Orange City’s Little Cousin

July 11, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

I usually like to make it to Pella about a week before their annual Tulip Festival. It is a perfect combination of nobody is around and most of the flowers are blooming. This year I bungled my calendar and didn’t end up there until a week after the Tulip Festival. It wasn’t exactly the Sahara for Tulips but the majority were gone. However, I found a enough to take a few photos and with some creative composition (that sounds stupid all composition should be creative) it hopefully isn’t too obvious that most of the tulips are gone.

My title is slightly facetious and maybe designed to get under the skin of an email subscriber that went to Central. However, I do want to try to hit both Orange City and Pella for tulips next year. Orange City is much farther north so their tulip festival is a few weeks later than Pella’s. After that I will deem which town is the true tulip monarch.

Automobiles, Black & White, Evie, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Jill, Macro

2010-10-04, 2010-10-11, 2010-10-12, 2010-10-15, and 2010-10-16

July 10, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

So many of the folders 2010-10-04, 2010-10-11, 2010-10-12, 2010-10-15, and 2010-10-16 had so few images, that I decided to make a mega conglomeration. There are pictures here that were used for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE (back then known as the RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT) and pictures used for the program for the 2010 Philanthropy Day and finally pictures from a photo shoot with the Gorshes shortly after Evie was born.

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:

RWPE #39 – FAST

RWPE #40 – ODD CAMERA ANGLE

Commendable

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #41

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve another baby.

Art, Black & White, Christianity, History, Road Trip, Ruins

Adair County Auxiliary Images

July 9, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in early May I drove around Adair County to harvest their town signs. I also harvested some town signs in Clarke County. This was a solo trip.

Here are some of the non-town sign pictures I took while cruising around:

Greenfield

Fontanelle

It is sad that this is being painted over.

Bridgewater

Creston

Osceola

Woodburn

Osceola, again

One thing I missed in Adair County that I need to hit at some point is the Jesse James Historical Site.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is HISTORY:

HISTORY

HISTORY! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a HISTORY photo? A HISTORY photo is any picture that records something that happened in the past. For example, in the theme reveal picture is the break room (building) for the employees of a Cracker Jack factory that has been gone for 50 years. A HISTORY picture could be a picture of a museum or an old building or a mural that depicts a HISTOR(Y)IC event. Or it could be a picture of a HISTOR(Y)ICAL artifact. It doesn’t need to be a piece of HISTORY that is as significant as Cracker Jack. It could be personal HISTORY.

Happy photo harvesting!

Flowers, Macro, Mom

Kaw-Liga

July 8, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

Here is another collection of pictures of flowers I took in my Mom’s yard. These pictures were taken on April 18, 2021. Mostly tulips.

I still have so many flower pictures to share!

Boone County Fair, Contests, Flowers, Macro, Pufferbilly Days, State Fair

Truth Locks

July 7, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

I need to start by making a few photo contest announcements. First of all, the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon is the only photo contest I will be doing this year. Before the pandemic shut them down last year, I have been doing the Boone County Fair and the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. I am not doing either of those for good reasons.

I’m not doing the Boone County Fair because I am going to be one of the judges for the Boone County Fair. That takes me out of the running there. I also recently achieved a several year long goal of becoming the Chair of the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Which also means I can’t enter that contest either.

However, I am very excited about taking over the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. It is too late in the game to make a few of the changes that I want to make and Pufferbilly Days is now only a month away, but I can still make a few of the changes.

Graphic design is not my forte, but I did slap together a flyer I hope to see on social media and hanging up around town in the next few days. Have a look:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Flyer - 2021

The entry deadline is only 2 weeks from today, so if you are interested in entering, better get on the ball!

Also, I got the results back (partially) from the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon:

Iowa State Fair Photography Salon Results Card - 2021

I don’t know what picture or how many pictures (but I’ll assume it is one for now) were accepted, but I’ll let you know after the conclusion of the Iowa State Fair.

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Enough of that photo contest noise, here are some pictures I took around my yard:

I’m hoping to rip out some of the bushes in my front yard out and replace one of them with a lilac bush. I do love lilacs so.

Art, Road Trip, Town Sign Project

Town Sign Project: Lucas County

July 6, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

A few Saturdays back, before I took my entries for this year’s huge embarrassing failure at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon to the Cultural Center and well before I went to Saydie’s wedding, I tooled around Lucas County and harvested their town signs. It was a pretty busy day.

Here are some facts about Lucas County:

+ Population is 8,853 (2019 estimate), the 85th most populous county in Iowa. Behind Monona and ahead of Decatur.
+ The county seat and largest city is Chariton.
+ Was formed in 1846.
+ Named for Robert Lucas, the 12th Governor of Ohio and first Governor of the Iowa territory. He also started the Honey War with Missouri.
+ Major highways are US-34, US-65, and IA-14.
+ Adjacent counties are Warren, Marion, Monroe, Wayne, and Clarke.
+ Population peaked in 1900 at 16,126.

Lucas County has a beautiful courthouse:

Lucas County Courthouse in Chariton, Iowa

The Lucas County Freedom Rock is located in Chariton, Iowa.

Chariton has a really neat Veterans Memorial Park where their Freedom Rock resides. It is pretty rare when I go to a Freedom Rock (on a weekend) and there isn’t somebody there checking it out. It seems that there are many people out there that are traveling around and looking at them.

On this day, I didn’t meet a fellow traveler, but a retired Marine that lives in Lucas County. He isn’t the official caretaker of the park, but I think he is involved with it pretty heavily. We talked for awhile and he gave me the handout below about their park:

If you have any interest in history or military in general, it is definitely worth going to this park. He also told me about the Flag Day and Independence Day events they have at the park. I’m glad I met him.

