Christianity, Photoshop, Tamara, WPC - Reminder

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE REMINDER – SIGNS

April 13, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

A friendly reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SIGNS:

SIGNS!

Earlier in the week I described two hypothetical situations and gave an interpretation of what those SIGNS were saying. I want to backtrack on those. I believe these to be the correct interpretations of the hypothetical SIGNS.

Bro, if she has posted on 3 different social media platforms since you texted her and she still hasn’t texted you back, that is a SIGN(S) that she is SO into you that she needs time to craft the perfect response to your text message.

Girl, if he acts like he doesn’t know you when he is around his friends, but is constantly trying to slide into your DMs at 2 in the morning, that is a SIGN(S) that he thinks you are so special that he doesn’t want to share you with anybody else in the world.

Of course, you could also take a picture of real SIGNS, but I will warn you on this front, Tamara Peterson has already set the bar pretty high on this front.

Happy photo harvesting!

Boone FUMC, Christianity, Event, Teresa, Youth Group

Romans 8:14

April 12, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Here are a few Easter pictures from both the Rise of the Son Service and the breakfast that followed:

Photo credit for the majority of these photos go to Jaxon. I’m still waiting for the day he submits a photo for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

Art, Black & White, Mom, Night, Photoshop, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, WPC - Alternate

I Get So Frustrated, Take A Look at What I Created, Time is Wasting and I Ain’t Waiting!

April 11, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The world wasn’t ready for these ROAD TRIP photos on Monday. The world still wasn’t ready for them on Tuesday. I’m not sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

After Jewell, I tooled through Ellsworth. From Ellsworth I moved onto Radcliffe. Radcliffe is notable for the shortest water tower I have ever seen. From Radcliffe I went through Garden City. Garden City gave me a DELIVERANCE type vibe. I’ve only really felt that similar vibe, to that degree in Beaver. Beaver, Iowa creeps me out. There is a reason why I once created a series of photos called “The Beaver Machete Massacre” I don’t believe those photos are online anywhere. So don’t go looking for them.

In Garden City, I realized I was going to be late for my supper appointment with some of my favorite miners. I pressed on the gas and made haste for Marshalltown. Only stopping briefly in Zearing.

If you have never been to Zeno’s in Marshalltown, I would highly recommend it. Zeno’s gets the Christopher D. Bennett Endorsement. In particular, I can’t recommend the BBQ Brisket pizza enough. Smoked beef brisket, red onion, peppadew peepers. Drizzled with sriracha bourbon bbq sauce. It is even more amazing than it sounds. Even people with questionable taste in food products like Elizabeth endorse it. She normally only likes meat paste pizza.

The final picture with my Mom (dinking with her phone like a millennial) was taken on our way back from Wingstop on Sunday after our post-church lunch.

That is all the ROAD TRIP alternates I have. You’re welcome world!

Art, Automobiles, Baseball/Softball, Black & White, History, Photoshop, Politics, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, Small World, Town Sign Project, Travel, WPC - Alternate

I’m Not Complaining, I’m Just Being Honest, I Promise That I Will Not Beg for Respect, No!

April 10, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The world was not ready for these ROAD TRIP pictures on Monday. It is highly doubtful that the world is ready for these ROAD TRIP pictures now, but I can’t hold them back any longer.

This is not an endorsement of Rick Young for Hardin County Supervisor, although he has a sweet website.

I took a little ROAD TRIP on Saturday on the way to Marshalltown to meet some fellow miners for supper. On the way there I decided to head north a little bit before heading east and to pursue some signs for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT.

I left Boone and went through the remains of Mackey. Took a few moments in Story City before heading north and spending quite a bit of time in the fascinating town of Randall. One of the fascinating things I found in Randall was the Dodge truck. I find it fascinating that on the hood ornament was the Star of David. I wonder when they took the religious symbol out of their marketing.

I looked into this and found the following:

1. The Dodge brothers were not Jewish. It is not a Star of David.
2. But nobody seems to know what it means. It might represent the Greek letter delta or it might be a masonic symbol or it might have to do with medieval mysticism.
3. It was not done to taunt Henry Ford, who was a noted anti-Semite as has often been theorized.
4. They symbol disappeared from Dodge cars when the 1939 model was introduced. Hmmm… what was going on in the world in 1939.
5. The Dodge brothers both died in 1920 as victims of the influenza epidemic of that year. They took the truth of the symbol with them to their graves.

Here endeth the lesson.

The small world picture is of Randall. From Randall I headed north. I stopped briefly at Little Wall Lake to take a couple of self-portraits. I also took a couple lake pictures, but they did not please me.

After Little Wall Lake, I spent a few minutes cruising Jewell. Just to the east of the Jewell town signing (heading north of 69) is the fascinating remains of the animal sculptures. They’ve sadly fallen into a degree of disrepair. I could analyze this piece of of art for days.

It feels like the kind of tableau that should be in any respectable roadside curiosity book about the great Cyclone State!

There are a few more images from this ROAD TRIP in the hopper. You’re welcome America!

