Art, Bethany, Calendar, Flowers, Macro, Michelle, Naima, Nora, Photoshop

Caroline

December 22, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Today I reveal the March image for the 2023 Photography Calendar.

March

I took this picture of this American Gothic barn near Mount Vernon, Iowa on a TOWN SIGN PROJECT road trip with Michelle on November 14, 2021.

Here is a picture of us standing in front of it:

Here are some fun facts about the picture:

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M2
LENS: Sigma 28-75 F/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 53 mm
FIELD OF VIEW: 37.5 degrees
APERTURE: f/4.5
SHUTTER: 1/200
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS: +.3

I also Photoshopped a powerline out of the image… cause I hate powerlines.

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Hello I’m looking for a friend I lost some time ago
Your mother says she wants her girl back home
Sometimes you think you’ve found yourself you really only lost yourself
Or maybe you’re afraid to be alone
-Brandi Carlile

Thursday is for flowers! Today I’m sharing the final collection of flowertography pictures I took on August 14, 2022.

Nora was infatuated with moonflowers, which shows she has great taste!

More flower pictures next Thursday!

Art, Calendar, Christianity, Flowers, History, Macro, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins

Fayette & Winneshiek County Aux – Vol. 1

December 21, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

Time to reveal the February image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:

February

I took this macro image of a hollyhock in my yard. It is a little known fact that I am one of the premiere hollyhock farmers in all of Boone, Iowa. People comes from miles around to walk down my alley to see the numerous hollyhocks that line my back fence. While that isn’t true, it should be. Hollyhocks are a Top 5 flower in my flower gardens. Maybe even Top 3. You can make dolls out of them. I don’t know how to do that, but my Aunt Linda assures me it can be done.

This picture doesn’t have a strong connection to February. February is the month that houses the one true holiday that hasn’t been commercialized at all…. Valentine’s Day. So I like to put a “romantic” image here. Flowers are romantic, right?

TECHNICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: July 19,2022 – 8:21 PM
LENS: Tamron 105mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 105mm
APERTUFE: f/6.3
EXPOSURE: 1/13
ISO: 400
EXPOSURE BIAS: -.3
FIELD OF 19.5 degrees

Tomorrow I will reveal the March image.

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Several months back I tooled around Fayette and Winneshiek County harvesting their town signs. I would have spent more time in Winneshiek County, but I actually been to the stunning Decorah a few times, so I didn’t spend as much time there as I would like. I need to get back there and photograph it sometime soon though.

Here is the first collection of images. All from Fayette County:

Oelwein

Maynard

Randalia

Fayette

West Union

Saint Lucas

Waucoma

Still a ton more pictures to share from this road trip!

Art, Automobiles, Black & White, Calendar, Christianity, Flowers, Iowa State, Macro, Nature, Road Trip, Ruins

If I Looked Like the Other Prom Queens

December 20, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to reveal the January image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

January

I took this picture while harvesting the town signs of Appanoose County for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. It is the lighthouse at Lake Rathbun. I wish I could come up with a good reason why I picked this image for January. Some images needed to be slotted into months that I don’t have a connection with. I don’t have a real strong connection with January. The main reason this image ended up being in January is because with the clouds it looks cold. January is a cold month. At least in Iowa. This is a cold image. Sometimes in the cold (weather and life) you look for any port in the storm. A lighthouse is such a port.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: May 11, 2022 – 3:09 PM
LENS: Sigma 17-28mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 17mm
APERTURE: f/8
EXPOSURE: 1/500
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS: +.3
FIELD OF VIEW: 93.3 degrees
HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE: 1.20m

Tomorrow I will reveal the February image.

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While 13 images make the calendar, I always consider several other pictures. This year, I gave at least a cursory thought to 103 images. I have never shared the pictures that didn’t make the calendar, but I thought, why not?

Here is the first collection of images that were considered, but not included in the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:

I can’t claim that because these images were rejected for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar, that it doesn’t mean one or two of them couldn’t show up in a 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. I still have two more collections of calendar rejects to share.

Andy, Angie, Art, Becky, Bill, Billy, Brandon, Calendar, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Pastor Sarah, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 379 – WATER

December 19, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

It is that time of year. You know what time. The time where I start to reveal the images for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar! The following image is the picture that graces the cover:

Front Cover

I took the picture of this mural in a back alley in the downtown business district of Le Mars, Iowa. I like the cover image to have some kind of message to it. Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite writers and I definitely agree that “there is no beauty without some strangeness”.

