Category Archives: Macro

Sorrow and Gladness 2022 – Vol. 3

September 1, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together.
-Saadi

This is a quote attributed to the Persian poet Saadi Shirazi. He was a Persian poet that lived in the 13th century. I have tried to find the original context of this quote, but have failed miserably. It doesn’t seem to be from any of his most famous writings. Which makes me think there is a chance he never actually said it. But whomever said it, it is the perfect quote to discover roses and grief.

Here are the rest of the rose pictures I took in State Center:

I’m already looking forward to visiting the State Center Rose Garden again in 2023. Maybe make a stop at the new restaurant in Colo on the way back. Or not.

Animals, Flowers, Macro

Sorrow and Gladness 2022 – Vol. 2

August 25, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the second collection of images I took at the State Center Rose Garden back on June 18. It is one of my favorite flower gardens in Iowa. I definitely try to hit it every year. It was part of a full day of photography. I started at State Center. Then I dropped off my entries for the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. Then I went to watch Nathanial’s team compete in the Red Bull Soap Box Derby. Then I concluded the day with taking pictures of Alexis’ family.

Here are more rose pictures:

Still one more collection of pictures from this set left to share.

Flowers, Macro

Sorrow and Gladness 2022 – Vol. 1

August 18, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Thursdays are for flowers. Back in June I made a trip to the State Center Rose Garden to do a little flowertography. The lighting wasn’t great and it turned out it was during their Rose Festival, so the timing wasn’t great, but I still think some good work was done.

There is still at least one more collection of pictures from State Center left to share.

Flowers, Macro

Wasted

August 11, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

And when you speak the words you know
To those who know the words themselves
You’re wasted
You’re such a classic waste of cool, so afraid to
Break the rules in all the wrong places

Thursdays are for flowers. Here is a collection of flower pictures I took a bit ago.

More flower pictures to come!

Contests, Flowers, Macro, Pufferbilly Days

My Song

July 28, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Reminder that tomorrow is the deadline to turn in your entries to the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Important things to note:
+ Entry Deadline: July 29, 2022 – 5 PM
+ Turn entries in at the Boone County Chamber of Commerce – 903 Story Street – Boone, Iowa
+ 3 Age Divisions: 7-12, 12-18, and 18+
+ Categories are: Nature, People, Hidden Treasures of Boone County, Trains Planes & Automobiles, and Black & White
+ Limit of 6 entries per person.
+ Picture can’t already have been entered in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.
+ Photos must be mounted on 11 x 14 foam board. Photos can be any size up to 11 x 14. Photos can be, but do not have to be matted. Mats will not be judged.
+ Entry tag should be affixed to the upper right hand corner of the back of the image. Apparently virtually nobody did this last year and Laura (the head of Pufferbilly Days) filled these out and attached them herself. Which I recently found out and makes me really disappointed in people’s ability to follow very simple instructions.
+ 1st, 2nd, & 3rd will be awarded in each photo class for each age division.
+ A Best in Show will be awarded to the overall best photograph (as determined by the 3 judges – I am not a judge, the only way my opinion would enter into any of this, is if we need a 2nd tie-breaker) and that Best in Show could come from any Age Division.
+ A People’s Choice Award will also be awarded. There will be directions on how to vote at the Photo Display. I will also (hopefully) create a way to tell you how to vote besides going to the display. If I have the skills to pay those bills.
+ Current plan is to put the display up on the morning of Thursday, August 4. But they will definitely be up on August 5.
+ Display will be taken down on the morning of Monday, August 8. Pictures can be picked up at the Boone County Chamber of Commerce definitely after 12 PM on that day.
+ You don’t have to be from Boone or Boone County to enter.

And while you are at it, you might as well get your pet ready and enter them into the Pufferbilly Days Pet Show:

Just to clarify, you can enter a cat. Just nobody ever does. Which is just a total mystery to somebody like me that thinks cats are just swell.

Also, I will be there photo-documenting the event. So you will get to see me, which is a bonus of some kind.

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Everything I do,
Surrounds these pieces of my life,
That always change,
Or hey, maybe I’ve changed.

Sometime being happy
Can be self-destructive,
Even when you’re sane
Yeah you’re only insane.

