Category Archives: Iowa State

Amy, Andy, Angie, Basketball, Bill, Brandon, Calendar, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Drone, Elizabeth, Iowa State, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Nathanial, Night, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Street Photography, Tamara, Teresa, Travel, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 433 – HUMANS

January 1, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett

It is time to share the July image from the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar image. It is a picture taken with Rodan139 of somebody setting off fireworks on the 4th of July in my neighborhood.

JULY

I chose this image since I felt the fireworks represented the 4th of July well.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

CAMERA: Hasselblad L1D020c
DATE: July 24, 2023 – 1010 PM
LENS: 28mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 28mm
APERTURE: f/5.6
EXPOSURE: 3 seconds
ISO: 400

Tomorrow I will share the August image!

+++++++

HUMANS! They are all over the place! But are there enough of them kicking around to make HUMANS a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, December 25, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Evie Gorshe – 1 week
2-Mary Green – 1 week
3-Elainie Hernandez – 1 week
4-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
5-Alexis Stensland – 1 week
6-Scott Degeneffe – 18 weeks
7-Sabas Hernandez – 19 weeks
8-Mike Vest – 24 weeks
9-Sheri Fakhouri – 28 weeks (3)
10-Logan Kahler – 29 weeks (3)
11-Nathanial Brown – 30 weeks (2)
12-Jesse Howard – 30 weeks
13-Tamara Peterson – 33 weeks (2)
14-Mindi Terrell – 45 weeks (3)
15-Linda Bennett – 74 weeks (2)
16-Sarah Toot – 75 weeks (2)
17-Angie DeWaard – 79 weeks
18-Dawn Krause – 83 weeks
19-Kim Barker – 89 weeks
20-Joe Duff – 90 weeks (2)
21-Teresa Kahler – 101 weeks (3)
22-Carla Stensland – 101 weeks (2)
23-Micky Augustin – 103 weeks
24-Andy Sharp – 104 weeks
25-Bill Wentworth – 105 weeks (3)
26-Cathie Morton – 109 weeks
27-Elizabeth Nordeen – 110 weeks
28-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 112 weeks
29-Kio Dettman – 114 weeks (3)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Brandon Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Carrie Moellers (Mambai, India) – 1 week

Amy Peterson (Jewell, Iowa) – 1 week

Amy Peterson (Ames, Iowa)

Mary Green (Michigan) – 2 weeks

Mary Green (Michigan)

Scott Degeneffe (Goldie’s – Prairie City, Iowa) – 19 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 20 weeks

Mike Vest (Noel, Missouri) – 25 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Iowa) – 29 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 30 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 31 weeks

Jesse Howard (Sun Records – Memphis, Tennessee) – 31 weeks

Jesse Howard (Big River Crossing – Memphis, Tennessee)

Tamara Peterson (Swede Valley Church – Rural Boone County) – 34 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 46 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 75 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Sarah Toot (Kansas City, Missouri) – 76 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 80 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 84 weeks

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 90 weeks

Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 91 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 102 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Hilton Coliseum – Ames, Iowa) – 102 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Story County, Iowa) – 104 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 105 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Saint Louis, Missouri) – 106 weeks

Cathie Morton (Waukee, Iowa) – 110 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 111 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Tursi’s Latin King – Des Moines, Iowa) – 113 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 115 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Beale Street – Memphis, Tennessee) – 537 weeks

30 participants! That is a pretty great week, considering the holiday! Thanks to Cathie’s sister we end the year with a new country. India! I believe that to be the first submission from Asia ever for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Kansas
+ India
+ Iowa
+ Missouri
+ Tennessee
+ Texas

Here is the final calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Hawaii
+ Idaho
+ Illinois
+ Indiana
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Kentucky
+ Louisiana
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Mississippi
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Hampshire
+ New Jersey
+ New Mexico
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ North Carolina
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Carolina
+ South Dakota
+ Tennessee
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Vermont
+ Virgin Islands
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

41 states and 1 district and 1 territory! That is pretty impressive! Over 80% of the way there!

The state nobody submitted from are:
+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Maine
+ Massachusetts
+ Rhode Island
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

Here is the final map for 2023:

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ Spain
+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Canada
+ Peru
+ France
+ Austria
+ Germany
+ Italy
+ India
+ Slovenia
+ Belize

The big milestone this week was Micky joining the 2 Year Streak Club! WooHoo!

