Black & White, Blogging, Calendar, Flowers, Iowa State, Music

Goodbye 2023

December 31, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the June image of the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It is a picture of mums I took at Iowa State University.

JUNE

I chose this picture for June because I like to use a black and white image for June.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M2
DATE: September 22, 2023 0 4:51 PM
LENS: 105 MM F/2.8 MACRO ART
FOCAL LENGTH: 105mm
APERTURE: f/2.8
EXPOSURE: 1/125
ISO: 400

Tomorrow I will share the July image!

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I hope everybody has a wonderful New Year’s Eve. I’m sure I will be deep in sleep for hours before the bell tolls midnight on 2023. But I’m sure most of you will have much more interesting ways to usher in the new year. But before I do that, I would like to take a brief look back at 2023.

I don’t know if it was a good year or a bad year. I think it was just a year. Filled with good. Filled with bad. I’m sure 2024 will be more of the same.

I didn’t do a ton of travelling in 2023. I only set foot in 9 states besides Iowa:

I don’t know how much I will travel in 2024, but hopefully I can do better than 10 different states.

I also wasn’t super active on social media this year. I do intend to try to get back to it on Instagram in 2024. Here are my Top 9 Posts on Instagram:

I started using Spotify more and more this year. I mostly use it for podcasts, but this year I started using it for music more. I mostly use it to listen to artists that I don’t own. Apparently I hit the soundtrack from “Daisy Jones and the Six” pretty hard at one point.

Here is my Spotify Wrapped:

On this website, I posted 366 new journal entries in “An Artist’s Notebook”. May and August had the most posts at 32 each. February and November had the least at 28 posts each.

The Categories that grew the most were:

1. Black & White – 237
2. Street Photography – 237
3. Formal Portrait – 222
4. Art – 168
5. Macro – 152
6. Candid Portrait – 139
7. Flowers – 107
8. Teresa – 103
9. Nature – 85
10. Jesse – 82

Happy New Year’s everybody!

Animals, Black & White, Calendar, Football, History, Iowa State, Jesse, Music, Night, Ruins, Street Photography, Travel

Liberty Bowl Trip Cell Phone Pictures

December 30, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the May image for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It is a picture taken off of I-80 near the exit that takes you to the Amana Colonies:

MAY

I chose this picture for May because I usually put a picture in May that is a picture that I love that I think most people won’t. Frequently that is an image of ruins. Which of course I love. Particularly black and white picture of ruins.

TECHNICAL DETAIL

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: August 8, 2022 – 9:06 AM
LENS: E 28-75MM f/2.8
FOCAL LENTH: 75mm
EXPOSURE: 1/1000
ISO: 100

Tomorrow I will share the June image!

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While the football game didn’t go the way I had hoped. It was a full on embarrassment, but that is how the cookie crumbles. It still was an incredible trip. Thought I would go ahead and share some cruddy cell phone pictures from the trip to start:

I’ll get into details about the trip at a later date.

Calendar, Flowers, Music, Ruins, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa

Stanhope Watermelon Day – IV

December 29, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the April image for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It is a picture of tulips taken in Pella:

APRIL

I chose this tulips picture for April cause April is really the beginning of flowertography season. And tulips are really the first flowers of the year that I really like. Daffodils are just kind of okay in my book.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: April 29, 2023 – 10:02 AM
LENS: 17-28mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 17mm
APERTURE: f/5.6
EXPOSURE: 1/125
ISO: 100

Tomorrow I will share the May image!

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Time to share the rest of the images from my trip to the Stanhope Watermelon Day with Teresa:

The Foreigner cover band was a bonus. It was a pretty great day and I think I will hit Stanhope Watermelon Day again next year.