Just look at my friends. All of them beautiful. All of them strange.

Here are some technical details:

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: March 11, 2022 – 3:19 PM
LENS: Sigma 17-28mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 28mm
APERTURE: f/3.2
EXPOSURE: 1/200
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS:+.7
FIELD OF VIEW: 65.5 degrees
HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE: 8.15m

I think I put together a decent calendar this year and if you haven’t seen it yet, I can’t wait for you to see it!

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Seems like a good time to reveal the 52 themes for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:

1. Trains, Planes, and Automobiles
2. Reflection
3. Red
4. Silence
5. Books
6. Play
7. Frame
8. Music
9. Store
10. Sunrise, Sunset
11. Purple
12. Competition
13. Blue
14. Humans
15. Odd Camera Angle
16. Scenes from your Couch
17. Friends
18. Road Trip
19. School
20. Ruins
21. Happy
22. Park
23. Texture
24. Slice of Life
25. Flower
26. ‘Scape
27. Wild Card
28. Time
29. A Shape
30. Guilty Pleasure
31. Liquid
32. Self-Portrait
33. Negative
34. Art
35. Shadow
36. Nature
37. Shoes
38. Sky
39. Black and White
40. Architecture
41. Religion
42. #instagood
43. Vintage
44. Favorite Sports Team
45. Signs
46. Food
47. Portrait
48. Animal
49. Hometown
50. Lines
51. Street Photography
52. Green

Looks like it ill be a good year!

Special thanks to Sarah Toot, Angie, and Andy for making suggestions for this set of themes. I used or modified and used several of their suggestions. After I trimmed the list to 52 themes, I ran it through the random generator 8 times to set the order.

Hoping Year 10 will be the best year yet!

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WATER? It is everywhere? But as a theme, is it wet behind the ears, or was it popular. You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, December 12, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Sarah Karber – 1 week
2-Jesse Howard – 4 weeks
3-Willy McAlpine – 4 weeks
4-Tamara Peterson – 6 weeks
5-Sara Lockner – 12 weeks
6-Brandon Kahler – 17 weeks
7-Linda Bennett – 20 weeks
8-Sarah Toot – 21 weeks
9-Monica Jennings – 21 weeks
10-Angie DeWaard – 25 weeks
11-Dawn Krause – 29 weeks
12-Kim Barker – 35 weeks (2)
13-Joe Duff – 36 weeks (2)
14-Logan Kahler – 38 weeks (3)
15-Teresa Kahler – 47 weeks (2)
16-Carla Stensland – 47 weeks
17-Michelle Haupt – 48 weeks
18-Micky Augustin – 49 weeks (2)
19-Andy Sharp – 50 weeks
20-Bill Wentworth – 51 weeks
21-Cathie Morton – 55 weeks
22-Elizabeth Nordeen – 56 weeks
23-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 58 weeks
24-Kio Dettman – 60 weeks (3)

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:

Elizabeth Nordeen – 57 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 5 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 26 weeks

Andy Sharp – 51 weeks

Micky Augustin – 50 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 48 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Kio Dettman – 61 weeks

Kio Dettman

Joe Duff – 37 weeks

Carla Stensland – 47 weeks

Carla Stensland

Linda Bennett – 21 weeks

Linda Bennett

Logan Kahler – 39 weeks

Logan Kahler

Sarah Karber – 2 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 7 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 52 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Dawn Krause – 30 weeks

Dawn Krause

Kim Barker – 36 weeks

Monica Jennings – 22 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 1 week

Michelle Haupt – 49 weeks

Cathie Morton – 56 weeks

Suzie Brannen – 1 week

Becky Parmelee – 1 week

Jesse Howard – 5 weeks

Sarah Toot – 22 weeks

Brandon Kahler – 18 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 59 weeks

Sara Lockner – 13 weeks

Mike Vest – 1 week

29 participants! That is a great week!

We had submissions (mostly assumptions on my part) from Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas this week.

I took my picture inside my house.

We had some pretty big milestones! Angie joined the Half Year Club as her streak reached 26 weeks.

Bill joined the 1 Year Club as his streak reached 52 weeks!

And there was no bad news! There wasn’t a single streak snapped this week! WooHoo!

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:

EXPLORE

REMINDER: Next Monday is the day after Christmas. It isn’t a holiday per se, but most people don’t work. I don’t work at my day job. I might just go on a road trip that day. What I am saying is plan to get your submission in cause you might not get any kind of reminder.

EXPLORE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is an EXPLORE picture? Simply put it is a picture taken of somebody that is EXPLOR(E)ing or trying to at least. See Billy’s efforts in the theme reveal image. It can be of something you found when you were out on the EXPLORE. Or it could be a picture of things you use when you are out on the EXPLORE. There are so many possibilities!

While considering possible places for you to EXPLORE, meditate on the following quote:

Not all those who wander are lost.
-J.R.R. Tolkien

I look forward to your interpretation.

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 your idea of EXPLORE in this place that I hope more than I just get lost in next Monday.

Art, Boone FUMC, Carla, Christianity, Dad, Fisheye, Self-Portrait, Teresa, WPC - Alternate

‘Cause I Thought You’d Like Me More

December 18, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I’m putting off Formal Portrait Sunday for at least another week. The people that were supposed to be featured today recently broke up, so I’m not sure if I should still post the pictures. I’ve decided just to think on it and we will see what happens next week. Or the week after that.

Instead, I’m going to publish a bunch of pictures from January I never published. Some are from an experiment with a fisheye lens. I’m still not particularly comfortable with my current fisheye lens. I need to really work with it more. Which means, for you, you might start seeing way more fisheye lens pictures. Get pumped.

The rest of the images are pictures that didn’t make the cut for various THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes. Like LOVE and TRIANGLE, for example.

I can’t believe that it is almost Christmas. I’ve done pretty much no decorating. Carla and I did the reading and lit the 4th Advent Candle in church today and it still doesn’t feel like Christmas to me. Maybe I’ll get there.

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

Delaware County Aux. – Vol. 4

December 17, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

This is the final collection of auxiliary images from my trip to harvest the town signs of Delaware County. Once again, there are some pictures of a beautiful Catholic church. This time it is the Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier. Once again, I don’t really understand what a basilica is. I can tell you that it is technically a Minor Basilica because there are only four Major Basilicas. Every other basilica is “minor”. From what I’ve gather it is the “Pope’s church” in some part of the world. Which to me, that means that if the Vatican City gets overrun by vampires (yes I’m talking about vampires again) or say the Visigoths, and the pope has to flee to northeast Iowa, he would hole up in dyersville, Iowa. In the Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier.

I even went to a website called minorbasilica.org and read their page “What is a Minor Basilica? And I’m still going to go with this is where the Pope goes if they* has to flee vampires.

But this is what it says:

A Minor Basilica is a Church of historical and architectural value which has “particular importance for the liturgical and pastoral life” of some place. In essence, it is the Pope’s Church in some place around the world. Minor Basilicas are specifically tasked with celebrating the feasts of the liturgical year with great care and attention. “The word of God is to be diligently proclaimed either in homilies or in special sermons. The active participation of the faithful is to be promoted both in the eucharistic celebration and in the celebration of the liturgy of the hours.”

Sounds like nonsense to me because all churches should be diligent. But if you are telling me it is just a real pretty church, I’ll accept that, but it isn’t the prettiest church in Iowa. Isn’t even the prettiest Catholic Church in Iowa.

All of that being said, I didn’t even photograph that much because I have photographed it before.

Here is the final collection of images:

Dyersville

Hopkinton

Ryan

If you are of a certain age, I’ll refrain from saying aged, you might think that the umpire statue in Ryan looks vaguely familiar. It is a repurposed Happy Chef. If you are not aged and don’t know what a Happy Chef is, ask an elder. Just be kind in how you do it.

The next time we hit the open road to look at auxiliary images, we will visit Fayette County and Winneshiek County.

*Still leaving the dream that some day the Catholics will allow women or transgendered people into their clergy.

Event, Iowa State, Street Photography, WPC - Reminder

Soap Box Derby

December 16, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in June I went to the Red Bull Soap Box Derby in Des Moines. Nathanial was competing and I wanted to check out his team, but truth is I probably would have went even if I didn’t know anybody that was competing. It was some kind of scene.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

I don’t know when or if the Soap Box Derby will come back to Iowa, but I would definitely go again!