But not everybody rang in the new year with their streak intact. Evie’s couldn’t build on last week’s submission. Either could Elainie. Or Willy. Or Alexis.

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:

SUNDAY MORNING – SUGGESTED BY SARAH TOOT

SUNDAY MORNING! What a great first theme for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

This year I’m not going to give a description of the theme. I’m going to trust you can figure it out on your own and through the theme reveal image. However, if you do have a question, don’t be afraid to ask.

Here is an updated list of the rules for Year 11:

1. The picture must be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch and take pictures challenge!
2. There is a limit of 2 submissions per person per theme.
3. Deadline to submit your submission is 11 AM next Monday.
4. To be considered the photographer of an image, you have to be the one clicks the shutter. If you hand your camera over to somebody else to take a picture of you, you are NOT the photographer of that image.
5. No screen captures.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of SUNDAY MORNING in this place that likes to have plenty of submissions by Sunday morning next Monday.

Black & White, Blogging, Calendar, Flowers, Iowa State, Music

Goodbye 2023

December 31, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the June image of the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It is a picture of mums I took at Iowa State University.

JUNE

I chose this picture for June because I like to use a black and white image for June.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M2
DATE: September 22, 2023 0 4:51 PM
LENS: 105 MM F/2.8 MACRO ART
FOCAL LENGTH: 105mm
APERTURE: f/2.8
EXPOSURE: 1/125
ISO: 400

Tomorrow I will share the July image!

+++++++

I hope everybody has a wonderful New Year’s Eve. I’m sure I will be deep in sleep for hours before the bell tolls midnight on 2023. But I’m sure most of you will have much more interesting ways to usher in the new year. But before I do that, I would like to take a brief look back at 2023.

I don’t know if it was a good year or a bad year. I think it was just a year. Filled with good. Filled with bad. I’m sure 2024 will be more of the same.

I didn’t do a ton of travelling in 2023. I only set foot in 9 states besides Iowa:

I don’t know how much I will travel in 2024, but hopefully I can do better than 10 different states.

I also wasn’t super active on social media this year. I do intend to try to get back to it on Instagram in 2024. Here are my Top 9 Posts on Instagram:

I started using Spotify more and more this year. I mostly use it for podcasts, but this year I started using it for music more. I mostly use it to listen to artists that I don’t own. Apparently I hit the soundtrack from “Daisy Jones and the Six” pretty hard at one point.

Here is my Spotify Wrapped:

On this website, I posted 366 new journal entries in “An Artist’s Notebook”. May and August had the most posts at 32 each. February and November had the least at 28 posts each.

The Categories that grew the most were:

1. Black & White – 237
2. Street Photography – 237
3. Formal Portrait – 222
4. Art – 168
5. Macro – 152
6. Candid Portrait – 139
7. Flowers – 107
8. Teresa – 103
9. Nature – 85
10. Jesse – 82

Happy New Year’s everybody!

Animals, Black & White, Calendar, Football, History, Iowa State, Jesse, Music, Night, Ruins, Street Photography, Travel

Liberty Bowl Trip Cell Phone Pictures

December 30, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the May image for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It is a picture taken off of I-80 near the exit that takes you to the Amana Colonies:

MAY

I chose this picture for May because I usually put a picture in May that is a picture that I love that I think most people won’t. Frequently that is an image of ruins. Which of course I love. Particularly black and white picture of ruins.

TECHNICAL DETAIL

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: August 8, 2022 – 9:06 AM
LENS: E 28-75MM f/2.8
FOCAL LENTH: 75mm
EXPOSURE: 1/1000
ISO: 100

Tomorrow I will share the June image!

+++++++

While the football game didn’t go the way I had hoped. It was a full on embarrassment, but that is how the cookie crumbles. It still was an incredible trip. Thought I would go ahead and share some cruddy cell phone pictures from the trip to start:

I’ll get into details about the trip at a later date.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Bill, Boone FUMC, Calendar, Carla, Cathie, Christianity, Dawn, Elainie, Elizabeth, Evie, Holidays, Iowa State, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Nathanial, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 432 – GREEN

December 25, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Friendly Reminder: Next Monday is New Year’s Day. While the bank and government employees get the day off, there are no holidays for Photography 139. If you are busy around the New Year’s holidays (and a lot of people are) plan on getting your submission in early this week.

