Black & White, Dawn, Flowers, Music, Night, Vest, WPC - Submissions

RWPE #21 – Harmony

May 31, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett

With the big holiday weekend there weren’t many submissions for last week’s theme – HARMONY. In fact, there were only two.

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Dawn Krause

Christopher D. Bennett

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Mike Vest

The Random Generator has spoken. The theme for this week is:

Painting with Light

This one is kind of tricky and involves a fair degree of effort. Basically the idea of painting with light is photographing an object in near total darkness, but illuminating that object. Like with a flashlight.

Here is one example:

But of course, no need to be too literal with the theme.

Animals, Calendar, Derrick, Macro, Movies, Music, Personal Photo Project

Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 19

May 28, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Theories Pass

Derrick likes to tell a story (and I like to listen) about the album cover for Pink Floyd’s album Atom Heart Mother. This album features a picture of a cow.

The story goes that the reason that this picture was selected for the album cover is that no other picture says “cow” like this picture says “cow”.

It must be a great picture, because this album cover appears in A Clockwork Orange during the music shop scene.

“Enjoying that are you my darlin’? Bit cold and pointless isn’t it my lovely? What’s happened to yours my little sister?”

That bit aside, my goal was take a picture that says “frog”. At least now I have next February’s calendar picture out of the way.

Here are a few other pictures that hopefully say “frog” to you:

There is nothing as rewarding as coming home with a quality frog photo after a days mucking about in the mud. This is why the first test for applicants for Photography 139 Photo Assistants is frog spotting.

Feel free to go out to your local bog and give it a shot.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Formal Portrait, Grandma, Iowa State, Logan, Mom, Teresa

Reiman Gardens

May 27, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

I spent a good portion of Sunday wandering Reiman Garens with Mom, Grandma, Teresa and Logan.

Don’t believe me?

Here is photographic evidence:

I learned plenty about gnomes. I might just have to invest in a gnome someday, but the gigantic toad in the Reiman Gardens gift shop might be calling my name first.

Flowers, House, Macro

The Yard

May 26, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 7 Comments

I have planted lots of flowers this year. Nothing has officially died yet. Where I come from, that is considered an accomplishment.

This isn’t really a flower, but rotting rhubarb is kind of colorful.

Another hopeful development is that my moonflower has started to ascend from the soil. On the downside, I thought for sure there would be more than one moonflower by now.

Dawn, Sara, Shannon

Day Zero

May 25, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 11 Comments

Every once in awhile somebody introduces me to something fascinating that exists in the world that I did not know about.

Sara did this with PostSecret.
Shannon did this with Six-Word Memoirs.

Last week, Dawn introduced me to Day Zero. For lack of a better term, it is a Motivational Website. It urges people to create a list of 101 things that they want to do in 1001 days. You make your list on the website and it immediately starts a countdown to your deadline. You are also able to track the goals on your list that you have accomplished.

I don’t know that I will make a list. I still haven’t sent anything in to PostSecret. I still haven’t written a Six-Word Memoir. But I am fascinated by the concept.

The Day Zero website lists the Top 101 things that people have set as goals. As of today, this is the current list:

