Category Archives: Photoshop

2019 Photography 139 Calendar

Yes Virginia, there was a Photography 139 Calendar this year. However, I didn’t sell them this year. I just made a small run and gave them out to a very few small group of select people.

Here are the pictures from the 2019 Photography 139 Calendar:


2019 Calendar - Cover

The front cover is a picture of William McAlpine peering through the hole in a brick. It was taken in the backyard of the Photography 139 Studio. It was taken for the FRAMED theme of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

This photo was entered into the 2018 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. It was accepted for display.

Willy is the first person to appear in a Photography 139 Calendar since the 2012 Calendar featured a final rendition of THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT that included images of AmyJunck-Wallendal, William McAlpine, Derrick Gorshe, Shannon Bardole, Jesse Howard, Jennifer Gorshe, Sara Junck, Jill Gorshe, and Jay Janson.


2019 Calendar - January

The January image was taken on a very foggy Christmas Eve morning. It was taken facing northeast from the road in upper Ledges State Park.

This image was entered in the 2018 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. It was selected for display.


2019 Calendar - February

The February image of a red hibiscus was taken in the Photography 139 Flower Garden in 2017.

Unfortunately, the hibiscus did not survive the winter and did not return to the Photography 139 Flower Garden in 2018.


2019 Calendar - March

The March image is of a lily is located in the Photography 139 Flower Garden. It is located in a designated lily patch near the birdbath.

While this macro photo might appear to be one image, it is actually the product of a technique called focus stacking. This image is actually 7 images with different focus ranges stacked one on top of the other.

This photo was nominated for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest, but it lost the popular vote and was not entered.


2019 Calendar - April

The April image was taken at The Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa. It was taken on a road trip with my Office Buddy Joe Lynch. It was taken with the in-camera black & white HDR setting.

This image was taken for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. The theme of the image was to go some place “touristy” and take a “non-touristy” picture.

The picture of Mary holding a crucified Jesus was selected for April to coincide with the celebration of Easter.

This image was entered in the Photoshop category of the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. It won 1st Place.


2019 Calendar - May

The May image is of the sculputre Skallagrim by Peter Lundberg. Skallagrim is located in the Franconia Sculpture Park near Shafer, Minnesota.

I took this photo on a trip there with Bethany, Dae Hee, and Nora.

The image is HDR toned and is used as the base image for a Small World image.


2019 Calendar - June

The June image was taken on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. It was taken on the Liberty Bowl Road Trip I took with Russell Kennerly and Jesse Howard to watch the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Memphis Tigers.

The image was originally taken in color and was transformed into black and white in post production.


2019 Calendar - July

The July image is of a hollyhock from the Photography 139 Studio Flowerbed. This pink hollyhock grew in the dedicated hollyhock patch along the north fenceline.

This macro image was taken while experimenting with a new set of extension tubes.

This image was nominated for the flower category for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest, but was not entered.


2019 Calendar - August

The August image was taken in the midway of the Iowa State Fair. It was taken for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. The theme of the picture was to take a picture of something that is “nondescript during the day.”

The image was taken when I was able to sneak away during a break in the action of Baby Got Rack’s competitive barbecue competition.

The image was HDR toned in post-production.


2019 Calendar - September

The September image was taken of a grasshopper at Big Creek State Park near Polk City, Iowa. The image was taken for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. The theme for this image was to create a playlist and listen to it while taking pictures. The playlist I selected was the BABY DRIVER SOUNDTRACK. I was listening to the song “Bongolia” by Incredible Bongo Band when I took this image.

2019 Calendar - October

The October image of a ram lounging was taken in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The image I was taken on the way home on a road trip I took with my Mom to Mount Rushmore.

This image was voted to be entered in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the Nature Category.


2019 Calendar - November

The November image was taken at the Iowa State Fair in the Discovery Garden. It was originally taken in color and converted to black and white in post-production.

It was nominated for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the Nature Category, but it was not entered.


2019 Calendar - December

The December image of an abandoned dump truck was taken in Boone, Iowa near the south terminus of Division Street.

The image was color processed through the Color Efex Pro 4 plugin during post production.

The image was nominated for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the Hidden Treasures of Boone County category, but was not entered.

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There are a few calendars to handout, but for the most part delivery has finished. Almost on time this year.

Post #3252 – 2018 Year in Review

Happy New Year to people who celebrate such things.

I like to look at some meaningless statistics every 250 posts and I also look at fairly meaningless year end statistics.

Just so happens that I get to combine them today!!