+++++++

Merry Christmas! Christ is born!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you have a great Christmas!

+++++++

As most of the Photography 139 Calendars have been distributed it seems like a good time to start sharing the images for the 2024 calendar.

Here is the cover:

FRONT COVER

I don’t usually include pictures of people in the calendar, but I included this one of Jesse and Willy because it was the picture that was displayed at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon this year.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: May 29, 2022 – 6:13 PM
LENS: 105mm f/2.8 Sigma Art Macro
FOCAL LENGTH: 105 mm
APERTURE: f/2.8
EXPOSURE: 1/8000
ISO: 800

Tomorrow I will share the image from January.

+++++++

It is the last collection of submissions of the month, so it is a good time revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT THAT SOME OF THESE MIGHT CHANGE STARTING NEXT YEAR. FOR EXAMPLY THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS WILL CHANGE TO 2 STARTING NEXT YEAR.

What skill level photographer can participate?

THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is open to photographers of all skill levels. From award winning photographers to professionals to the highly ranked amateurs to those that are just beginning to those who don’t even know how to focus a camera. All skill levels are encouraged and welcome. You can’t be too bad and you can’t be too good! Everyone has room to learn and be challenged!

Award winning photographers? Really?

Yes. I can think of at least 10 photographers that participate regularly that have won a photography award of some kind.

Is this a competition?
NO.

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

Yes. That limit is 3. If you send me more than 3, I will post the first 3 that you send. I’m not trying to harsh your photography buzz, but any more than that starts to overwhelm the other submissions and it takes me about 5 minutes to take a picture from my inbox to code it on the website. So I have to manage my workload.

If you are going to submit more than one picture, I strongly urge you to choose completely different subjects for each submission. If you are submitting multiple pictures of the same subject, make sure that each picture is saying something unique.

This limit will change to 2 starting with next year’s first theme.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Meh. Only if I think somebody is clearly confusing this week’s theme with last week or next week’s theme. Otherwise, if the submission makes sense in your head, that is good enough for me. However, I would urge you to not try to fit your favorite subject into the theme. This isn’t a challenge to share a picture every week of your kid or your business or your pet. It is a challenge to take pictures of different things every week. Which isn’t to say subjects can’t be repeated, but you shouldn’t become reliant on the same ones.

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

I go to lunch at 11 AM. I leave my office. I’m not near a computer. At 11 AM I hit “Schedule” and then I go throw food down my throat. 167 hours is more than enough time to send a submission. Okay, 166 hours and 59 minutes. You got me.

Do I have to wait until Monday morning to submit?

Absolutely not! In fact I appreciate the submissions that make it to me by Sunday evening. Makes the job of putting this together on Monday morning much easier!

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

I won’t turn down submissions that are too small. I will probably ask you for a picture of greater resolution if it is really small. The typical 4 x 6 image posted to my website has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 853 pixels. While a 400 x 300 image might look okay on your phone, it looks like trash on a computer monitor. I prefer images that are at least 1000 pixels at their widest point, but don’t ban smaller pictures at this point.

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme. But if you let me know where the picture was taken, I will include that.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

I will take suggestions only and ONLY in the comments sections of the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE posts the last week of October and the 1st week of November.

GREEN! A great theme! But was it great enough to make it a popular theme. You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, December 18, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week (2)
2-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
3-Sara Lockner – 4 weeks
4-Scott Degeneffe – 17 weeks
5-Sabas Hernandez – 18 weeks
6-Mike Vest – 23 weeks
7-Sheri Fakhouri – 27 weeks (2)
8-Logan Kahler – 28 weeks
9-Nathanial Brown – 29 weeks
10-Jesse Howard – 29 weeks
11-Tamara Peterson – 32 weeks
12-Mindi Terrell – 44 weeks
13-Brandon Kahler – 67 weeks
14-Linda Bennett – 73 weeks
15-Sarah Toot – 74 weeks
16-Angie DeWaard – 78 weeks
17-Dawn Krause – 82 weeks (2)
18-Kim Barker – 88 weeks
19-Joe Duff – 89 weeks
20-Teresa Kahler – 100 weeks (3)
21-Carla Stensland – 100 weeks (2)
22-Micky Augustin – 102 weeks
23-Andy Sharp – 103 weeks
24-Bill Wentworth – 104 weeks
25-Cathie Morton – 108 weeks
26-Elizabeth Nordeen – 109 weeks
27-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 111 weeks
28-Kio Dettman – 113 weeks (2)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 114 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole Foley (Honey Hollow – Rural Warren County) – 112 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 110 weeks

