Category Archives: Nature

Pixel 3 Test Flight

September 9, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Monday, I took Rodan139 out for a quick flight in Ledges to test it with Teresa’s spare phone. I wanted to use her spare phone for a potential road trip I was planning for Labor Day. That way I could save the battery on my old timey Pixel 2 for other road trip fun times. Like the Snapchat or the Instagram or for GPS type stuff.

The spare phone did work masterfully. Here are some pictures from Rodan139’s test flight:

I don’t know if there is anything particularly special in this collection, but some of them are not without merit.

Andy, Becky, Black & White, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Jodie Cue, Kim, Logan, Micky, Nature, Shannon, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 260 – SKY

September 7, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

We did it! 49 straight weeks of double digit submissions! This week, I did have to pull over next to Ulysses S. Grant’s house and rattle a few cages, but we did make it to double digit submissions!

This is a wrap on the 7th year of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. There were 857 submissions for this set of 52 themes. If you want a walk down memory lane, click on the link below:

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 7

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

Elizabeth Nordeen

Logan Kahler

Andy Sharp

Micky Augustin

Dawn Krause

Kim Barker

Cathie Raley

Jodie Cue

Jesse Howard

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Becky Parmelee

Teresa Kahler

Christopher D. Bennett

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:

Macro

MACRO! What a great theme! But what is a MACRO photo? It is basically a close-up photo of something.

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.

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 close Monday!

Black & White, Drone, Nature, Panorama

Morning in America

September 2, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday morning I was able to take get up at the crack of dawn and drive down to the High Trestle Trail to take Rodan139 on a flight around the Des Moines River Valley. Well, we didn’t go much around the valley as a I was pretty cautious with flying it there, since it was our first flight in that area.

Here are some of the pictures from the flight:

If anything, I need to leave my house even earlier next time. Although as we quickly approach the fall, sunrise keeps getting later and later. Sunset keeps getting earlier and earlier.

I’m 95% sure one of these pictures will grace the pages of the 2021 Photography 139 Calendar.

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Ruins

Derecho Gamma

August 18, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

On Saturday morning before breakfast I took the drone out to take some pictures of the “Stop Eminent Domain Abuse” semi trailer and the Luther grain bins. It was very peaceful and quiet. I might have to make this a Saturday morning tradition. Gets me off the couch and more active on Saturday mornings. Plus early morning is a good time to take the drone out There aren’t many people. The lighting is usually okay and there isn’t usually much wind. I might have to go out to the High Trestle Trail Bridge this Saturday. Depending on how late of a Friday night I have.

Probably one more post with derecho damage in the future, but we will see. Some of this damage isn’t going away any time soon.

Animals, Equipment, Fisheye, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Logan, Naima, Nature, Night, Self-Portrait, Still Life

Red Fish, Blue Fish

August 16, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I meant to publish a post on this subject a week or so ago, but the derecho put those plans on hold. I’ve meant to be more proactive about writing about when I get new equipment, even equipment that is fairly small or seemingly inconsequential to most people. Hopefully this post starts just such a new era for “An Artist’s Notebook”.

The most recent thing I purchased was a fisheye lens for the mirrorless camera setup. Have a look:

Here are some specs for the lens:
FOCUS TYPE: Manual
CLOSEST FOCUSING DISTANCE: 7.9″
FOCAL LENGTH: 12mm
ANGLE OF VIEW: 180
MAXIMUM APERTURE: f/2.8
MINIMUM APERTURE: f/22

On a 35mm camera or a full frame sensor camera, a 50mm lens is the same as human sight. When you look through a viewfinder with a 50mm lens on the camera, what you see should be about the same as when you aren’t looking through the lens. Your angle of view won’t be the same, but objects should be about the same distance.

To illustrate how a fisheye lens, I took pictures of Jesse with a 50mm lens and with my new fisheye lens so you can see the difference between human sight and a fisheye lens.