Thursdays are for flowers and this collection of flower pictures were all taken in my yard. I do need to branch out and take more flower pictures outside of my yard. I’m sure I will get on that at some point.

Man, I love me some alliums.

Andy, Angie, Animals, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Contests, Dawn, Elizabeth, Fisheye, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Greyson, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Logan, Macro, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Pastor Sarah, Pufferbilly Days, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 358 – WILD

July 25, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

A reminder that this Friday is the deadline for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Entries are to be submitted to the Chamber office by 5 PM.

I hope there are plenty of submissions this year! Or at the least, more than there were last year.

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Was WILD a WILDly popular theme? I guess you will have to scroll down to find out.

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

+ Jesse Howard – 1 week
+ Willy McAlpine – 1 week
+ Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks
+ Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
+ Monica Jennings – 2 weeks
+ Mike Vest – 2 weeks
+ Sara Lockner – 3 weeks
+ Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 4 weeks
+ Mary Green – 4 weeks
+ Angie DeWaard – 6 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 9 weeks
+ Linda Bennett – 11 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 15 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 16 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 18 weeks (2)
+ Teresa Kahler – 26 weeks (2)
+ Tamara Peterson – 26 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 26 weeks (2)
+ Michelle Haupt – 27 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 28 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 29 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 30 weeks
+ Cathie Morton – 34 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 35 weeks (2)
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 37 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 40 weeks (3)

You might look at this list and be thinking, “Wait a second. Didn’t Carla’s streak get snapped last week?” You are experiencing the Mandela Effect.

What is the Mandela Effect?

The Mandela Effect refers to a situation in which a large mass of people believes that an event occurred when it did not.

Here is the most famous example:

The famous children’s book series the “Berenstain Bears” is not immune to the Mandela effect. Many people report remembering the name being the Berenstein Bears (spelled with an “e” instead of an “a”).

So that is what is going on here. Just the Mandel Effect.

You also might be coming down with a touch of gaslighting here too…

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:

Mary Green – 5 weeks

Mary Green

Michelle Haupt – 28 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 3 weeks

Sarah Karber – 1 week

Sarah Toot – 1 week

Sarah Toot

Tamara Peterson – 27 weeks

Tamara Peterson

Angie DeWaard – 7 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 31 weeks

Kio Dettman – 41 weeks

Kio Dettman

Dawn Krause – 10 weeks

Sara Lockner – 4 weeks

Micky Augustin – 29 weeks

Micky Augustin

Christopher D. Bennett

Cathie Morton – 35 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 27 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Joe Duff – 17 weeks

Carla Stensland – 27 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks

Brandon Kahler – 1 week

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 38 weeks

Logan Kahler – 19 weeks

Logan Kahler

Kim Barker – 16 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 36 weeks

Monica Jennings – 3 weeks

Monica Jennings

Suzie Brannen – 3 weeks

Andy Sharp – 30 weeks

26 participants! A great week!

Included in that list is the first time ever submissions from Sarah Toot. In fact, it was a big week for Sara(h)s! There were 3 Sara(h) participants. Smashing the previous record held by Michaels. Congratulations to Sara(h)s everywhere!

In another abnormality, it was the second straight week where there was a submission of a Pepsi product. Proving once again that Pepsi is better than Coke (although you shouldn’t drink either cause they are both poison, he said before taking a swig from his 20 oz bottle of Pepsi). The Cola Wars are over. All hail Pepsi!

A big milestone was reached by Dawn. Her streak reached 10 weeks. Another member of the double digit club!

But it wasn’t all good times with the choice of a new generation. 4 streaks were tragically snapped. Jesse couldn’t extend his streak to two weeks. Michael Vest couldn’t join Michael Augustin on the big board. His streak snapped at two. Jen’s streak withered on the vine at 4 weeks. And worst of all, Linda’s streak crumbled at 11 weeks. If there were family streak’s they would be at 12, but there are not family streaks.

I have no doubt all four will get back on the photography horse and have great things for us again in the future.

