Post 6,000

Can you believe that this is the 6,000th entry in the blog known as “An Artist’s Notebook”? Every 250 posts or so I like to take a moment to reflect on where this post has been and post a lot of meaningless stats.

As always on these posts, I like to start by quoting the very first “An Artist’s Notebook” entry that published on August 9, 2006. That first post that published 7,291 days ago.

That post that started with these words:

So here is the first journal entry. I felt like having as pretentious sounding name as possible for my journal. I have a few goals about this journal. My main goal is just to actually write in it. My second goal is to be as truthful as possible towards my true thoughts and feelings. I have another journal on another website, but it is really just a collection of sarcastic statements and cheap jabs at open faced sandwiches. This journal is meant to be about what my achievements and failures are in the world of art. What projects I am working on and what I have accomplished and what I have failed to accomplish. What I am photographing and what I am thinking about entering in photo contests. What I am thinking about. It might not always make sense. It might just be things I need to write down because they strike me as poignant or inspirational. This is in a small way an online “idea box”.

Since those words, I have posted 5,999 journal entries. This website is still something of an “idea box”. Sometimes I’m just working stuff out here. I don’t know why, sometimes I need to work stuff out in public. But this website is definitely more than just an “idea box”. It is a place where I post a few thoughts and a ton of pictures. I’ve gone through a few photo projects on these pages. From THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT to the 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT to THE SELFIE PROJECT to the POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT to name just a few. This website has also created a community with THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Which is one of my proudest achievements. Especially since it sputtered and spit and barely survived in its first few years.

On these reflective posts, I like to publish a bunch of statistics that me and Joe Duff find interesting. So I might as well get to it.

Every post in “An Artist’s Notebook” is tagged with at least one Category. It is one of the easiest ways to navigate around the website. They are listed at the top of each post. Here are some statistics about Categories:

THE TOP 20 MOST USED CATEGORIES (The ranking from Post 5,750)

1. BLACK & WHITE – 1,417 (1)
2. FLOWERS – 1,191 (2)
3. ART – 1,120 (3)
4. ANIMALS – 974 (4)
5. JESSE – 889 (5)
6. TERESA – 851 (6)
7. CARLA – 772 (8)
8. ROAD TRIP – 758 (9)
9. MACRO – 760 (7)
10. STILL LIFE – 752 (12)
11. SHANNON – 727 (10)
12. FORMAL PORTRAIT – 695 (11)
13. WPC – SUBMISSIONS – 673 (13)
14. NATURE – 669 (12)
15. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY – 666 (15)
16. CANDID PORTRAIT – 616 (16)
17. LOGAN – 596 (17)
18. KIM – 577 (18)
19. Andy – 519 (NR)
20. MICKY – 516 (20)

Most likely to crack TOP 20 in in the next 250 posts are: VEST, WILLY, SELF-PORTRAIT, and HISTORY.

THE TOP 20 NON-HUMAN CATEGORIES

1. BLACK & WHITE – 1,417 (1)
2. FLOWERS – 1,191 (2)
3. ART – 1,120 (3)
4. ANIMALS – 974 (4)
5. MACRO – 760 (5)
6. ROAD TRIP – 758 (6)
7. STILL LIFE – 752 (8)
8. FORMAL PORTRAIT – 695 (7)
9. WPC – SUBMISSIONS – 673 (9)
10. NATURE – 669 (10)
11. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY – 666 (11)
12. CANDID PORTRAIT – 616 (12)
13. SELF-PORTRAIT – 489 (13)
14. HISTORY – 454 (15)
15. PHOTOSHOP – 441 (14)
16. CHRISTIANITY – 432 (16)
17. NAIMA – 410 (17)
18. IOWA STATE – 395 (18)
19. MUSIC – 341 (20)
20. NIGHT- 336 (NR)

The non-human categories most likely to break into the Top 20 in the next 250 posts are: WPC-REMINDER, TRAVEL, BOONE FUMC, RAILROAD, and RUINS. WPC-REMINDERS fell out of the Top 20.

THE TOP 20 HUMAN CATEGORIES

1. JESSE – 899 (1)
2. TERESA – 851 (2)
3. CARLA – 772 (3)
4. SHANNON – 727 (4)
5. LOGAN – 596 (5)
6. KIM – 577 (6)
7. ANDY – 519 (9)
8. MICKY – 516 (8)
9. WILLY – 507 (11)
10. VEST – 498 (10)
11. MOM – 485 (7)
12. DAWN – 454 (12)
13. SARA – 442 (13)
14. CATHIE – 439 (14)
15. ANGIE – 431 (17)
16. TAMARA – 426 (18)
17. JAY – 413 (16)
18. JEN – 411 (15)
19. BILL – 403 (19)
20. ELIZABETH – 395 (NR)

The Human Categories with the best shot of cracking the Top 20 in the next 250 posts are: DERRICK, MONICA, KIO, BECKY, and ALEXIS. DERRICK fell out of the Top 20. So realistically, he probably won’t climb back in.