50mm

Fisheye

50mm

Fisheye

50mm

Fisheye

50mm

Fisheye

I wanted to make this example to be more scientific, but I couldn’t find a football field in Boone with yardlines already painted that wasn’t being used. So these distances are mostly eyeballed, but they are pretty darn close.

Now that you know what it is and what it does, here are a few sample pictures I have taken:

The next piece of equipment I will talk about is a macro bellow I recently picked up. Then maybe a remote camera trigger. Then I need to purchase some stuff.

Animals, Black & White, Drone, Nature, Panorama, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder

So Many Stories of Where I’ve Been

August 7, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

I took plenty of NATURE photos that just weren’t ready for the world on Monday. They needed a little bit more time in the oven. These pictures were taken at Summerset State Park, Harrier Marsh, Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge, and Honey Hollow.

I haven’t even thought about this week’s theme yet…

+++++++

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

TRANSPORTATION

A TRANSPORTATION photo is any photo that involves the TRANSPORTATION of people or goods. A car. A train. A boat. Your feet. A road. A bridge. You get the idea.

Happy photo harvesting!

Aaron, Angie, Animals, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Michelle, Micky, Nature, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 255 – NATURE

August 3, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

44 straight weeks of double digit submissions!! Absolutely incredible. Plus another week where I didn’t have to send out an reminder text messages. Nice!

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

Angie DeWaard

Cathie Raley

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Michelle Haupt

Tamara Peterson

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Aaron Barnett

Angie DeWaard

Dawn Krause

Micky Augustin

Robyn Augustin

Micky Augustin

TRANSPORTATION

TRANSPORTATION! What a great theme! But what is a TRANSPORTATION photo? A TRANSPORTATION image is a picture of anything related to the TRANSPORTATION of anything. It could be a car. A truck. A train. An airplane. A bicycle. A wagon. It could be a picture of anything that is related to any of those things. A road. A trail. A sidewalk. Railroad tracks. A dock. You get the idea.

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 trasported Monday!

Nature, Night

Neowise

July 28, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I did get out and took a few pictures of Neowise last week. Didn’t get anything special because I waited too late and then I didn’t have time to get all the way out to a spot with very little light pollution. I went out to the Harrier Marsh and that is a place that isn’t too bad for the light pollution.

Here are a few images that I got:

I ordered a new fisheye lens for the A72. It should arrive this week. Might have to take it out this weekend and take some more astrophotography pictures. Might have to hit up a spot near Dana, Iowa that Jay keeps pushing. Or I might sit on my couch and watch television. It really is a push.

Aaron, Animals, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Flowers, Jodie Cue, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Nature, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 254 – ANIMAL

July 27, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I might have to change the release time for this weekly blog to 1:01 PM CST because there was a recent mine shaft collapse at the Computer Mine and I’ve had to change my work schedule to compensate, thus changing my lunch hour. But we’ll see how it goes for now.

WooHoo! 43 straight weeks of double digit submissions. Another week where I didn’t have to send out any reminder text messages this morning. I like how this is trending people!

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

Bill Wentworth

Carla Stensland

Tamara Peterson

Aaron Barnett

Christopher D. Bennett

Aaron Barnett

Jodie Cue

Michelle Haupt

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Jodie Cue

Kim Barker

Micky Augustin

Cathie Raley

Robyn Augustin

NATURE

NATURE! What a great theme! But what is a NATURE photo? A NATURE photo can be anything that isn’t man made. A lake. A river. A wildflower. A wild animal.

Remember, “Nature is God’s art. Art is man’s 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 natural Monday!

Black & White, Candid Portrait, Flowers, FNSC, Formal Portrait, Jay, Macro, Nature, Willy

2010-01-30

July 11, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 2010-01-30 are from both THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE and PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT. The flower pictures were taken for the theme PLANTS. THE PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT involves a broken mirror and Willy.

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:

Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 6

The Digital Bouquet

RWPE #4 – PLANTS

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve basketball and cleaning toilets.