Time for another Formal Portrait Sunday. This Sunday we are revisiting Kyle’s Fall Summer Shoot:
Here are some of my favorites:
Next Sunday, we will revisit the Baugher Family Photo Shoot.
The grand majority of the pictures in the folders 2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17 are from a trip to Kalona to eat an authentic Amish meal with Funk, Sara, and Cousin Amy. This was before Funk became a total badass and started spending her free time climbing mountains in Peru. There are also a couple pictures here from a camping trip to Ledges and a pictures I took and poorly photoshopped for the United Way of Story County.
I miss Kalona. I will need to go there at some point this year, and not just for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT.
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:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a trip to a baseball game.
Last Thursday I completed another month of the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I don’t know how many winners are this month, but I think there are at least a couple of them in there.
Here are the pictures from March:
March 2 – something in my kitchen
March 4 – makes you feel nostalgic
March 11 – somewhere with a good view
March 14 – something you’ve never photographed
I post these pictures daily on my Fat Mum Slim Instagram account. You can follow that here:
The April prompts are all food related:
April 1 – ON MY PLATE
April 2 – A VEGETABLE
April 3 – A FRUIT
April 4 – BREAKFAST
April 5 – LUNCH
April 6 – DINNER
April 7 – RAW
April 8 – COOKED
April 9 – IN MY PANTRY
April 10 – DESSERT
April 11 – A GREEN FOOD
April 12 – SNACK
April 13 – A FAVE RECIPE
April 14 – INGREDIENT
April 15 – KITCHEN
April 16 – 2 THINGS
April 17 – A DRINK
April 18 – A WHITE FOOD
April 19 – HEALTHY
April 20 – INDULGENT
April 21 – A RED FOOD
April 22 – SAVOURY
April 23 – SWEET
April 24 – IN MY CUP
April 25 – ON MY FORK
April 26 – YUK!
April 27 – I EAT HERE!
April 28 – THIS IS DELICIOUS
April 29 – UTENSIL
April 30 – IN MY BOWL
Hopefully there are some winners in this month too!
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is GRATITUDE:
GRATITUDE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what exactly is a GRATITUDE picture? It is simply a picture of something or somebody that you are thankful for. It could also be somebody showing thanks as well.
Happy photo harvesting!
Year 17 of the Roundball Oracles has come to an end. On Monday night, Kansas used a flaw in the court that injured North Carolina’s best player to help them overcome the Tar Heels in the last minute of the game. It was an otherwise great game and it is sad that it was partially decided by an injury due to a flaw in the court construction.
Ben Baier was the winner of this year’s pool. He is the youngest to ever win it. He joins this list:
PAST ROUNDBALL ORACLE CHAMPIONS
2022 – Ben Baier
2021 – Micky Augustin
2020 – No Tournament
2019 – Becky Parmelee
2018 – Paul Golden
2017 – Paul Golden
2016 – Michelle Haupt
2015 – Derek Dohrman
2014 – Brandon Kahler
2013 – William McAlpine
2012 – Lowell Davis
2011 – Carrie Baier
2010 – Mark Wolfram
2009 – Mark Wolfram
2008 – Mark Wolfram
2007 – Tim Peterson
2006 – William McAlpine
2005 – William McAlpine
Where there is a champion, there also has to be a last place. This year’s The Sara “winner” was Joey Randazzo.
Past “The Sara” Winners
2022 – Joey Randazzo
2021 – Rachel Gildersleeve
2020 – No Tournament
2019 – Russell Kennerly
2018 – Robert Henning
2017 – Shannon Bardole
2016 – Laura Priest
2015 – Derrick Gorshe
2014 – Sara Lockner
Note, Olivia Baier actually finished below Mr. Randazzo, but as she is a child, she is not eligible for The Sara.
Here are the Final Standings:
1. Ben Baier – 273 points
2. Sara Lockner – 271 points
3. Shawn Lockner – 242 points
4. Rachel Gildersleeve – 242 points
5. Linda Bennett – 232 points
6. Becky Parmelee – 231 points
7. Carla Stensland – 229 points
8. Angie DeWaard – 224 points
9. Humble Narrator – 224 points
10. Tim Peterson – 223 points
11. Jason Baier – 217 points
12. Lowell Davis – 215 points
13. Derek Dohrman – 215 points
14. Carrie Baier – 214 points
15. Sarah Karber – 210 points
16. Micky Augustin – 209 points
17. Elizabeth Nordeen – 206 points
18. Jorge Rios – 203 points
19. Brandon Kahler – 203 points
20. Will Baier – 197 points
21. Jordan Toot – 197 points
22. Corey Faust – 197 points
23. Andree Jauhari – 192 points
24. Jesse Howard – 191 points
25. Dawn Krause – 182 points
26. Derrick Gorshe – 181 points
27. Michelle Haupt – 179 points
28. Jackson Faust – 176 points
29. Jason Stensland – 168 points
30. J.J. Baier – 164 points
31. Russell Kennerly – 161 points
32. Toby Sebring – 157 points
33. Robert Henning – 151 points
34. Jill Gorshe – 147 points
35. Joey Randazzo – 143 points
36. Olivia Baier – 141 points
I’m already looking forward to next season. Iowa State will have to replace a lot from this year’s team and one of their assistant coaches, but could be a good team. You never know. This year’s team definitely wasn’t supposed to make the Sweet Sixteen!