If you have spent any time on the Photography 139 website, you know that on the right sidebar, the “Top 100 Categories” are listed. I thought I would give a little bit of coverage to the Bottom 10 of the Top 100. There are currently 233 categories used on the website. I could cover the Bottom 10, but no real reason. Some of those categories probably need to be purged. I do like to cover the Top 10 of the Bottom 100 though.

THE BOTTOM 10 OF THE TOP 100

1. TOWN SIGN PROJECT – 137
2. BLOGGING – 135
3. MARY – 135
4. RUSSELL – 134
5. PASTOR SARAH – 129
6. JILL – 125
7. NATE – 119
8. DEANNA – 119
9. PUFFERBILLY DAYS – 115
10. LAYLA – 110

The following categories have either fallen out of the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 or climbed out of it:

SIGN and BECCA.

The following categories have the best shot at dropping back into the Bottom 10 of the Top 10:

JASON, DRONE, STEPH, YOUTH GROUP and BETHANY.

The following categories have the best shot at climbing up into the Bottom 10 of the Top 10:

BOKEH, ANDREE, BECCA, FAUST and DEB.

I’m now starting to track what categories have had the greatest gain. These are the ones that have the greatest gain since Post 5,750. It should be noted some of these numbers aren’t from straight gains in just the last 250 posts. Some of these are from me back-filling or modifying archived posts. So the gain might not represent a gain from the last 250 but from adding some of these categories to earlier posts.

For example, if somebody participates in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE a couple times, I don’t make a category for them. They have to prove that they are going to stick around. Then when I think they have staying power, I will add a category for them and then go back and add their category to the entries where they submitted. I’m 100% sure only Joe Duff is reading this post still. Hi Joe!

TOP 10 CATEGORIES BY GAIN

1. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY – 104
2. ART – 99
3. SIGN -96
4. STILL LIFE – 89
5. FLOWERS – 71
6. CANDID PORTRAIT – 67
7. BLACK & WHITE – 66
8. TERESA – 57
9. ANIMALS – 52
10. LOGAN – 52
11. LOWELL – 52

TOP 10 NON-HUMAN CATEGORIES BY GAIN

1. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY – 104
2. ART – 99
3. SIGN – 96
4. STILL LIFE – 89
5. FLOWERS – 71
6. CANDID PORTRAIT – 67
7. BLACK & WHITE – 66
8. ANIMALS – 52
9. ROAD TRIP – 45
10. ARCHITECTURE – 41

TOP 10 HUMAN CATEGORIES BY GAIN

1. TERESA – 57
2. LOGAN – 52
3. LOWELL – 52
4. ANDY – 49
5. WILLY – 49
6. JESSE – 47
7. CARLA – 47
8. KIM- 44
9. ELIZABETH – 44
10. SCOTTIE D. – 43

If you are wondering what is your best way to improve your “Photography 139 Score” and crack the Top 20, it is simply to be active in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE or go on trips with me or participate in various other photo projects or be related to me. Now these aren’t necessarily the 20 people that have influenced my photography the most, but these are the 20 people that have made the largest imprint on this website.

I can tell you the people that have influenced my photography the most, but that is a tale for another time. But I’m pretty sure you can guess who. Someday when I finish my INSPO page that tale will be told. That INSPO page is a winter project, so by the time we hit 6,000 posts, that page will be done! At least that is the goal.

TOP 20 PHOTOGRAPHY 139 GALLERIES (SINCE POST 5750)

To View the Gallery, Click on its Representative Image

20. SLICE OF LIFE – 31,632 VIEWS
19. Iowa State Cyclones Football – 2008 – 32,353 VIEWS
18. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 5 – 32,876 VIEWS
17. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 3 – 34,294 VIEWS >
16. Pennsylvania, U.S.A. – 34,399 VIEWS
15. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 4 – 35,204 VIEWS
14. Iowa State Fair – 2025 – 35,602 VIEWS
13. Drone – 38,109 VIEWS
12. Photo Journal Rejects – 38,245 VIEWS
11. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 6 – 39,888 VIEWS
10. Naima – 40,515 VIEWS
9. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 8 – 41,495 VIEWS
8. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 7 – 42,335 VIEWS
7.WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 9 – 51,189 VIEWS
6. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 10 – 64,998 VIEWS
5. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 11 – 72,605 VIEWS
4. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 12 – 92,567 VIEWS
3. TOWN SIGN PROJECT SIGNS – 108,301 VIEWS
2. Tenderloining – 108,301 VIEWS
1. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 13- 120,049 VIEWS

If you are interested in checking out some of the milestone posts of the past, I got you. Click on any of the links below to check them out:

Post 1
Post 750
Post 850
Post 1,000
Post 1,101
Post 1,200
Post 1,447
Post 1,718
Post 2,500
Post 3,000
Post 3,252
Post 3,751
Post 4,000
Post 4,250
Post 4,500
Post 4,757
Post 5,005
Post 5,250
Post 5,500
Post 5,750

I think that is enough. We will check back in another 250 posts.