Art, Calendar, Flowers, Kim, Macro, Movies, Street Photography, Travel

Lost Stars

December 28, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the March image for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It was taken in Chicago while I was there for a work trip for the Computer Mine:

March

I took this image of Chicago’s The Bean after having a meal of Chicago Style Pizza with Kim and Lowell and Tony. The Bean was one of those rare touristy things that doesn’t disappoint in person.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M2
DATE: April 19, 2023 – 6:48 PM
LENS: Tamron 17-28 f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 17mm
APERTURE: f/2.8
EXPOSURE: 1/60
ISO: 8000

Tomorrow I will share the April image.

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Please, don’t see
Just a boy caught up in dreams and fantasies
Please, see me
Reaching out for someone I can’t see

Take my hand
Let’s see where we wake up tomorrow
Best laid plans
Sometimes are just a one night stand
I’ll be damned

Cupid’s demanding back his arrow
So let’s get drunk on our tears
And, God, tell us the reason
Youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season and the lambs are on the run

Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars
Trying to light up the dark?
Who are we?
Just a speck of dust within the galaxy
Woe is me

If we’re not careful turns into reality
Don’t you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow
Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer
Turn the page
Maybe we’ll find a brand new ending

Where we’re dancing in our tears
And, God, tell us the reason
Youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season
And the lambs are on the run

Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars
Trying to light up the dark?

And I thought I saw you out there crying
And I thought I heard you call my name
And I thought I heard you out there crying

Just the same
Oh yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah
God, give us the reason
Youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season and this lamb is on the run

Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars
Trying to light up the dark?

-Written by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Southwood, Nick Lashley
-Performed by Keira Knightley or Adam Levine (depending on the scene)

The song “Lost Stars” comes from the John Carney movie BEGIN AGAIN. The song is in some ways the center of the movie, even though the character that performs it at the end of the movie is not one of the main characters.

BEGIN AGAIN is the only John Carney movie that has famous actors in it. And it is loaded with famous actors… Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Hailee Steinfeld, Catherine Keener… But also plenty of famous musicians like Mos Def, CeeLo, Adam Levine… Even James Corden who is kind of both.

BEGIN AGAIN is the story of Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a music producer that is an alcoholic that has lost his job and his family. He has decided to kill himself when he hears Gretta (Keira Knightley) playing her song “A Step You Can’t Take Back” at an open mic night she was drug to by her friend Steve (James Corden).

This is Gretta’s last night in New York City. She is planning to return to England after she has broken up with her newly minted rock star boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) who was cheating on her.

When Dan hears the song he decides he wants to sign Gretta to a record deal. He convinces her to go audition for Dan’s old partner Saul (Mos Def) at his former record label. When Saul decides to pass on Gretta, they decide to just record the album themselves in the elements of New York City. Partially because they have no money to rent a studio. Partially because they want the city to be part of the music. They record on a roof top, in Central Park, in a subway station and some other interesting places.

The song “Lost Stars” is central to the movie. When Gretta was still with Dave and she was too poor to buy him a Christmas present, she writes the song “Lost Stars” and gives it to him. He in turns the ball into stadium pop. Dave comes back into Gretta’s life after she has recorded her album and plays for her his version of “Lost Stars”. She is mortified because he has “lost the song in the production”.

Dave tries to win Gretta back and begs her to come hear him play the song at the Gramercy. She tells him not to play it like that.

For the rest of the movie, well… you’ll have to watch that yourself.

I won’t pretend I love BEGIN AGAIN like I love ONCE, but it still is a great movie that I highly recommend.

But Thursdays are for flowers. These flowertography images were taken in my yard:

Next Thursday’s flowertography session will probably feature a flower I don’t particularly like.

Art, Bethany, Billy, Calendar, Candid Portrait, Dory, Flowers, J.T., Laura, Macro, Nate, Nora, Street Photography

Minnesota Independence Day Road Trip – Day 2

December 27, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the February image from the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It is a picture of a strawflower bulb that was taken in my yard:

FEBRUARY

This image was placed in February as February houses Valentines Day and I like to think that flowertography is considered romantic.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: June 7, 2023 – 7:43 PM
LENS: 105mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 105mm
APERTURE: f/2.8
EXPOSURE: 1/125
ISO: 100

Tomorrow I will share the March image!