Here are the current top streaks:

9. Teresa Kahler – 27 weeks
9. Tamara Peterson – 27 weeks
9. Carla Stensland – 27 weeks
8. Michelle Haupt – 28 weeks
7. Micky Augustin – 29 weeks
6. Andy Sharp – 30 weeks
5. Bill Wentworth – 31 weeks
4. Cathie Morton – 35 weeks
3. Elizabeth Nordeen – 36 weeks
2. Shannon Bardole-Foley – 38 weeks
1. Kio Dettman – 41 weeks

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:

ODD CAMERA ANGLE

ODD CAMERA ANGLE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But what exactly is an ODD CAMERA ANGLE photo? It is pretty simple. 99.9% of the pictures in the world are taken from the eye level of the photographer. This theme asks you to move the camera. It can be from an extremely low camera angle. Or it can be from an extremely high camera angle. Move your body and your camera to a perspective of your subject that isn’t normally seen.

While considering possible subjects and angles for your submission, meditate on the following quote:

Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you’re going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find the truth about who you are.
-Ann Lamott

I look forward to seeing the interpretations.

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.

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

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 ODD CAMERA ANGLE in this place that is my crooked look at the world next Monday.

Contests, Flowers, Macro, Pufferbilly Days

Turpentine

July 21, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Once again, I am reminding you that the deadline for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest is coming up. It is next Friday! So you have 9 days to get your entry together and get it to the Chamber office. By 5 PM. On July 29.

Here is a reminder of the rules and another look at the entry form:

Pay special attention to the rule about being mounted on foam board. Dry mounting works the best. My plan for cooling down the display window was shot down and it gets very hot in there. Very hot. Foam board stands up to the heat by far the best.

I hope a few of you enter some photos!

Also, there is a need for Pufferbilly Days volunteers. If you have an interest in helping out with Pufferbilly Days, contact Laura at the Boone Chamber of Commerce.

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I watch you grow away from me in photographs
And memories like spies
And salt betrays my eyes again
I started losing sleep and gaining weight
And wishing I was was ten again
So I could be your friend again

Thursdays are for flowers! This is another collection of flowers from my yard. Almost all of these are pictures of gerbera that are in hanging pots in the back yard. They hand from the old clothesline, well I don’t rightly know, but the things that you run a clothesline in between, if you were so inclined.

I have a pretty healthy batch of flowers blooming in my yard right now. Sunflowers. Moonflowers. Lilies. Coneflowers. Hollyhocks. Zinnias. In addition to the potted gazanias, dahlias, marigolds, petunias, vincas, geraniums, and impatiens. Some hostas are blooming as well. And some weeds. Need to get back to hacking down them weeds!

Contests, Flowers, Macro, Pufferbilly Days

The Story

July 14, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Just a reminder that Pufferbilly Days is right around the corner. About 16 days left to get your pictures entered for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. But before we get into that, I also want to remind you that during Saturday of the Pufferbilly Days is the Pufferbilly Days Pet Show:

Bring your dog or lizard or chicken or pig or bird or snake or hamster or guinea pig or sea monkey or regular monkey or turtle or whatever animal that you have deemed worthy of being a pet. There are categories like Best Trick and Best Tail Wag for dogs. There also might be categories for cats too. But noobody ever brings a cat, cause they are embarrassed to own a cat. You could be the first. Blaze a trail!

I believe that I’ll be there to photo document the whole thing, but Kio hasn’t formally asked me to do that yet this year. I wait for a scroll with the Dettman seal to arrive any day now though.

Note that this year it is on a Saturday, instead of a Sunday. Double note, it is in a different location than it has been for the last several years. Triple note. It is in the afternoon, instead of the morning.

While you are getting your dog ready for the Pufferbilly Days Pet Show, you should also be getting your pictures ready for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Here is a refresher on the rules:

Finally, if you have a place you can put a flyer or can pimp this contest on social media, let me know and I will get you what you need to pimp this contest.

Hopefully at least a few people and/or their progeny enter some pictures this year. I’m hoping for a decent amount of entries this year!

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You see the smile that’s on my mouth
It’s hiding the words that don’t come out
And all of our friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess

Thursdays are for flowers, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. There are a lot of joy haters in the world. Don’t let them get you down.

Here are some flower pictures taken in my yard. The way I was taking these pictures was with a piece of equipment that was missing one part, so this was a bit of an adventure. A good kind of adventure. But would have been a better adventure if I wasn’t missing that part.