1. Donate blood
2. Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years
3. Sleep under the stars
4. Get a job
5. Get a tattoo
6. Kiss in the rain
7. Go camping
8. Leave an inspirational note inside a book for someone to find
9. Watch 26 movies I’ve never seen starting with each letter of the Alphabet
10. Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day
11. Find out my blood type
12. Fall in love
13. Send a secret to PostSecret
14. Build a snowman
15. Go horseback riding
16. Dance in the rain
17. Don’t complain about anything for a week
18. Go to a concert
19. Get a massage
20. Ride in a hot air balloon
21. Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
22. See the Northern Lights
23. Make a new friend
24. Get married
25. See 10 classic movies I’ve never seen
26. Go on a road trip
27. Take a photography class
28. Go ice skating
29. Complete a coloring book
30. Go on a cruise
31. Fly a kite
32. Identify 100 things that makes me happy
33. Read 100 books
34. Go skydiving
35. Go on a picnic
36. Attend the midnight premiere of a movie
37. Influence a person to make a day zero list
38. Buy a lottery ticket
39. Find a personally inspirational quote and work it into a piece of art or home decor
40. Answer the “50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind”
41. Complete a 365 day photo challenge
42. See a drive-in movie
43. Learn to knit
44. Go vegetarian for a month
45. See a movie in 3D
46. Go to 5 different museums
47. Write a short story
48. Get a passport
49. No fast food for a month
50. Write a song
51. Go barefoot for a day
52. Graduate
53. Send a message in a bottle
54. Host a dinner party
55. Improve my posture
56. Run a half marathon
57. Buy a car
58. Go skinny dipping
59. Make ice cream from scratch
60. Spend a rainy day watching films in my PJ’s
61. Write a book
62. Put change in someone’s expired parking meter
63. Dye my hair
64. Run a marathon
65. Write all my bad memories on paper, burn this paper afterwards
66. Sing karaoke at a bar
67. Learn a poem by heart
68. Have a baby
69. Clean out my closet
70. Carve my name on a tree
71. Go to the zoo
72. Go rockclimbing
73. Spend a day at the beach
74. plant a tree
75. Not log into facebook for a whole week!
76. Bake cupcakes
77. Take a Yoga class
78. Read all the books currently on my shelf
79. Expand my vocabulary by 100 words
80. Make a birthday cake for someone
81. Attend a film festival
82. Make a custom recipe book
83. Learn Spanish
84. Have dinner by candlelight
85. Go fishing
86. Stop biting my nails
87. Identify 100 things that make me happy
88. Get a facial
89. Visit the Grand Canyon
90. Buy something from Etsy
91. Join a book club
92. Develop a better skin care routine.
93. Run a 5K
94. Graduate College
95. Go to Las Vegas
96. Take a dance class
97. Do some volunteer work
98. Ride a horse
99. Knit a scarf
100. Go skiing
101. Buy a house

The URL for Day Zero is:

http://dayzeroproject.com

If this inspires any of you to make a list, let Dawn know. Inspiring somebody else to make a Day Zero list is on her list and then she will have 1 less thing on it!

Dawn, Railroad, Vest, WPC - Submissions, Writing

RWPE #20 – Panning Camera Blur

May 24, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Here are the submissions for last week’s Random Weekly Photo Experiment – PANNING CAMERA BLUR:

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Mike Vest of Waxen Media

Christopher D. Bennett

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Dawn Krause of Impassioned Versifier

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Debra Krause

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Justin Whitaker of American Buddhist Perspective

It is very exciting to have Debra as a first time contributor, even though she accused me of “cheating” on Sunday night. But she had rented Meet the Spartans, so her opinions about the world are highly suspect.

Dawn’s Poem of the Week

Holding a memory

Panning through my memories
The sharpness has lost its edge
Trying to hold those moments
Poised precariously on the ledge

The emotions cause a turmoil
As they blur the happy past
They bring me to that moment
When I knew it wouldn’t last

A photographic picture
From the camera of my mind
Tells my past and present
And the memories that bind

Vest had automobile problems this morning, so I was worried that the Random Generator might not get to do its random generating, but he walked in just in time to click the magic button. Out spit the following subject for this week:

Harmony

Not a very technical subject and it is definitely ripe with all sorts of possibilities. As always, I can’t wait to see what people do with this subject theme.

Black & White, Flowers, Jay, Macro, Mom, Personal Photo Project

Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 18

May 21, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

My goal for Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 18 was to capture a tulip picture. I visited tulips in my Mom’s yard, my Grandma’s yard and in Pella. After taking a lot of pictures, the photo below is the picture that best captures my tulip vision.

Amen

Here are a few other pictures from the Amen Photo Session(s).