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My second and final day on my Independence Day Road Trip to Minnesota involved going to the Mall of America amusement park. But it started with breakfast:

It was a great trip! I should have stayed longer. Next time!

Calendar, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Michelle, Nature, Still Life

Sausage Fest

December 26, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the January image for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It was taken on a foggy morning on the High Trestle Trail Bridge:

JANUARY

Part of the reason I selected this image for January was it suggested the cold of January to me. Especially since it was taken in January.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: January 3, 2023 – 12:32 PM
LENS: E 70/180mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 180mm
APERTURE: f/4.5
EXPOSURE: 1/500
ISO: 100

Tomorrow I will share the image from February.

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A few weeks ago I was invited by Michelle to attend one of her family traditions. Their annual making party. I took plenty of pictures. Here are a few of them:

The sausage dried for 24 hours and was smoked the next day. I have some of it in my freezer just begging to be cooked up. Probably should do that soon!

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Bill, Boone FUMC, Calendar, Carla, Cathie, Christianity, Dawn, Elainie, Elizabeth, Evie, Holidays, Iowa State, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Nathanial, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 432 – GREEN

December 25, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Friendly Reminder: Next Monday is New Year’s Day. While the bank and government employees get the day off, there are no holidays for Photography 139. If you are busy around the New Year’s holidays (and a lot of people are) plan on getting your submission in early this week.

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Merry Christmas! Christ is born!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you have a great Christmas!

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As most of the Photography 139 Calendars have been distributed it seems like a good time to start sharing the images for the 2024 calendar.

Here is the cover:

FRONT COVER

I don’t usually include pictures of people in the calendar, but I included this one of Jesse and Willy because it was the picture that was displayed at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon this year.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: May 29, 2022 – 6:13 PM
LENS: 105mm f/2.8 Sigma Art Macro
FOCAL LENGTH: 105 mm
APERTURE: f/2.8
EXPOSURE: 1/8000
ISO: 800

Tomorrow I will share the image from January.

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It is the last collection of submissions of the month, so it is a good time revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT THAT SOME OF THESE MIGHT CHANGE STARTING NEXT YEAR. FOR EXAMPLY THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS WILL CHANGE TO 2 STARTING NEXT YEAR.

What skill level photographer can participate?

THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is open to photographers of all skill levels. From award winning photographers to professionals to the highly ranked amateurs to those that are just beginning to those who don’t even know how to focus a camera. All skill levels are encouraged and welcome. You can’t be too bad and you can’t be too good! Everyone has room to learn and be challenged!

Award winning photographers? Really?

Yes. I can think of at least 10 photographers that participate regularly that have won a photography award of some kind.

Is this a competition?
NO.

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

Yes. That limit is 3. If you send me more than 3, I will post the first 3 that you send. I’m not trying to harsh your photography buzz, but any more than that starts to overwhelm the other submissions and it takes me about 5 minutes to take a picture from my inbox to code it on the website. So I have to manage my workload.

If you are going to submit more than one picture, I strongly urge you to choose completely different subjects for each submission. If you are submitting multiple pictures of the same subject, make sure that each picture is saying something unique.

This limit will change to 2 starting with next year’s first theme.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Meh. Only if I think somebody is clearly confusing this week’s theme with last week or next week’s theme. Otherwise, if the submission makes sense in your head, that is good enough for me. However, I would urge you to not try to fit your favorite subject into the theme. This isn’t a challenge to share a picture every week of your kid or your business or your pet. It is a challenge to take pictures of different things every week. Which isn’t to say subjects can’t be repeated, but you shouldn’t become reliant on the same ones.

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

I go to lunch at 11 AM. I leave my office. I’m not near a computer. At 11 AM I hit “Schedule” and then I go throw food down my throat. 167 hours is more than enough time to send a submission. Okay, 166 hours and 59 minutes. You got me.

Do I have to wait until Monday morning to submit?

Absolutely not! In fact I appreciate the submissions that make it to me by Sunday evening. Makes the job of putting this together on Monday morning much easier!

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

I won’t turn down submissions that are too small. I will probably ask you for a picture of greater resolution if it is really small. The typical 4 x 6 image posted to my website has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 853 pixels. While a 400 x 300 image might look okay on your phone, it looks like trash on a computer monitor. I prefer images that are at least 1000 pixels at their widest point, but don’t ban smaller pictures at this point.

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme. But if you let me know where the picture was taken, I will include that.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

I will take suggestions only and ONLY in the comments sections of the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE posts the last week of October and the 1st week of November.

GREEN! A great theme! But was it great enough to make it a popular theme. You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, December 18, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week (2)
2-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
3-Sara Lockner – 4 weeks
4-Scott Degeneffe – 17 weeks
5-Sabas Hernandez – 18 weeks
6-Mike Vest – 23 weeks
7-Sheri Fakhouri – 27 weeks (2)
8-Logan Kahler – 28 weeks
9-Nathanial Brown – 29 weeks
10-Jesse Howard – 29 weeks
11-Tamara Peterson – 32 weeks
12-Mindi Terrell – 44 weeks
13-Brandon Kahler – 67 weeks
14-Linda Bennett – 73 weeks
15-Sarah Toot – 74 weeks
16-Angie DeWaard – 78 weeks
17-Dawn Krause – 82 weeks (2)
18-Kim Barker – 88 weeks
19-Joe Duff – 89 weeks
20-Teresa Kahler – 100 weeks (3)
21-Carla Stensland – 100 weeks (2)
22-Micky Augustin – 102 weeks
23-Andy Sharp – 103 weeks
24-Bill Wentworth – 104 weeks
25-Cathie Morton – 108 weeks
26-Elizabeth Nordeen – 109 weeks
27-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 111 weeks
28-Kio Dettman – 113 weeks (2)

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:

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 114 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole Foley (Honey Hollow – Rural Warren County) – 112 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 110 weeks

Cathie Morton (Waukee, Iowa) – 109 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Saint Louis, Missouri) – 105 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Saint Louis, Missouri)

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska)

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 104 weeks

Micky Augustin (Orlando, Florida)- 103 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Boone – Ogden, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas) – 90 weeks

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas)

Kim Barker (Ames, Iowa) – 89 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 83 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa) – 79 weeks

Sarah Toot (Chicago, Illinois) – 75 weeks

Sarah Toot (Chicago, Illinois)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 74 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 45 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 33 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Branson, Missouri) – 30 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Branson, Missouri)

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 30 weeks

Jesse Howard (Le Mars, Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 29 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 28 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 24 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 19 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 18 weeks

Evie Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa)

Elainie Hernandez (Iowa) – 1 week

Willy McAlpine (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Stensland (Parkersburg, Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Stensland (Parkersburg, Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Reiman Gardens – Ames, Iowa)

30 participants! That is a pretty great week, considering the holiday!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Florida
+ Kansas
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Missouri
+ Nebraska
+ New York
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Hawaii
+ Idaho
+ Illinois
+ Indiana
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Kentucky
+ Louisiana
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Mississippi
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Hampshire
+ New Jersey
+ New Mexico
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ North Carolina
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Carolina
+ South Dakota
+ Tennessee
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Vermont
+ Virgin Islands
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

41 states and 1 district and 1 territory! That is pretty impressive! Over 80% of the way there!

The missing states are:
+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Maine
+ Massachusetts
+ Rhode Island
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ Spain
+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Canada
+ Peru
+ France
+ Austria
+ Germany
+ Italy
+ Slovenia
+ Belize

The major milestone stone this week was Andy joining the 2 Year Streak Club.

But it wasn’t all fun and reindeer games. Suzie couldn’t build on last week’s submission. Jen’s streak ends at 2. Sara’s streak ends at 4. Sadly, Brandon’s streak ends at 67.