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

WATER

WATER! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a WATER picture? Simply put, a WATER picture is a picture where one of the major compositional elements is WATER or related to WATER. For example, in the them reveal picture is a WATER tower. The picture doesn’t necessarily have to include straight WATER. But can be something that is WATER related. Or a picture of something that contains WATER.

Happy photo harvesting!

Flowers, Iowa State, Macro, Olympic Sports

That Year

December 15, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

In case you hadn’t heard, Iowa State clinched the 2022-23 Cy-Hawk Series last Friday night when the Cyclone Swimming and Diving team beat the Hawks 156-144. Iowa State currently holds a 13-6 lead with 3 events left to go. Iowa State beat Iowa in Soccer, Volleyball, Football, Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Cross Country, and Swimming and Diving.

(Graphic from Iowa State Social Media)

It’s a CYCLONE State for the 2nd straight year! I mean, it is always a Cyclone State, but for the 2nd straight year, we have scoreboard.

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I must have been sleeping, I must have been drinking,
I haven’t been dreaming about you for years. there was a sharp
Turn and a sunburn I was too cool for high school that year.

Must have have been new years. no one invited you,
Took things too far but I missed you and your antics.
You were lonesome and blue-eyed and so special to us.

You could have taken a long break
Instead of a long drop from a high place.
Ten years I never spoke your name.
Now it feels good to say it. your my friend again.
-Brandi Carlile

Thursdays are for flowers! This collection of flower pictures was taken on August 14 in my yard.

Still more flower pictures left in the hopper. Not a never ending supply, but still plenty more.

Art, Christianity, Road Trip

Delaware County Aux. – Vol. 3

December 14, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Time for another collection of pictures I took while harvesting the town signs of Delaware County. A good collection of this collection was actually taken in Dubuque County. It starts with finishing up the pictures of the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Petersburg, but also includes pictures of the Saint Boniface Catholic Church in New Vienna. Both are absolutely beautiful churches. The church in New Vienna, definitely has a strong German influence to it as one could guess based on the fact it is in a town called New Vienna.

New Vienna

There are two things I take from this set of pictures.

One. I love the fact that many Catholic Churches are unlocked and vagabonds like me can go inside and photograph them. Personally, I think that is the way that all churches should be. I’m not naive. I know one of the reasons these churches can do that is that their worship space is one building and their office space is a different building. It doesn’t change how I feel though.

Two. I’m infatuated with the black Jesus sculpture. I’ve never seen one in a church in Iowa. At least not that I recall. I can only remember seeing the white Jesus sculpture that looks absolutely nothing like Jesus looked like.

It reminds me of that line from that LeCrae song:

And I love God
I love Jesus, the one out of Nazareth
Not the European with the ultra perm and them soft eyes and them thin lips

Now let’s face it, this sculpture still has that ultra perm and them thin lips, but it is a step in the right direction.

Remember most of the artistic depictions we see of Jesus aren’t based on what Jesus looked like. More than anything they are based on depictions of Greek and Roman gods. Particularly Zeus.

Either way, it is interesting to see.

There is still one more collection of images from my trip to Delaware County to share.

Lists, Town Sign Project

Iowa Worst Courthouse Power Rankings

December 13, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

I learned something over the weekend. The architect that build the courthouse in Delaware County, the courthouse I proclaimed to be the most beautiful courthouse in Iowa, was the same architect that built the Boone First United Methodist Church. No wonder I love it!

Pastor Dave dropped that knowledge bomb on me.

But now I’m going to rank the 10 ugliest courthouse in Iowa.

IOWA UGLIEST COURTHOUSE POWER RANKINGS

#10. Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon

#9. Floyd County Courthouse in Charles City

#8. Emmet County Courthouse located in Estherville

#7. Butler County Courthouse located in Allison

#6. Clarke County Courthouse located in Osceola

#5. Guthrie County Courthouse in Guthrie Center

#4. Cerro Gordo County Courthouse located in Mason City

#3. Cedar County Courthouse located in Tipton

#2. Pottawattamie County Courthouse located in Council Bluffs

#1. Story County Courthouse located in Nevada

If you would like to peruse all 100 Iowa courthouses, click on the link below:

Iowa Courthouses

If you are wondering if I’m going to rank the Freedom Rocks next week, the answer is that I am not. I would really struggle on that one. For reasons I best not disclose.

I don’t know what will be here next Tuesday. An update on the book? Possible. Very possible that next Tuesday this post will just be one word. “None.”