Here is both a year in review and a celebration that I have made it to 3252 blog posts. I was on the Alamo Bowl Road Trip visiting submarines, cults, and reality television stars when post #3250 came around, so I hope you can excuse the tardiness.

The first thing I want to look at are the most popular CATEGORIES in the history of “An Artist’s Notebook”.

Top 10 Journal Entry Categories

1. Portrait – 527
2. Weekly Photo Challenge – 504
3. Flowers – 497
4. Animals – 405
5. Jesse – 361
6. Photography – 355
7. Shannon – 320
8. Teresa – 296
9. Black & White – 291
10. Carla – 280

Top 10 People Categories

1. Jesse – 361
2. Shannon – 320
3. Teresa – 296
4. Carla – 280
5. Jay – 279
6. Mom – 277
7. Derrick – 256
8. Willy – 227
9. Vest – 221
10. Jen – 209

Top 10 Not-People Categories

1. Portrait – 527
2. Weekly Photo Challenge – 504
3. Flowers – 497
4. Animals – 405
5. Photography – 355
6. Black & White – 291
7. Road Trip – 262
8. Personal Photo Project – 261
9. Life – 234
10. Nature – 215

“Photography” and “Life” are general categories that I have been working on eliminating as I go back and restore historical “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory. Hopefully they will have both dropped off the Top 10 Lists by journal entry #3500.

If you are wondering how to become a Top 10 person on this list. The easiest way is to submit to the Weekly Photo Challenge. After that, the best way is to volunteer to model and photo assist for photography projects. Then after that, I would suggest going on road trips with me or attending Iowa State athletic events with me or going on road trips to Iowa State athletic events with me.

The people that are right outside of the Top 10 are:: Sara, Kim, Dawn, Becky, and Nader.

If you are looking for a goal for 2019, you could do worse than trying to crack the Photography 139 Top Ten People Category List. You obviously could do way, way, way, way, way, way, way better too.

Now we will turn out eye towards 2018.

Top 10 Most Popular Photography 139 Galleries of 2018 by Views

1. 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT – 48,722
2. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE YEAR 5 – 37,614
3. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE YEAR 5 – ALTERNATES – 33,622
4. 2008 – JANUARY – JUNE – 26,032
5. SELFIE PROJECT – 2017 – 23,141
6. HOUSTON MISSION TRIP – 2018 – 22,046
7. SOUTH DAKOTA TRIP – 2017 – 21,868
8. BOONE COUNTY FAIR CONTEST NOMINEES – 2018 – 17,211
9. SAYDIE HOWARD – CLASS OF 2017 – 14,808
10. IOWA STATE CYCLONES FOOTBALL – 2018

The 10 Most Popular Photography 139 Images by Views


Selfie Project - January 27
1. 2524

01-01-08
2. 2386


3. 2327

Kentucky Vacation - 2008
4. 1958

No. 45
5. 1621

No. 43
6. 1456

No. 12
7. 1445

July 15, 2017
8. 1321

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
9. 1293

No. 38
10. 1241

On the Instagram, these were my 9 Most Popular Photos based on Likes:


My theme for my 2018 Instagram posts was Black & White. My theme for 2019 will be HDR Toning. Also, I will be bringing back THE SELFIE PROJECT to Instagram in 2019.

You can follow me on Instagram here:

@christopherdbennett

I entered 3 photo contests with the following results:


Boone County Fair - 2018
Red Ribbon – Boone County Fair

Boone County Fair - 2018
Purple Ribbon – Boone County Fair

Boone County Fair - 2018
Blue Ribbon – Boone County Fair

Boone County Fair - 2018
Blue Ribbon – Boone County Fair

Boone County Fair - 2018
Blue Ribbon – Boone County Fair

Iowa State Fair Entry - 2018
Selected for Display – Iowa State Fair

Iowa State Fair Entry - 2018
Not Selected for Display – Iowa State Fair

Iowa State Fair Entry - 2018
Selected for Display – Iowa State Fair

Iowa State Fair Entry - 2018
Not Selected for Display – Iowa State Fair

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
1st Place Photoshop – Pufferbilly Days

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
1st Place Photojournalism – Pufferbilly Days

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
Pufferbilly Days

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
3rd Place Hidden Treasures of Boone County – Pufferbilly Days

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
Pufferbilly Days

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
Pufferbilly Days

Last note:

My goal for 2019 is the same as it was in 2018:

I’m gonna step my game up and get what is coming to me.

Good luck in 2019 everybody!

Naima Car Ride

I still haven’t got back to THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, so instead of that, enjoy these pictures of Naima riding in a car.