Cathie Morton (Waukee, Iowa) – 109 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Saint Louis, Missouri) – 105 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Saint Louis, Missouri)

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska)

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 104 weeks

Micky Augustin (Orlando, Florida)- 103 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Boone – Ogden, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas) – 90 weeks

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas)

Kim Barker (Ames, Iowa) – 89 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 83 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa) – 79 weeks

Sarah Toot (Chicago, Illinois) – 75 weeks

Sarah Toot (Chicago, Illinois)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 74 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 45 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 33 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Branson, Missouri) – 30 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Branson, Missouri)

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 30 weeks

Jesse Howard (Le Mars, Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 29 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 28 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 24 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 19 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 18 weeks

Evie Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa)

Elainie Hernandez (Iowa) – 1 week

Willy McAlpine (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Stensland (Parkersburg, Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Stensland (Parkersburg, Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

30 participants! That is a pretty great week, considering the holiday!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Florida
+ Kansas
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Missouri
+ Nebraska
+ New York
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

41 states and 1 district and 1 territory! That is pretty impressive! Over 80% of the way there!

The missing states are:
+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Maine
+ Massachusetts
+ Rhode Island
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ Spain
+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Canada
+ Peru
+ France
+ Austria
+ Germany
+ Italy
+ Slovenia
+ Belize

The major milestone stone this week was Andy joining the 2 Year Streak Club.

But it wasn’t all fun and reindeer games. Suzie couldn’t build on last week’s submission. Jen’s streak ends at 2. Sara’s streak ends at 4. Sadly, Brandon’s streak ends at 67.

HUMANS

ONCE AGAIN. DON’T FORGET THAT NEXT MONDAY IS NEW YEARS DAY! PLAN ON GETTING YOUR SUBMISSION IN AROUND THE HOLIDAY! OTHERWISE, THERE COULD BE A TON OF STREAKS BITING THE DUST.

HUMANS! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! Even if HUMANS are mostly a failed species.

But what exactly is a HUMANS image? Simply put it is a picture that captures either a collection of HUMANS (or just one HUMAN) or the effects of HUMANity. A place where you can look at for inspiration is Humans of New York. After all, it did inspire this theme.

While thinking about possible subjects for your submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great image:

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
-Albert Einstein

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge. There is a limit of 3 submissions per participant. To be considered the photographer, you have to be the one that takes the picture. Don’t be stealing the work of other artists. You can submit pictures for other photographers that took pictures with your camera or phone, but give credit where credit is due.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of HUMANS in this place that is ran by one next Monday.

Art, Candid Portrait, Cathie, Elizabeth, Iowa State, Jorge, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Night, Street Photography, Town Sign Project

A Long Day…

December 13, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Back on May 6 I had a pretty long day. I spent the morning into the early afternoon doing photography for Sleeping Angels. Logan assisted me on this project. After we photographed the Sleeping Angels Fun Run crossing the Mile Long Bridge, we headed down to Grimes and had lunch.

After taking Logan home I watched the Kentucky Derby. Then I headed to Marshalltown to have supper at Zeno’s with Jorge, Randi, and their brood, Clevenger, Hope, Cathie, Micky, Robyn, Katelyn, Aubrey, Michelle, Craig, Elizabeth, Alexander, and Nicholas.

The dinner is the annual end of the Witch Hunt. This year’s Witch Hunt went to Cathie. At the end of the dinner she was presented with The Broom. The travelling trophy for the Witch Hunt.

There was an incident that happened after dinner and while there is photographic evidence of what transpired, I’m apparently not allowed to share them…

After leaving Marshalltown I stopped at Iowa State to do a little night photography, before retiring to my house for some much needed rest.

Here are some pictures of the day.

It was a pretty great day! Although any day that involves photography AND Zeno’s pizza is a great day!

Candid Portrait, Derrick, Elainie, Elizabeth, Football, Iowa State, Jesse, Jorge, Micky, Sabas, Still Life

Taco Tailgate 2023

December 3, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

This week’s food adventure is looking back on 2023’s edition of Taco Tailgate. If you have forgotten. Taco Tailgate is the annual tailgate event for an Iowa State football game where Jorge makes me tacos. He makes tacos for other people, but I think they are mostly for me.

This was a heavily attended tailgate. By far the largest of the 3 times I tailgated this year. In attendance were (but not all at the same time):

+ Yours Truly
+ Jorge
+ Randi
+ Jesse
+ Elainie
+ Sabas
+ Derrick
+ Rachel
+ Sean
+ A few of their friends.
+ Elizabeth
+ Micky
+ Robyn
+ Katelyn
+ Aubrey

And I’m possibly forgetting somebody. If I am, I’m sorry.

Here are some pictures:

I also took a few pictures at the game with a little point & shoot. Here are a few of those:

I’m not sure what next Sunday’s food adventure involves. Possibly pizza.

Art, Candid Portrait, Carla, Iowa State, Monica, Still Life, Teresa

Painting with Fire

November 21, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in April I went to The Workspace at the Memorial Union on Iowa State University’s campus with Teresa, Carla, Monica, and Graham and did some painting with fire. I took some pictures of course:

It was a good time! I should go to more activities there than I do!

Alexis, Amy, Andy, Angie, Animals, Bill, Brandon, Candid Portrait, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Derrick, Elainie, Elizabeth, Evie, Funk, Iowa State, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Nathanial, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Still Life, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 427 – PORTRAIT

November 20, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

A reminder that if you are looking for a Thanksgiving meal or a place to volunteer on Thanksgiving my church is hosting it’s annual Thanksgiving meal again this year. Information below:

I will be there for at least part of the day!

+++++++

I haven’t selected the 52 themes for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. But here is a list of the suggested themes:

-Science
-Remorse
-Necessity, something critical to your way of life
-Monochrome
-Tourism
-Sentimental
-Dog
-Screenshot
-Anything in the world but a cat
-Roman Numeral
-Outside your home county
– Memories/Memorial/etc.
– Clothing
– Out-of-date (I was thinking specifically of technology or items like pay phones and outhouses here, but it could be more expansive)
– Hands
– Struggle (or challenge)
– A stranger
– Fashion
– Starburst
– Symmetry
– Rule of 1/3’s
– Wheels
– Self portrait
– Emotion
– 6:00pm
– Warmth
– Candlelight
– Window view
– Ugly
– Sunday morning
-ANIMAL or PET
-PASSION

Definitely several of these will make next year’s list! Obviously ANYTHING IN THE WORLD BUT A CAT is a no-brainer!

+++++++

PORTRAIT! Everyone has taken one or been in one. But did enough people take a PORTRAIT to make it a popular theme? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, November 13, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Susanna Funk – 1 week
2-Diane Sharp – 1 week
3-Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks
4-Monica Jennings – 2 weeks
5-Elainie Hernandez – 2 weeks
6-Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
7-Alexis Stensland – 5 weeks
8-Scott Degeneffe – 12 weeks (3)
9-Sabas Hernandez – 13 weeks
10-Willy McAlpine – 13 weeks
11-Mike Vest – 19 weeks
12-Sheri Fakhouri – 22 weeks
13-Logan Kahler – 23 weeks
14-Nathanial Brown – 24 weeks
15-Jesse Howard – 24 weeks
16-Tamara Peterson – 27 weeks
17-Mindi Terrell – 39 weeks
18-Brandon Kahler – 63 weeks
19-Linda Bennett – 68 weeks
20-Sarah Toot – 69 weeks (2)
21-Angie DeWaard – 73 weeks
22-Dawn Krause – 77 weeks
23-Kim Barker – 83 weeks
24-Joe Duff – 84 weeks
25-Teresa Kahler – 95 weeks
26-Carla Stensland – 95 weeks (2)
27-Micky Augustin – 97 weeks
28-Andy Sharp – 98 weeks (2)
29-Bill Wentworth – 99 weeks
30-Cathie Morton – 103 weeks
31-Elizabeth Nordeen – 104 weeks
32-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 106 weeks
33-Kio Dettman – 108 weeks (2)