Andy, Becky, Black & White, Carla, Cathie, Christianity, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Photoshop, Road Trip, Ruins, Shannon, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 134 – ROAD TRIP

April 9, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

A healthy amount of people hit the open road for a ROAD TRIP photo. I think this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE EMPIRE extends as far north as Randall, Iowa. As far south as Arkansas. As far west as West Wendover, Nevada. As far east as Virginia, I’m guessing.

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

Micky Augustin

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Michelle Haupt

Andy Sharp

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

Becky Parmelee

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Cathie Raley

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:

SIGNS!

SIGNS! What a great theme! But what is a SIGNS photo? The obvious answer is any picture of a SIGN(S) is a SIGNS photo. But there are more than just the SIGNS that tell you to stop, yield, sit down, and shut up. If she hasn’t responded to your text message, but she has posted on Facebook twice, added to her Snapchat Story and tweeted 3 times… those are SIGNS that bro, she just isn’t in to you. If he doesn’t acknowledge your existence around his friends, but at 2 AM he is always sliding into your DMs, that is a SIGN(S) that grilfriend, you can do better!

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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

The latest person to show taste, class, and sophistication and sign on for a Photography 139 Email Subscription is Linda Clark. I honestly don’t know much about her, other than she is a relative of Andy Sharp and he says she has an interest in photography. Welcome aboard Linda! If you see her, feel free to give her a knowing glance and teach her the super-secret Photography 139 Handshake.

**************************************

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 signed Monday!

Animals, Black & White, Naima, Nature, WPC - Alternate

I Need Some Money to Pay for My Rent, I Need Some Money to Pay for My Gas!

April 8, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The world wasn’t ready for these BLACK & WHITE pictures on Monday. It wasn’t ready on Tuesday. Not on Wednesday. Not on Thursday. Not even on Friday. I’m not even sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

That is it. The last of 114 BLACK & WHITE alternates. To take (pretty much) all of these pictures, I set my camera to High Contrast Monochrome. This actually isn’t how I would recommend taking BLACK & WHITE photos. I’d recommend taking all your images in color and then converting them to BLACK & WHITE in post. You can’t add something back that isn’t there. Of course, before you take the photo, you should know whether or not you are going to convert it to BLACK & WHITE. You need to imagine what the final product is going to look like before you ever, ever, ever, ever, think of clicking that shutter button.

I did it this time because it was a fun little exercise.

All of these pictures of Naima were taken at Dickcissel Park. To this day, I’ve never seen a dickcissel at Dickcissel Park.

Animals, Black & White, Commercial, Derrick, Eric, Flowers, History, Monica, Music, Nature, Russell, Suzie

04-10-08

April 7, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The following pictures were found in the folder 04-10-08:

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to restore the following blog entries to their original glory:

NEW TOY
T NIGHT
FOGGY

Sometimes when I come across old photos I think twice before posting them. So much time has passed this the events of this nights. Marriages have come and gone. Friendships have faded. Some friendships have ended. That can make looking at these old photos awkward to look at. But what really makes these photos awkward is there is photographic evidence of me playing a video game as an adult.

I admit, not much of an adult, but still too long in the tooth to claim adolescence. I believe this may have been the last time I played a video game. Might be the last time I ever play a video game. Time will be the final judge on that, as always.

The photos that you might consider “blurry” were taken with a Lens Baby. It is a push-pull-bend lens. Lots of fun, even though I freely confess, most people don’t appreciate the images they create.

Next Saturdays walk down memory lane will involve Good Friday and a tradition that I am happy that my church has retired.

Animals, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Kio, Naima, Nature, WPC - Alternate

200 Dollars Inside of My Bank Account, Woo, I Was Living on That!

April 6, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The world wasn’t ready for these BLACK & WHITE pictures on Monday. It wasn’t ready on Tuesday. It wasn’t ready on Wednesday. It wasn’t ready on Thursday. I don’t think the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

Some of the pictures were taken downtown Des Moines. Others were taken at Ledges. Some at the First United Methodist Church in Boone. The pictures with Naima were taken at Dickcissel Park.

Just one small batch of BLACK & WHITE alternates left. You’re welcome world!

Photoshop, Road Trip, WPC - Reminder

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE REMINDER – ROAD TRIP

April 6, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

A friendly reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ROAD TRIP:

ROAD TRIP!

What is a ROAD TRIP photo? Anything that involves preparations, supplies, companions, roads, or sites that one might need or see on a ROAD TRIP. I’m hoping for lots of pictures of Funyuns. The ROAD TRIP human fuel of choice for Christopher D. Bennett.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Black & White, Street Photography, WPC - Alternate

I Wonder What Life Would Be Like If I Didn’t Stick Out My Neck

April 5, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The world wasn’t ready for these BLACK & WHITE pictures on Monday. Wasn’t ready for them on Tuesday. Wasn’t ready for them on Wednesday. Not sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

All of these pictures were taken in downtown Des Moines. Many while I was waiting for the Way of the Cross to start. A few while I was on the Way of the Cross journey.

There are more BLACK & WHITE pictures coming in the coming days. You’re welcome world!