Seems like a good time to share some flower pictures from last year:
I still have some flower pictures left to share from last year.
Several months back I cruised around Decatur County and Wayne County with Vest harvesting their town signs. This is the first collection of auxiliary images I took on this trip:
You may recall a few weeks ago I talked about a sweet free gift I picked up in a strange park in Bremer County. It was on this trip, that I decided to pay that gift forward.
I left it on a picnic table in a nice park in Garden Grove. What happened to it from there? I will never know.
A month or so back I made a trip to O’Brien County to harvest their town signs.
Here are some facts about O’Brien County:
+ Population 13,796 making it the 56th most populous county in Iowa. Below Harrison County and above Allamakee County.
+ Largest town is Sheldon. The county seat is Primghar.
+ Named for William Smith O’Brien an Irish revolutionary.
+ The county seat was named from the initials of the eight persons involved in platting the town.
+ Home of an Indian Village State Preserve.
+ Major highways are US-18, US-59, IA-10, IA-60, and IA-143.
+ Adjacent counties are Osceola, Clay, Cherokee, and Sioux.
+ Population peaked in 1940 at 19,293.
The O’Brien County Courthouse looks an awful lot like Boone’s Courthouse:
The O’Brien Freedom Rock is located in Sanborn, Iowa:
With O’Brien County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
65 counties completed. 65.7% of the Cyclone State conquered.
Here are the town signs of O’Brien County:
Hartley, Iowa
Hartley
the city with a heart
Population: 1,605 (-67)
Sanborn, Iowa
SANBORN
ESTABLISHED 1878
Population: 1,392 (-12)
Paullina, Iowa
PAULLINA
Population: 982 (-74)
Primghar, Iowa
WELCOME TO PRIMGHAR
Population: 896 (-13)
Sutherland, Iowa
Welcome to SUTHERLAND
Est. 1881 & Inc. 1883
Population: 629 (-20)
Calumet, Iowa
CALUMET
Population: 146 (-24)
Archer, Iowa
ARCHER
QUASICENTENIAL
JULY 5, 6, 7
125 YEARS OF SMALL TOWN PRIDE
Population: 117 (-14)
Germantown, Iowa – Unincorporated
Welcome To Germantown
SETTLED 1882
I think that O’Brien County has a very solid set of signs. There isn’t any giant boring rock monstrosities. But the worst one is very evident. It is Calumet.
The purple ribbon this week is a little bit harder to decide. I do like Hartley’s sign. I also really like the sign for Germantown. Sutherland and Sanborn also have solid signs. But I’m giving Best in Show to Paullina.
There are several alternate town signs in O’Brien County:
Here is the current list of Best in Shows:
Best in Show – Buena Vista County
Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County
Best in Show – Cherokee County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Best in Show – Franklin County
Best in Show – Hamilton County
Best in Show – Humboldt County
Best in Show – Marshall County
Best in Show – Montgomery County
Best in Show – Palo Alto County
Best in Show – Pocahontas County
Best in Show – Pottawattamie County
Best in Show – Poweshiek County
Best in Show – Ringgold County
The next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Osceola County.
FRAMED has proven to be a theme that is fair in popularity.
As of 10:59 AM on Monday, April 4, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:
+ Kim Barker – 1 week
+ Linda Bennett – 1 week
+ Suzie Brannen – 1 week
+ Evie Gorshe – 1 week
+ Layla Gorshe – 1 week
+ Jesse Howard – 1 week
+ Sara Lockner – 1 week
+ Monica Henning – 2 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 2 weeks
+ Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 10 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 10 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 10 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 11 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 12 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 13 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 14 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 18 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 19 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 21 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 24 weeks
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:
26 submissions from 21 participants! That is a solid week!
There were only 4 streaks snapped this week. Kim, Layla, and Sara could not build on their submissions from last week. Becky had her two week snapped.
Here are the current top streaks:
1. Kio – 25 weeks
2. Shannon – 22 weeks
3. Elizabeth – 20 weeks
4. Cathie – 19 weeks
5. Bill – 15 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:
But what exactly is a GRATITUDE picture? It is simply a picture of something or somebody that you are thankful for. It could also be somebody showing thanks as well.