The third week of each month I like to share a map of all the states that have had pictures taken in them that were submitted for this calendar year. Well, I checked my calendar and this is the third Monday of the month. Here is the map, heading into this week:

That is a lot of states filled in. In fact, going into this week, there are only 10 states that haven’t been visited and photographed by somebody that submits here. I don’t think there is any chance we will fill in the entire map this year, but we sure have gotten a lot closer than I ever would have guessed! There are 6 weeks left in this calendar year. I don’t anticipate any more states being filled in at this point. Maybe Indiana. But that is a pretty full map if it doesn’t change.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Micky Augustin (Sonnette, Montana) – 98 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 107 weeks

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 84 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Jewell, Iowa) – 69 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Dobson Pipe Organ Builders – Lake City, Iowa) – 25 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa)- 13 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 109 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 74 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 85 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 23 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Susanna Funk (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Evie Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Manchester, Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Manchester, Iowa)

Elainie Hernandez (Ledges State Park – Boone County, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 14 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 25 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 64 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 24 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 96 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 78 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 104 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 105 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Amy Peterson (Idaho Falls, Idaho) – 1 week

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 28 weeks

Andy Sharp (UNI Dome – Cedar Falls, Iowa) – 99 weeks

Andy Sharp (UNI Dome – Cedar Falls, Iowa)

Alexis Stensland (east Des Moines, Iowa) – 6 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ames, Iowa) – 96 weeks

Sarah Toot (New Jersey) – 70 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 40 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 20 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 100 weeks

34 participants! A pretty good week by current standards!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Idaho
+ Iowa
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Hawaii
+ Idaho
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Kentucky
+ Louisiana
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Mississippi
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Hampshire
+ New Jersey
+ New Mexico
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ North Carolina
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Carolina
+ South Dakota
+ Tennessee
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Vermont
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

40 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 80% of the way there! Every continental state west of the Mississippi is now accounted for.

This is the list of states currently missing:
+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Indiana
+ Maine
+ Massachusetts
+ Rhode Island
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ Spain
+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Canada
+ Peru
+ France
+ Austria
+ Germany
+ Italy
+ Slovenia

The big milestone this week is Bill joining the Triple Digit Club! Also Cathie joins the 2 Year Streak Club. I forgot to mention it last week when Elizabeth joined it or a few weeks ago when Shannon joined and a few weeks before that when Kio joined it! Also, Dawn joined the Year and Half Club!

But it was all good news. Diane couldn’t build on her submission from last week. Monica’s 2 week streak went poof! As did Sara’s. And worst of all… Willy’s streak ends at unlucky 13.

ANIMAL

ANIMAL! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a ANIMIMAL picture? It is simply a picture of an ANIMAL. That could be a live ANIMAL. It could be a stuffed ANIMAL. It could be a box of meat. It could be a pet. It could be a wild animal. It could be something related to an ANIMAL. The possibilities are endless!

While thinking about possible subjects for your ANIMAL picture, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt that you will come up with a fabulous image:

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.
-Anatole France

I look forward to your interpretation!

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of ANIMAL in this place that loves dogs and so many other animals next Monday.

Art, Baseball/Softball, Iowa State, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Street Photography, WPC - Alternate

Feel Sorry for Yourself

November 18, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to finish off the March backlog. All of these images were alternates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE in one way or another. Some were for BLUE. Others were for COMPETITION.

It feels good to have the March backlog cleared out. I don’t think April is ready for a backlog clean out yet. Looks like there are some photos in there that deserves their own posts.

Art, Derrick, Evie, Holidays, Iowa State, Jen, Layla, Lists, Night, Still Life

Happy Halloween – Late

November 7, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

Because last week was so messed up, I didn’t get my planned Halloween post put together, so here it goes.

I hope everybody had a good Halloween. I had 51 trick-or-treaters, which was less than last year, but about average.

Now time for my annual Halloween Candy Bar Power Rankings

CANDY BAR POWER RANKINGS

10. PayDay
9. Snickers Almond
8. Skor
7. Pretzel M & M’s
6. Twix Caramel
5. Snickers
4. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
3. Peanut M & M’s
2. Take 5
1. Whatchamacallit

Please respect my decision. There will be no interviews at this time.

About a week or so before Halloween I made a trip to the Reiman Gardens annual Jack O’Lantern thing with the Gorshes.

Here are some pictures of my favorite pumpkins.