Reviewing these pictures makes me excited for my trip to the State Center Rose Garden I have planned in a couple of weeks. I like roses more than I like tulips, but that might because of the Chuggler Incident that happened in Pella many a year ago. I suppose I should let that go…

I should also take somebody other than Jay to State Center. He didn’t enjoy waiting for me to get done taking pictures of roses last time.

Animals, Black & White, Flowers, Photoshop, Work

Walk in the Park

May 20, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 14 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I went to Brookside to burn off a lunch hour. Here are a few of those photos:

I need to get out of the mine more often.

Anders, Andree, Becky, Carla, Cousin Amy, Dawn, Derrick, Jay, Jeff Daniel, Jeff Kewer, Jen, Jesse, Johnathan, Kelly, Logan, Mom, Monica, Nader, Russ, Sara, Scottie D., Shannon, Steve, Willy, Yin

A Small, Intimate Gathering

May 19, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

I had my, what could theoretically become, annual Birthday Barbecue on Saturday. I would like to thank all of the people that attended and made the evening special:

Bardole, Shannon
Bennett, Charlotte
Cousin, Amy
Daniel, Jeffrey
Degeneffe, Austin
Degeneffe, Melissa
Degeneffe, Scott
Dill, Colby
Dill, Dan
Dill, DJ
Gorshe, Derrick
Gorshe, Jen
Henning, Monica
Howard, Jesse
Howard, Kalista
Howard, Kelly
Howard, Saydie
Howard, Taylan
Hugen, Todd
Janson, Jay
Jauhari, Andree
Jenson, Terra
Johnstone, Jack
Johnstone, Jason
Junck, Sara
Kahler, Logan
Kahler, Russ
Kewer, Jeff
Krause, Dawn
McAlpine, Willy
Nitchals, Peggy
Parsaei, Nader
Perkovich, Becky
Roberts, Lori
Roberts, Steve
Runestad, Anders
Stensland, Carla
Stensland, Johnathan
Wever, Ada
Wever, Amanda
Wever, Greg
Yin, Amy

Next year, I will move the barbecue back to its traditional spot of the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Feel free to circle the date May 28 on your 2011 calendar that you have yet to purchase. It will perhaps be an even smaller and more intimate gathering. I might start instituting a survivor type invitation policy similar to the fashion of invites that Jay uses for Symposium.

Special thanks need to be extended to the following people:

Sara for taking the pictures for the invitations.

Sara for providing the s’mores goodies.

Jay for making three desserts: chocolate raspberry cookies, key lime bars and apple crisp.

Steve for providing homemade salsa and chips.

Becky for making a pasta salad.

Scott and Melissa for bringing a banana creme pie.

Shannon for baking a fresh rhubarb pie with rhubarb picked from my personal rhubarb patch.

Johnathan for bringing over cornhole.

Logan and Russ for running the grill.

Mom for baking a cake and creating a watermelon fruit thing.

Derrick for being the fire-starter.

Andree for being the best dressed person at the party.

Shannon for opening the party.

Willy for closing the party.

There isn’t any photographic evidence to support that this party existed. I was too busy to touch a camera and Sara didn’t take any pictures this year. Maybe next year I will add “Party Photographer” to the list of Staff positions for this shindig.

If you wish to be hired for this position (no pay, no benefits, possibly a STAFF t-shirt*) simply send the answer to the following question to bennett@photography139.com:

Why would I make an awesome Party Photographer?

I suppose I should start planning Friendsmas now. It can wait a couple of months.

*That is not a joke. There will be staff t-shirts next year.

Alexis, Animals, Black & White, Brandon, Candid Portrait, Carla, Holidays, Jason, Logan, Mom, Photoshop, Russ, Teresa

Vacation Day 9B – Mother’s Day Early

May 18, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

I broke Day 9 into two post because of the large amount of pictures, if you recall. You are about to see the rest of those pictures.

After all the flowers were planted, we all went our separate ways to wash up. Then the family reunited at the Stensland home to celebrate Mother’s Day a week early since Teresa was going to be in the Bluegrass State for Mother’s Day.

Here are some pictures of the celebration: