Category Archives: Portrait

Football, Iowa State, Mom, Self-Portrait, Street Photography

College Ames Day Eve

September 24, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I really wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it to College Ames Day, so the Friday night before I went over to at least check out the set.

At the time I was walking around the set, ESPN had yet to announce who was going to be the celebrity guest picker. I was still excited by the possibilities. It obviously should have been Seneca Wallace, but he had already been eliminated. Then it was leaked that the celebrity guest picker was going to be a musician.

The no-brainer in that situation would be Corey Taylor. The out of the box pick would’ve been Neil Diamond.

Later that night, we would find out is was some hillbilly bob named Eric Church. I’m not an expert on a new country music, (although I do enjoy and was raised on old-timey music*), but from what I understand is that modern country music is split into 2 categories. Douche country and tolerable country. Florida-Georgia Line is douche country. I don’t know anything by Eric Church, but just by looking at him, he has to be douche country. He looks like Adam Levine, if Adam Levine was an even bigger douche.

Eric Church capitalized on my belief that he is douche country on College Ames Day, but that is a story for a different blog post.

Plenty more pictures from actual College Ames Day coming soon.

*There is even a reference to Hank Williams Sr. in every WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE entry.

Andy, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Football, Jen, Jesse, Kim, Politics, Street Photography, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 210 – STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

September 23, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY proved to be an extremely unpopular theme, like I predicted. Not only did hardly anybody try this theme, only one person took on my added challenge of taking the picture in black & white as a tribute to the late great Robert Frank. Thanks Jen! The streak of double digit submissions is over and I don’t know if I will every fully recover. I soldier on.

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

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Stephanie Kim

Tamara Peterson

Jesse Howard

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:

RUINS

RUINS! What a great theme! But what is a RUINS photo? A RUINS photo is a photo of something that has been destroyed, obliterated, or more commonly, is in a state of decay. Think about the entire town of Beaver, Iowa. Or don’t. It is sad to think about Beaver. However, RUINS challenge you to take a picture of something that isn’t considered “beautiful” by the Funk & Wagnall definition. Go out there and find something that has been abandoned. That isn’t getting any love or attention any longer and give it some love and attention!

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.

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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 ruinious Monday!

Becky, Candid Portrait, Commercial, Event, Formal Portrait, Jaycees, Music, Self-Portrait, Shannon

2009-06-12

September 21, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder 2009-06-12 are from the Burnin’ Sensations Ames on the Half Shell concert in 2009. It rained that day, so the concert got moved to DJ’s Taphouse.

I believe that Burnin’ Sensations have played Ames on the Half Shell every single year since Ames on the Half Shell began. They are your basic classic rock cover band, but they put on a very fun show.

Here are some pictures:

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

Burnin’ Sensations

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flowers.

Black & White, Elainie, Formal Portrait, Iowa State, Photo Journal, Sabas

A Photo Journal – Page 28

September 20, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Elainie and Sabas are home from San Diego which created absolutely the perfect opportunity to knock out Page 28 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.

Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up

Obviously this is based on Alfred Eisenstaedt picture of a sailor kissing a girl on VJ Day. However he wasn’t the only photographer to capture this moment. It was also captured by Navy photo journalist Victor Jorgensen. His pictures was published in “The New York Times” the next day. Eisenstaedt’s picture became famous in LIFE magazine.

Here are a couple other takes on the photo:

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

I only need to take the pictures for PAGES 66-67. I just need a volunteer to be the subject. You know where to find me!

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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is STREET PHOTOGRAPHY:

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Remember that a STREET PHOTOGRAPHY picture needs to be taken in public and needs to be random. Once again, I will suggest to make the picture black & white as an homage to Robert Frank, but it isn’t required.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Fisheye, Naima, Self-Portrait

See Myself Looking Back

September 17, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Hitting up the 2018 backlog again. This is a miscellaneous set of pictures that I took on the same day as the Pet Memorial Day in 2018. Some of these I think were taken for a theme reveal for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE and I think others were taken for the theme that week.

Just have to keep hammering away at that backlog.

Becky, Candid Portrait, Commercial, Event, Formal Portrait, Geri, Jaycees, Music

2009-06-06

September 14, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder 2009-06-06 are from the first Ames on the Half Shell concert of the 2009 season. The band that played was Vivace. I’m not sure if they are still around, but they were just a real solid classic rock cover band. Classic rock cover band pretty much describes the local music scene in central Iowa and pretty much describes almost every band to ever play Ames on the Half Shell.

Here are some pictures:

I drastically upgraded the Ames on the Half Shell website before this season. It looks like they still use the same platform that I built, but they have upgraded the look considerably. What is interesting is that they added a “History” page that lists every band that has played Ames on the Half Shell, except they don’t have anything listed for 2009.

That same year they Ames on the Half Shell logo was completely redesigned. It looks like the logo has been updated since then, but still plays on the same theme.

If you want to see more pictures from Vivace’s 2009 performance at Ames on the Half Shell, click on the picture below:

Vivace ></a><br />
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<p>By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic ” an=”” artist’s=”” notebook”=”” entry=”” to=”” its=”” original=”” glory:<=

Ames on the Half Shell

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve even more Ames on the Half Shell.

Candid Portrait, Event, Photo Journal, Politics, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Page 106

September 13, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Page 106 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT was a difficult one for me to process at first. The idea is to send one of your photos to your “photography hero” and ask them what they had about it.

When you really break it down, my photography hero is my Dad. For obvious reasons, I can’t send him one of my pictures. Once you leave the family, most of my favorite photographers are also dead.

From Ansel Adams to Vivian Maier to Henri Cartier-Besson to Robert Frank to Margaret Bourke-White. They are all gone. In fact, Robert Frank just passed away on Tuesday.

So I thought about it and there are a couple of living photographers that I do admire and came up with a couple. Richard Bernabe. He is an amazing nature photographer and outspoken environmentalist. If you are looking for a great photography book, I highly recommend his book “Wildlife Photography”. You can look at my copy next time you make it to the Photography 139 Studio.

However, I chose to go a different direction. I decided to go with Pete Souza. Pete Souza was the White House Photographer for both Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

If the election was held today, Joe Biden would be the next President of the United States. Frankly, the election wouldn’t even be all that close. I don’t think that Joe Biden will end up being the next President, but since he is the overwhelming favorite right now, when Joe Biden came to Boone, I knew instantly that I needed to send a picture to Pete Souza.

Below is the picture I sent to Pete Souza:

Page 106 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.

In the end, I never heard back from Pete Souza. To be honest, I didn’t expect to hear back from him. If I ever do hear from him, I’ll post that here.

Here are a couple other pictures I considered sending Pete Souza:

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is ARCHITECTURE.

ARCHITECTURE

An ARCHITECTURE picture is any picture that involves a building or a structure.

Happy photo harvesting!

Anders, Formal Portrait, Night, Photo Journal

A Photo Journal – Page 121

September 12, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The Union Street Theater Movie Club had our September Movie Night last Saturday. The B Movie was ACTION JACKSON. The Feature was BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. Jay made us ribs. It was a good night.

It was also a good night to knock off Page 121 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Anders gamely volunteered to put himself in danger to be the subject of Page 121.

Page 121 – Show us photograhy is a form of magic.

This type of image was all the rage at Iowa State Fair Photography Salon this year. I expect there will be many copycats next year. I don’t think I will be one of them, even though it is a fun image to take.

I took a couple more images, but the one above is one that will be physically adhered into the physical A PHOTO JOURNAL.

By knocking off Page 121 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, I am down to just the following pages left:

Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 106-107 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

I still have to shoot two of the pages, but hopefully this project will be finished next week!

Animals, Baby Got Rack, Becca, Bethany, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Flat Earth Joe, Flowers, Iowa State, Jay, Jesse, Jonah, Kanoa, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Mom, Naima, Nature, Politics, Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, State Fair, Teresa, Willy

Selfie Project – August

September 10, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Now seems like a good time to check-in with my favorite pictures from my August SELFIE PROJECT pictures.

It would seem that I had a successful month of August. I met Vice-President Joe Biden. I competed in a barbecue contest at the Iowa State Fair. I also competed in a photography contest at the Iowa State Fair. I dine at a Brazilian Steakhouse totally not for Jay’s birthday. I went to an air show. I met my great nephew. I went to the Minnesota State Fair. I dined at Zeno’s. I went to an Iowa State football game.

Here are my favorites:

August 1

August 2

August 3

August 4

August 5

August 9

August 10

August 11

August 13

August 15

August 17

August 18

August 23

August 24

August 25

August 26

August 29

August 30

August 31

I’m not sure I’ve had as busy of a September, but I guess we’ll find out in October when I get a chance to look back at it.

Candid Portrait, Micky, Photo Journal, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Page 18

September 6, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Pufferbilly Days is upon us! That means that by the time this entry sees the light of the day the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest should be up for delay. In addition to the 6 photos that all of you helped select, Carla has entered photos. Logan has entered photos. Vest has entered photos. So when you head up to Pufferbilly Days this weekend, you should go check out the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. They are on display in the new KWBG building on the corner of 9th and Keeler. If you don’t know where that is, check the image below:

Follow the Arrow

I’m excited that so many people that regularly contribute to this website have entered the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. I started entering again a couple years back because I was worried that the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest was going to go away, like the barbecue contest or The Amazing Race. It sounds like there will be close to 20 entries just from people I know. It sounds like I could start my own Photography Contest at some point. It would tide over my burning desire to run the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Another reason I’m excited about the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest is that Logan has become the 3rd Generation of Bennetts to enter the Pufferbilly Days Contest. Our Dad used to enter the contest. Carla and I have entered the contest. Now our nephew Logan has entered the contest. Looks like today I put the clock on Kanoa.

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I recently went out in the woods with Micky to complete Page 18 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Page 18 is by far my least favorite page in THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, but completing it was actually pretty fun.

Shoot the other half of the picture by Jason Evans

The picture by Jason Evans is a picture of some cups sideways on top of a geometric pattern. There was no way I was going to reconstruct this cup thing, so I decided to redefine the intended meaning of shoot. I printed out the whole picture (more or less) and then Micky shot it, with arrows.

Only one picture can be physically adhered into the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL, but we did take a few other pictures that I liked:

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
Page 64 – Head out with a fellow photographer and play a game of photography dare.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 106-107 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.
PAGE 121 – Show us that photography is a form of magic.
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

Of the 6 left on the list, I have 3 left to shoot. I have a solid 3 ideas for all 3 of them. 2 of them I still need to find models. The third one, I know the models, but they don’t yet.

If you are interested in modeling for one of the last 2 pages, let me know. In 1, you might get a little wet. In the other, you might have to be placed in a slightly embarrassing situation.

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Here is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SKY:

SKY

A SKY picture is any picture that involves the SKY in some way, shape, or form.

Happy photo harvesting!