Drone, Nature, Panorama, Road Trip, Self-Portrait

Rodan139: Loess Hills

September 30, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

One of my goals when I was on vacation was to hit 5 State Parks that I’ve never been to before. I made this goal, but not quite like I anticipated. The two parks I definitely wanted to hit were Mines of Spain and Preparation Canyon. The other 3 were to be somewhat negotiable. In the end, I hit 3 State Parks I’ve never been to and 2 State Forests I haven’t been to.

1. Mines of Spain
2. Walnut Woods
3. Preparation Canyon
4. Loess Hills State Forest
5. Pilot Mound State Forest

In retrospect, it is kind of shocking that I’ve never been to Pilot Mound State Forest, considering it is in Boone County, but it is also exciting to think that there are places in my own backyard that I still haven’t really explored.

The drive to Preparation Canyon was very rainy, but not very long. I consider the three most beautiful parts of Iowa to be northeast Iowa, the Loess Hills and the Des Moines River Valley. The Loess Hills area did not disappoint, even if the part of Preparation Canyon I saw wasn’t overly impressive. However, I have no doubt that I’ll revisit this area again in the future and see Preparation Canyon from a different perspective.

However, the Loess Hills State Forest did not disappoint. In fact, it might have been even more beautiful than I expected. Here are some pictures from the area taken from Rodan139:

The last few images is of one of the infamous unmaintained roads of Monona County. I badly wanted to go on it, but it had been raining all day and that road was all mud. You couldn’t even walk on it. The other problem is that I drive a Camry. Not exactly built for what basically amounts to an off-road adventure.

This concludes the drone pictures from my vacation, but there are still plenty of vacation pictures to come.

Flowers, Lensbaby, Macro, Mom

Painted without Instruction – 2020 – Alpha

September 29, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in late July, it was all the rage to go to the sunflower field at Badger Creek Recreation Area and post photos. So, one Saturday morning, Teresa, Mom, and I loaded up into the car and drove down there. I didn’t post any photos on social media, but I did take some pictures.

We probably missed the peak of the sunflowers by about a week and the place was absolutely lousy with people, I was able to find a fairly secluded section of the field to take some of those pictures. I could see a sunflower picture making the 2021 Photography 139 Calendar. Wouldn’t be the first time. In fact, I think it would be the third time.

Here are some of those sunflower pictures:

I have one more collection of pictures from the trip to Badger Creek Recreation Area in the hopper. S

Andy, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Logan, Micky, Politics, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 263 – STILL LIFE

September 28, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

We did it fam! 52 straight weeks of double digit submissions! I can hardly believe it. That means it shouldn’t be an issue to continue to get great participation rates as we slowly move into the colder and colder temperatures in the coming months. Don’t forget to get your flu shot!

Also, remember that next Monday marks the beginning of early voting in Iowa. Also known as in-person absentee voting.

Absentee Voting in Person
You may cast an absentee ballot in person at your county auditor’s office before any election.

You must vote your absentee ballot at the auditor’s office. You cannot take the ballot home with you.

For voters who need assistance in marking their ballots, an accessible ballot marking device is available at the county auditor’s office.

For primary and general elections, absentee ballots will be available no earlier than 29 days at the county auditors’ offices. For all other elections, ballots will be available as soon as they are ready, but not sooner than 29 days before an election.

In-person absentee voting is not available on election day at the auditor’s office unless the polls open at noon. If the polls open at noon, you may cast an absentee ballot at the county auditor’s office from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on election day.

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

Kio Dettman

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Carla Stensland

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson

Becky Parmelee

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Micky Augustin

Cathie Raley

Logan Kahler

Joe Duff

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! No wonder is in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE HALL OF FAME! But what is a SIGNS photo? Any image where a SIGN(S) is an important compositional element of the image. Remember there are more than one kind of SIGN(S). In the theme reveal image, there is the street sign that indicates a “T” intersection. But the dark clouds are also a sign of a coming storm. Tamara’s submission this week is an example of a SIGNS image.

