy that in 2020, but I’m guessing that won’t happen.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the album:

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

4th of July

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve my favorite artist to every play Ames on the Half Shell.

Andy, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Formal Portrait, Jen, Jesse, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Vest, WPC - Submissions, Youth Group

WPC – WEEK 216 – FORMAL PORTRAIT

November 4, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I was a little worried that our 5 week double digit submission streak wouldn’t his 6 weeks with FORMAL PORTRAIT. I hadn’t received some of the normal early submissions, and I translated that into a lack of enthusiasm for the theme. However, there was a deep late arriving enthusiasm. In fact, we almost hit 20 submissions. Which might be a record, but I don’t keep those kind of stats. Maybe when I get some free time, I can comb the archives and see what the record is for most submissions is for a week. If it isn’t 19, it can’t be much higher than that.

In fact, after I wrote this, I got a semi-late submission for 20 total submission!

Add to the excitement of the FORMAL PORTRAIT theme, we have a first ever submission from Evie Gorshe. I’m not sure if she is the youngest to ever submit, but she has to be pretty close. I know a couple of the Augustin girls have submitted before. I think Scott Krause submitted at a pretty young age as well. We’ll just say that Evie is a Top 5 youngest to ever submit!

Almost as exciting as Evie’s submission is Dawn’s return to the fold. Dawn has been wandering the wilderness for the last couple of years. But she has a different job now and says she is back in the game. It is good to have her home. Somebody bring me a fatted calf!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me make weak links to parables and talk tommyrot about participation rates, you came to see the submissions:

Micky Augustin

Evie Gorshe

Dawn Krause

Andy Sharp

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Micky Augustin

Kim Barker

Michelle Haupt

Carla Stensland

Mike Vest

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

Christopher D. Bennett

Elizabeth Nordeen

Jesse Howard

ORANGE

ORANGE! What a great theme! But what is an ORANGE photo? An ORANGE photo is any photo where the color ORANGE plays an important part in the image. Luckily, this time of year, there is a lot of ORANGE in nature.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

+++++++

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 orange Monday!

Andy, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Kim, Logan, Micky, Monica, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 215 – LINES

October 28, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Once again, LINES was a very popular theme. We hit double digit submissions for WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE for the 5th week in a row! WooHoo!

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

Monica Henning

Andy Sharp

Cathie Raley

Carla Stensland

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

Christopher D. Bennett

Logan Kahler

Micky Augustin

FORMAL PORTRAIT

FORMAL PORTRAIT! What a great theme! But what is a FORMAL PORTRAIT? It is a PORTRAIT, where the subject knows that they are getting their picture taken. They don’t have to be dressed nice. They don’t have to be in a studio, they just have to know that they have to know they are getting their picture taken and therefore, they are posing for the picture.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

+++++++

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 formal Monday!

Alexis, Baseball/Softball, Becky, Candid Portrait, Carla, Flowers, House, Jason, Jaycees, Jesse, Kelly, Lowell, Mom, Music, Saydie, Shannon

2009-06-29

October 26, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder 2009-06-29 are mostly from a softball game between Alexis’ team and a team coached by Jesse and Lowell. I assume Alexis’ team won the game because of… Bennett genetics.

There are some pictures of Larry Howard in this post. Larry passed away earlier this year. He isn’t the first person to have passed on, that has surfaced on these walks down memory lane, but one of the closest.

Here are some pictures:

None of these pictures have ever been published before. They were lost to the ages until now.

The pictures at the end are from the Ames on the Half Shell performance by a band called Otter. I was in charge of booking the bands that year and I won’t deny that I booked Otter because their drummer was a pretty loyal Ames Jaycee.

This could be a false memory, but I believe I got some pushback on that. Definitely a lack of enthusiasm about it from some other Jaycees. I found this weird because every single year the Jaycees booked this absolutely terrible band called Saucy Jack based on the fact that a member of the band was a brother or ex-boyfriend of an ex-Jaycee. They booked a terrible band based on somebody that wasn’t in the band and wasn’t even a Jaycee any longer. And they were terrible.

Almost all the Half Shell bands fell into the category of generic classic rock cover band. Saucy Jack was in that same category. But they played every song about 10% slower than it is supposed to be played.

I remember once they played “Everlong” by Foo Fighters, which is a Top 100 song for me, and it took me about 45 seconds to even figure out what the hell they were playing.

But booking the slightly stoner band with a Jaycee drummer, that isn’t cool man.

But I digress…

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve the Boone City Band.

Andy, Becky, Cathie, Jen, Kim, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 214 – STILL LIFE

October 21, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Sorry this is late. The Computer Mine is keeping a brother down!

No history lessons this week. Just straight hardcore STILL LIFE action from THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. It would seem that STILL LIFE really did it for a lot of people. Maybe STILL LIFE is an easy theme. Perhaps STILL LIFE is a very inspirational theme. Perhaps people just were inspired by the beautiful weather or by European vacations or apple butter making.

Who knows? But I do know that you didn’t come here to talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions!

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Monica Henning

Kim Barker

Andy Sharp

Tamara Peterson

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Andy Sharp

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Micky Augustin

Cathie Raley

Michelle Haupt

Logan Kahler

Becky Parmelee

LINES!

LINES! What a great theme! But what is a LINES image? A LINES image is any image where a dominant compositional aspect of the image are lines. Looking down the road would be a classic example of using LINES in your composition.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

+++++++

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 lined Monday!