Naima enjoying a car ride.

Naima enjoying a car ride.

Naima enjoying a car ride.

Naima enjoying a car ride.

Naima enjoying a car ride.

Yes, I was driving while I took these pictures. I’m pretty sure that is safe.

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Here is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SPORTS/GAMES:


WEEK 170 - GAMES/SPORTS
SPORTS/GAMES

A SPORTS/GAMES photo is any photo that involves creatures involved in SPORTS/GAMES. Or a pictures of SPORTS/GAMES equipment.

Happy photo harvesting!

You’re So Vain, You Probably Think this Post is About You

This is the final post of the 2017 backlog.

I usually get tapped with taking the pictures for the day job’s holiday card.

My co-workers range from putting in a ton of effort in getting ready for their portrait to just showing up and saying “let’s get this done” to complaining incessantly about it.

I, for the most part, enjoy the exercise, even though these are little more than glorified mugshots that take up about 1 square centimeter on a card that I’m not certain many of our customers even look at.

I’m going to share the pictures of co-workers that are also subscribers to this here blog. Maybe a couple more that I just enjoy.


Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

Computer Mine Holiday Card - 2017

I don’t Photoshop these. I just turn them over to the powers that be. Okay, I might have Photoshopped Jorge’s picture a hair because I kept being told that his eyes are too small. Dude has small eyes. Why you pickin’ on him?

These aren’t the pictures used on the holiday card. They aren’t even the best pictures from their shoots. Tey are just pictures that I liked.

An Artist’s Notebook will probably take Sundays off for the time being. I think we all need the break.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 163 – COLORFUL

Today is a big day for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! COLORFUL inspired Jodie Cue to submit for the first time ever! Welcome aboard Jodie, we know you will do great things!

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


WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - JODIE CUE
Jodie Cue

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL  CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - JODIE CUE
Jodie Cue

WEEK 163 - TAMARA PETERSON - COLORFUL
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 163 - TAMARA PETERSON - COLORFUL
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 163 - MICHELLE HAUPT - COLORFUL
Michelle Haupt

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 163 - COLORFUL - SARAH KARBER
Sarah Karber

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:


WEEK 164 - WILD ANIMAL
WILD ANIMAL

I should point out that I was pretty surprised to walk out my back door yesterday and see a bald eagle swooping around overhead. I’ve never seen one in my neighborhood.

WILD ANIMAL! What a great theme! But what is a WILD ANIMAL picture? It is a picture of an animal that is not domesticated. Not a pet. Not a farm animal. There is more than one definition for WILD ANIMAL. Therefore…

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

Most likely, I will be out of state next Monday. So, look for next week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE post to be posted on Tuesday.

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.

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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 wild Monday.

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 78

While I was at the Iowa State Fair, I came across a great subject for Page 78 and Page 79 for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.

On my first trip to the Iowa State Fair I took the picture for Page 78. I’ll share those pictures today and you’ll have to wait for Page 79:


Photo Journal - Page 78
Page 78 – Photograph a place that’s nondescript during the day…

I visited the midway early on the morning while Baby Got Rack’s meat was smoking.

Only 1 picture can be physically adhered into the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL. Here are some that will only exist in the digital world:


Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Page 78 - Reject

Next Friday we will definitely check in with Page 78.

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This is your reminder that the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme this week is COLLECTIBLE:


WEEK 162 - COLLECTIBLE
COLLECTIBLE

A COLLECTIBLE photo is a photo of anything that people collect.

Happy photo harvesting!

Them Degeneffe Boys – Volume 2

As Pufferbilly Days wound to a close, I would like to share the photos that were selected by popular vote and how they did in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest:


Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
No Love.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
No Love.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
No Love.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
3rd Place – Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
1st Place – Photojournalism.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - 2018
1st Place – Photoshop.

As far as I know, there wasn’t anybody else in the contest that I know. Once again, they didn’t put any names on any of the photos. In years past they had at least put a sheet of paper at the bottom of the display with a list of who finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. It is what it is.

I started entering the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest again 2 years ago because I was worried that the amount of entries had gotten really small. the last couple of years the numbers had ballooned. This year, the amount of entries atrophied again.

Hopefully it bounces back again next year.

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We are so close to the end of the 2016 backlog that you can probably feel it. After this post, there is only one photo shoot left to publish.

But before we get to that, we need to finish up with the pictures of Austin and Porter at a McHose Park playground.


Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Degeneffe Boys

Next Sunday, when hit the 2016 backlog, we look at a commercial photo shoot I did for a Minnesota leather company.