Flowers do have a tendency to break people down at their hardest parts. For example, people who hate the color pink still find pink flowers to be pretty. Or another example, an email subscriber that always skips reading my posts if they think they are about flowers, has recently taken to texting me pictures of flowers. A new addiction and I enjoy it very much.

Contests, Flowers, Macro

The Girl in the Blue Skirt – 2022

July 7, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Here is your reminder that July 29 is the deadline for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Entries need to be turned in to the Chamber by 5 PM that day. It is a Friday. You don’t have to be from Boone or Boone County to enter. Just somebody that enjoys photography and wants to share their photos with the world. The world that is Pufferbilly Days.

Here is a refresher on the categories and the rules:

Rule #2 is particularly important:

All photographs must be mounted on an 11 x 14 foam core or gator board that is at least 1/8 inch thick due to the heat and humidity of August in Iowa. The photographs may be any size up to 11 x 14. I’m working on a plan with Andy on making the display window cooler, but it still gets crazy hot in there. That is why we put the display up and take it down in the morning. It is too hot to do it in the afternoon and evening.

I hope at least a few of you and your children choose to participate. Remember, there are 3 age categories this year.

Also, I have a few volunteer positions still open. If you are interested, in volunteering (you can’t do both, enter a picture and volunteer) let me know and hopefully we can find something that works with your schedule and skill set.

Also, if you have a social media outlet where you can post a copy of the Photo Contest Flyer and are willing to do that, I would be almost eternally grateful. Hit me up and I’ll get you a copy of the flyer to post.

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For this Flower Thursday, I only have two flower pictures to share. But I like them. Hopefully you will too.

Next Flower Thursday will feature more flower pictures, I promise.

Contests, Flowers, Jay, Macro, Monica, Pufferbilly Days

Late Morning Lullaby

June 30, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

It is less than one month until the deadline to turn in your pictures for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. This is my second year running the contest, so I had time to make a few changes this year. But first, I actually had two flyers made for this year’s contest. One by Jay and one by Monica.

Jay’s Flyer

Monica’s Flyer

Here are a few of the things I’ve changed this year:
+ Eliminated the photo categories: Photoshop and Photojournalism.
+ Added the photo categories: People, Trains, Planes, & Automobiles. and Black & White.
+ Split up the age divisions, so now there is a separate age category for ages 13-17.
+ Added a Best in Show.
+ Added the People’s Choice Award. Where people will vote online for their favorite.

For the most part, the rules haven’t changed, but the form is drastically different:

Here is where to go to download the entry form:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Entry Form

The rule to really note is the pictures should be mounted on foam board because, while I have a plan, and Andy and I should start working on the plan soon, to help keep the photo display window cool. It does get toasty in there. Might have to throw a thermometer in there to see how toasty it gets in there.

Entries are due on Friday, July 29 by 5 PM at the Chamber Office. Located at 903 Story Street.

The photos will be judged (tentatively) on Wednesday, August 3. Then we will put the photo display up on Thursday, August 4. In the morning. Before the sun starts beating down. The photo display will be displayed in the KWBG windows. Located at 824 Keeler.

At that time, the People’s Choice Award voting will open.

I hope some of you will enter. If you can’t enter, I still could probably use a few volunteers, here and there. Just in the last 7 days, the ball has really started moving on this whole thing. But I definitely could use a couple hands to get the display put up on Thursday morning and then taken down on the following Monday. I don’t pay cash, but I do buy breakfast. I might need some administrative help and I might need help running a scanner. If either of those appeal to you, you know how to get a hold of this guy.

In case you don’t know, you will probably get sick of hearing about this contest between now and then. You’ve been warned.

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As soon as my eyes shut the slide show begins
Yesterday is gone now and panic sets in
With a weight upon my chest
And a ghost upon my back
And the numbing sensation of everything I lack
that leaves me
Dreaming, dreaming, dreaming,
Your real world away

Flower Thursday baby!

I didn’t get to enjoy my lilacs much this year. They bloomed shortly before my Miami Beach trip, and were mostly gone by the time I got back. On the positive, the lilac that I planted into my front yard seems to have survived. Maybe in 3 years it will bloom. Maybe sooner, but I think 3 years is probably about right.