Click on the links below, to see the 7 times in the past where SIGNS has been a theme:

RWPE #12 – SIGNS

RWPE Y2 #46 – SIGNS

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE WEEK 2 – SIGNS

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 55 – SIGNS

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 135 – SIGNS

WPC – WEEK 200 – SIGNS

WPC – WEEK 247 – SIGNS

I look forward to seeing your new interpretations!

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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 signaled Monday!

Flowers, Macro

No Impossible with You

September 27, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

This is a collection of flower pictures I took in late July. Most with a flash ring. The ones that aren’t were taken at Jester Park.

Just a reminder that moonflowers are my favorite flowers.

Birthdays, Black & White, Derrick, Formal Portrait, Photoshop, Sara

2010-04-08

September 26, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 2010-04-08 are from a photo shoot for my 2010 Birthday Party invitation. The theme for the invitation was “Done Got Old”. The pictures were taken by Sara. The guitar in the pictures was donated by Derrick. The cane was from Sara’s personal collection of canes. And yes, the white shoes were intentional. I was asked this question frequently for some reason.

Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 16

I hope to have a birthday party in 2021. Hopefully by the we will be through this completely mismanaged pandemic.

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

Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 16

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a benefit I photographed.

Alexis, Birthdays, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Dad, Drone, Grandma, Jason, Johnathan, Kanoa, Logan, Mom, Nature, Panorama, Still Life, Teresa, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder

Rodan139: Water Alternate

September 25, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start today off by wishing my Mom a happy birthday. Without here, none of this would be possible. Not only would I never exist, she also bought me my first camera. A Minolta Maxxum 450si.

Happy birthday Mom!

It hope is as amazing a birthday as you want it to be!

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I went to Ledges on Sunday morning to take my WATER picture for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I took several pictures. Here are some of the others I took that weren’t ready for the world on Monday.

I hope to take Rodan139 out again this weekend. On Tuesday I came off a self-quarantine from a potential exposure from a previous Sunday. As it turns out, I wasn’t exposed, so good news for the friendly skies!

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

A STILL LIFE image is a picture of an inanimate object. Usually posed.

Happy photo harvesting!

Flowers, Macro, Road Trip

Sorrow and Gladness – 2020

September 24, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

In early August I went on a small road trip with my Mom. The end goal was to see some buffalo at the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge. However, on the way there, we made a stop at the rose garden in State Center. Early August has the potential to be too late for roses, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good of shape the roses were.

Here are some rose pictures and one clematis picture:

I should probably get the sunflower pictures from Badger Creek Park at some point.

Road Trip, Town Sign Project

Town Sign Project – Vol. 11

September 23, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

One of my goals for my vacation was to get 20 new town sign pictures for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. I thought I would hit this easy, because I had two road trips planned to completely opposite sides of the state. However, on my trip to Mines of Spain, I took zero town sign pictures. I cut that trip shorter than originally intended because of Naima’s leg injury. However, I did get one town sign picture on a small trip on the Tuesday of my vacation. 19 town sign pictures on my trip out west. Then one more for good measure on the Friday of my vacation.

I’m going to start this post though with 4 pictures I took on a trip down to the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge back in early August.

Colfax, Iowa – Jasper County
Population – 2,093

Mingo, Iowa – Jasper County
Population – 302

Prairie City, Iowa – Jasper County
Population – 1,680

Rhodes, Iowa – Marshall County
Population – 305

My takeaway from these town signs is that on Rhodes has an interesting sign. In some ways, a rather disappointing collection. Another thing of note. Rhodes has a tank in their downtown. One thing I’ve noticed in recent years is how many small Iowa towns have retired military equipment just sitting in the middle of their town.

On Tuesday I took a trip down to Jester Park and to Walnut Woods. I captured one town sign on this trip:

Booneville, Iowa – Dallas County
Unincorporated

Booneville is an unincorporated town in Dallas County. It consists of a restaurant, a post office, a Methodist church, and a small RV park.

Then, on my trip to Preparation Canyon State Park, I took 19 town sign pictures. A ton of them in rain, so many of the signs are wet, but not in a flattering way.