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:

HUMANS

ONCE AGAIN. DON’T FORGET THAT NEXT MONDAY IS NEW YEARS DAY! PLAN ON GETTING YOUR SUBMISSION IN AROUND THE HOLIDAY! OTHERWISE, THERE COULD BE A TON OF STREAKS BITING THE DUST.

HUMANS! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! Even if HUMANS are mostly a failed species.

But what exactly is a HUMANS image? Simply put it is a picture that captures either a collection of HUMANS (or just one HUMAN) or the effects of HUMANity. A place where you can look at for inspiration is Humans of New York. After all, it did inspire this theme.

While thinking about possible subjects for your submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great image:

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
-Albert Einstein

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. There is a limit of 3 submissions per participant. To be considered the photographer, you have to be the one that takes the picture. Don’t be stealing the work of other artists. You can submit pictures for other photographers that took pictures with your camera or phone, but give credit where credit is due.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

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 HUMANS in this place that is ran by one next Monday.

Boone FUMC, FNSC, Holidays, Jesse, Still Life, Tenderloining

Tenderloin Trail 2.0: New Hampton Field Work

December 24, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Happy Christmas Eve everybody!

Christmas Eve Worship Service is my favorite worship service of the year.

I hope you had/have a magical Christmas Eve.

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A couple of months ago Jesse and I hit the Tenderloin Trail 2.0 for Friday Night Supper Club. We drove all the way to New Hampton to try the tenderloin at The Pub at the Pinicon. The winner for the Best Tenderloin in Iowa in 2019.

I have to say that the experience was two-fold. On one hand, the food was amazing. Loved every bit of it. On the other hand, the service was atrocious. This is not an exaggeration. We waited over 30 minutes from the time we were seated before somebody came to even take our drink order. If it would have been a restaurant in Ames or Boone or Des Moines, we would have left. But we had driven 2 hours and 30 minutes ( 2 hours of this Jesse screaming at somebody from DirectTV on the phone) for this tenderloin, so we sat and waited and waited and waited and waited. We watched 4 different servers walk by us and not even look our way. Finally a 5th server entered the room and actually spoke to us.

On the third hand, we got the pleasure of the guy sitting in the booth across from us ask their server to pee in pop so he could have…

Wait for it…

A Dr. Peeper!!!

Comic gold!

I expect that guy to have his own Netflix special sometime in 2024.

Here are the pictures of what was a fantastic meal… once it arrived:

Tenderloin Trail 2.0: The Pub at the Pinicon

Some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had.

That is a lot of freaking onion rings for 2 dudes, that also ordered cheese curds

The tenderloin was excellent. The onion rings were amongst the best I’ve ever had. Despite the fact that the service was awful, I would gladly eat there again. I think the service on this night was an outlier.

The Pub at the Pinicon is located here:

2205 S Linn Ave
New Hampton, Iowa

Next Sunday’s food adventure will involve pizza!

Commercial, Elizabeth, Event, Kim, Michelle, Work

Computer Mine Gift Exchange

December 23, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Back on Wednesday we had our annual White Elephant Gift Exchange at the Computer Mine. I snapped a few photos of the event for the Computer Mine social medias.

Here are a few pictures:

If you are wondering, I ended up with the tortilla blanket. I stole it from Amy because I thought it would make a perfect addition to Taco Tailgate and nobody stole it from me, cause of the general fear my co-workers have of me. So much fear.

Back before the pandemic, there were like 30 or so people that participated. This year there were 13 methinks. It is still a fun little work tradition. Even if this year nobody showed up drunk. Maybe next year.

Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Road Trip, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa

Stanhope Watermelon Day – III

December 22, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time for another collection of images from the trip I made to Stanhope Watermelon Day with Teresa. This collection of images is from when we returned to Watermelon Day. After the parade we took off to Bradford for lunch. Then we came back for the free watermelon and the Foreigner cover band.

Here are some pictures:

Still one more collection of images to share from this day!