With Lucas County conquered, this is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:

PURPLE=COMPLETED

26 counties completed. 26.3% of the Cyclone State conquered.

Here are the town signs of Lucas County:

Chariton, Iowa
Chariton – Since 1849
Population: 4,321

Russell, Iowa
Russell – Since 1867
Population: 554

Lucas, Iowa
Lucas – Since 1868
Population: 216

Williamson, Iowa
Welcome to Williamson Community Center – Williamson Fire Dept & Ems
Population: 152

Derby, Iowa
Derby Fire Station – City Hall
Population: 115

There are only 5 towns in Lucas County and it looks like some slick town sign salesman went down Highway 34 and sold identical signs to 3 of them and the other 2 don’t even have real town signs. So, to figure out the Best in Show for Lucas County, we are going to have to go to the rarely used Alternate Sign Tie-Breaker.

Here are the alternate signs of Lucas County:

Chariton – Alternate

Russell – Alternate

Lucas – Alternate

Derby – Alternate

The tie-breaker is no contest. Clearly Best in Show for Lucas County is:

Lucas – Best in Show – Lucas County

Here is the current list of Best in Shows:

Best in Show – Adair County

Best in Show – Audubon County

Best in Show – Benton County

Best in Show – Boone County

Best in Show – Carroll County

Best in Show – Clarke County

Best in Show – Crawford County

Best in Show – Dallas County

Best in Show – Franklin County

Best in Show – Greene County

Best in Show – Grundy County

Best in Show – Guthrie County

Best in Show – Hamilton County

Best in Show – Hardin County

Best in Show – Jasper County

Best in Show – Lucas County

Best in Show – Madison County

Best in Show – Marion County

Best in Show – Marshall County

Best in Show – Polk County

Best in Show – Poweshiek County

Best in Show – Story County

Best in Show – Tama County

Best in Show – Union County

Best in Show – Webster County

Best in Show – Wright County

Next time we check in on THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Humboldt County.

Andy, Angie, Carla, Derrick, History, Jen, Joe Duff, Kio, Logan, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 303 – ADVENTURE

July 5, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

Despite the holiday weekend, there was pretty good participation in this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. At least a few of you got out there and had an ADVENTURE last week.

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

Teresa Kahler

Andy Sharp

Derrick Gorshe

Joe Duff

Christopher D. Bennett

Carla Stensland

Angie DeWaard

Logan Kahler

Micky Augustin

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Kio Dettman

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

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:

HISTORY

HISTORY! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

As you think on a great subject for your HISTORY image, think on this quote:

History is a race between education and catastrophe.
-H.G. Wells

RULES

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 ADVENTURE in this place that is just a record of my HISTORY next Monday.

Art, Christianity, Mom, Road Trip, Ruins

Madison County and Union County Auxiliary Images – 3

July 4, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

This is the third and final collection of images I took while harvesting the town signs of Madison and Union County. Almost all these pictures were taken in Union County, but a few were taken in Adair County and Clarke County.

This was the last town sign harvesting trip I ever took with my Mom.

Orient

Creston

Cromwell

Kent

Afton

Thayer

Murray

I wish that Harvey’s Chicken Inn was still in business. I bet the place was the most happening place back in the day.

Animals, Black & White, Macro, Mom, Nature

2010-09-29 & 2010-09-30

July 3, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

There were hardly any pictures in the folder 2010-09-29 so I decided to combine it with 2010-09-30. This collection includes a picture of a buckeye. I really wish I remember why I took this buckeye picture. I never shared it on this here blog. Buckeyes have a deeper family connection for me. My Grandpa Paris used to carry a buckeye with him. Carrying a buckeye in your pocket is supposed to give you good luck. My Mom carried a buckeye with her every day to reminder her of Grandpa. When we cleaned out her car, we found two buckeyes in it. Those buckeyes are still there. She had a bag of buckeyes in her dresser, so if she ever lost her buckeye, she just went to the bag and grabbed another one.

The other pictures are of a rabbit that came under my care.

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:

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #46 ALPHA

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #46 BETA

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Philanthropy Day.

Andy, Animals, Brandon, Flowers, Jay, Johnathan, Logan, Naima, Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Still Life, Teresa, Willy, WPC - Reminder

Selfie Project – June 2021

July 2, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

On Wednesday night I completed another successful month of THE SELFIE PROJECT. I don’t know that is was a particularly exciting month, but I think there are some good pictures in the collection.

Here are some of my favorites from June:

June 1, 2021

June 2, 2021

June 3, 2021

June 4, 2021

June 5, 2021

June 9, 2021

June 10, 2021

June 11, 2021

June 12, 2021

June 14, 2021

June 15, 2021

June 17, 2021

June 18, 2021

June 19, 2021

June 20, 2021

June 21, 2021

June 22, 2021

June 24, 2021

June 26, 2021

June 27, 2021

June 28, 2021

June 29, 2021

June 30, 2021

I hope there are some great pictures taken for this project in July.

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This is your weekly reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ADVENTURE:

ADVENTURE

ADVENTURE! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But what is an ADVENTURE image? An ADVENTURE image is simply any image that was taken while on an ADVENTURE or preparing for an ADVENTURE or going on an ADVENTURE. The theme reveal picture could qualify for all 3. The twist to this picture is that YOU have to figure out what you consider to be an ADVENTURE.

DON’T FORGET THAT INDEPENDENCE DAY IS SUNDAY, THEREFORE MANY PEOPLE HAVE MONDAY AS A VACATION. BUT PHOTOGRAPHY 139 DOES NOT TAKE HOLIDAYS. PLAN YOUR SUBMISSION ACCORDINGLY!!

Happy photo harvesting!