While considering possible GRATITUDE subjects, meditate on the following quote:
“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”
– William Faulkner
I look forward to seeing your interpretations.
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 our idea of GRATITUDE in this place that I am thankful for next Monday.
Time to share a second collection of photos from the Howard Family Photo Shoot from a few months back. The sun was super harsh that day. As it absolutely always seems to be. But I still think we managed to do some good work.
Next Formal Portrait Sunday will be another collection of senior pictures from Kyle.
The pictures in the folder Nine Emotions are from when I had the Original 9 pick what the considered what were the best representations of each of the 9 emotions from THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT. I didn’t say that they had to use everybody once. I put no limits on how many times they chose the same person or chose themselves or didn’t choose themselves. I was fascinated with what came back.
I was asked the other day (from when I wrote this, but from the time you are seeing this, it was months ago) by Elizabeth what I was going to do when I was done with THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. I’m not saying it was an accusatory way, but it was kind of like, “is that it, are you out of ideas?”. And maybe I am out of ideas, because I have never really been satisfied that I was done with THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT. I did go on to photograph more people after the original 9. Bill, Logan, Johnathan, Nader, Alexis, Anders, Dawn, Brandon, Nate, Laura, Dae Hee, Bethany, and Michelle. But I feel like there needs to be more.
Some photo projects are left abandoned on the side of the road of life, like THE BEAVER MACHETE MASSACRE. But some, I think are worth picking out of the ditch. Dusting off and trying out again.
Problem is, these days, I’m pretty much a social pariah. I only see the same handful of people.
I see the same like five or six people when I got to work: Denise, Elizabeth, The Hof, Jesse, Joe, Kim, Michelle, and Ron.
I see the same like four people at my Monthly Movie Night: Anders, Jay, Jason, and Jesse.
I see Teresa after church for lunch.
I see Andy when we make soap.
Rinse and repeat. Five or six people. Over and over again. Don’t get me wrong. These are some pretty wonderful people. But it makes a project like this difficult to pick up again. However, maybe some day, I will fire it up again. But I will need to find new blood. I could revisit some of the originals, it has been 10 years after all. I don’t know. I’m just thinking out loud.
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:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a camping trip, at the very least.
Tomorrow is the Final Four. Thought it would be a good time to check-in on the Roundball Oracles.
With 3 games left to go in the NCAA tournament this is the Top 3:
1. Becky Parmelee – 231 Points
2. Carla Stensland – 229 Points
3. Angie DeWaard – 224 points
This is the Bottom 3:
34. Joey Randazzo – 143 points
35. Olivia Baier – 141 points
36. Toby Sebring – 140 points
At this point, there are 4 people left that have a chance of taking home the Championship Trophy. 2 people still have a shot at The Sara.
Here are the scenarios for The Sara:
If Villanova beats Kansas then Toby “wins” The Sara.
If Kansas beats Villanova then Joey “wins” The Sara.
Note as Olivia Baier is a child, she is not eligible for The Sara.
Here are the scenarios for the Championship:
If Duke wins the National Championship then Sarah Karber wins the trophy.
If Kansas wins the National Championship then Ben Baier wins the trophy.
If Villanova beats Duke for the National Championship then Becky wins the trophy.
If North Carolina beats Villanova for the National Championship then Becky wins the trophy.
If North Carolina beats Kansas for the National Championship then Ben wins the trophy.
If Villanova beats North Carolina for the National Championship then Derrick Gorshe wins the trophy.
It is possible, that there is an error in my math, but I’m fairly certain this is correct.
Root accordingly.
I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I think I actually did some stuff in March. I didn’t go to Pennsylvania and Illinois (briefly) and North Carolina (briefly), but I did stand in Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota all at the same time. I ate the reigning Best Tenderloin in Iowa. I went to two Iowa State NCAA Tournament games. I stood on the highest point in Iowa and the second highest. I hosted Alligator Movie Night. I had some good times with friends and some poignant times with family. March wasn’t too bad. Raised the bar a bit for April.
Here are my favorite SELFIE PROJECT images from March:
Oh yeah! I also bought a new camera in March! I hope to continue to do good work in April!
Of course, there can only be one selfie for each day. Here are my favorite alternates I took for THE SELFIE PROJECT:
Jesse is a sleeper!
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is FRAMED:
But what exactly is a FRAMED picture? It is simply a picture where the subject is FRAMED in by something else. In the theme reveal, the edge of the garbage can makes a frame for the subject of the refuse. A doorway makes a good frame. So does a hall way. A window Any thing that creates negative space makes a great frame for your subject. Or you could even do something as easy as taking a picture of something that is in a literal picture frame.
Happy photo harvesting!