Arcadia, Iowa – Carroll County
Population 484

Arion, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 108

Boyer, Iowa – Crawford County
Unincorporated

Carroll, Iowa – Carroll County – County Seat
Population – 10,103

Carrolton, Iowa – Carroll County
Ghost Town

Charter Oak, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 502

Denison, Iowa – Crawford County – County Seat
Population – 8,298

Dow City, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 510

Dunlap, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 1,042

Kiron, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 279

Lidderdale, Iowa – Carroll County
Population – 180

Moorhead, Iowa – Monona County
Population – 226

Mt. Carmel, Iowa – Carroll County
Unincorporated, maybe?

Ricketts, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 145

Schleswig, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 882

Soldier, Iowa – Monona, County
Population – 174

Vail, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 436

Westside, Iowa – Crawford County
Population – 299

Willey, Iowa – Carroll County
Population – 88

This is not a disappointing collection of signs. I’m in particular a big fan of the Ricketts sign. It has many of the elements I love. It exists. It is fun. It has a slogan. It includes advertising for a town event that happened decades ago.

Then finally, one last sign. I stumbled across this on the Friday of my vacation. It is a town I have been to plenty of times as it is only a few miles from Boone. However, they never had a town sign. Until apparently very recently.

Fraser, Iowa – Boone County
Population – 102

All population figures come from the 2010 census.

On this trip, I realized that I need a slightly new strategy for tackling this project. I ordered an Iowa Gazetteer. I’m going to keep in the car and compile lists of towns in counties before I even leave for these trips. I hope to do an entire county on a trip. Without leaving random towns missed here and there. Right now, I don’t have any counties completely knocked off. Not even Boone County. I don’t even have the Boone sign for this trip. Ames, is another one, you would think is a no-brainer. But I don’t have that one either. You can see, I have plenty of sign hunting to do in just my own back yard.

You can check out all the signs that I have captured so far, you can click on the link below:

Town Sign Project

There are 121 pictures so far, but I bet I can get that number close to 200 by the end of the year.

Animals, Flowers, Lensbaby

That Wasn’t Me

September 22, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Every once in awhile, and it is a very rare every once in awhile, people ask me where I come up with the titles for my “An Artist’s Notebook” entries. The once that aren’t glaringly obvious. Frequently they are taken from quotes. But frequently they are taken from songs I’m listening to while either editing the images or while I’m typing up the entry.

For example. “That Wasn’t Me” is a Brandi Carlile song that has some of my favorite lines in it.

Hang on, just hang on for a minute
I’ve got something to say
I’m not asking you to move on or forget it
But these are better days
To be wrong all along and admit is not amazing grace
But to be loved like a song you remember
Even when you’ve changed

This is the opening verse of the song, and it crushes me every time I hear it.

Well any ways, here are some pictures I took in late June. Some are of the official bird of the state of Iowa being confused by its reflection. Or maybe it loves its reflection. It should get to know its Greek mythology better. Get to know the story of Narcissus.

The other pictures are of flowers from around my yard. Well one is from my Mom’s yard. One is from Stan and Noreen’s yard.

The bird harassing my Mom’s car, I’m taking that as a win for not keeping your car very clean. I’m talking to my car, which birds never seem to harass.

Andy, Becky, Carla, Dad, Drone, Elizabeth, Kim, Kio, Micky, Nature, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 262 – WATER

September 21, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Can you believe it? 51 straight weeks of double digit submission! 1 week short of a full year of double digit submissions! WooHoo!

But you didn’t come here to hear me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions!

ELIZABETH NORDEEN

ANDY SHARP

CARLA STENSLAND

MICKY AUGUSTIN

TAMARA PETERSON

CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

BECKY PARMELEE

CARLA STENSLAND

KIO DETTMAN

KIM BARKER

CATHIE RALEY

STILL LIFE

STILL LIFE! What a great theme! But what is a STILL LIFE photo? A STILL LIFE photo is any image of an inanimate object. Usually one that you have posed, but not necessarily. From this week, Elizabeth, Kio’s, and Kim’s photos are excellent examples of STILL LIFE.

Here is a look back at the 7 previous times STILL LIFE was a WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme:

RWPE #25 – STILL LIFE

RWPE Y2 #10 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 12 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 61 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 127 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 184 – STILL LIFE

WPC – WEEK 214 – STILL LIFE

A look forward to your new interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 still Monday!