Category Archives: Art

Animals, Art, Flowers, House, Macro, Monica, State Fair

The Gladdest Thing Under the Sun

August 19, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Way back in May, Monica searched out my photo services. For probably about 20 years (no joke) to enter the Fine Arts Show at the Iowa State Fair. This year, the year the Fair got cancelled due to mismanaged pandemic, she finally entered. However, she needed an image to send to the fine people at the Fine Arts show. So she came over and I snapped some pictures for her. This painting is the one that ultimately made the show:

Yes, you heard that right. Made the Iowa State Fair Fine Arts Show. You see, despite there being no Iowa State Fair, the Fine Arts Show is still going on, via the interwebs. That means you should click on the link below:

Fine Arts Show

You should then find Monica’s painting and click on the “Vote” button below it and cast your ballot for Monica and the People’s Choice Award. I believe voting lasts until Sunday. You must have a Facebook account to vote, which sucks, because Facebook sucks. But you probably already have an account that Russia is mining for data right now. So you might as well use it to help out Monica. Who knows? Maybe she will get a big following in Omsk!

What are you still doing here? Go vote for Monica.

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Here is a collection of pictures I took around the Photography 139 Studio back near the end of June. Hollyhocks, daisies, lilies and a beetle that surpasses them all in beauty!

That bowl of raspberries was made into a delicious pie by my Mom. Raspberry pie was my Grandma’s favorite and my Mom always used to make her a pie out of my raspberries. It wasn’t a great year for raspberries because of the drought, but there was still plenty enough for a pie. It is good to be a self-sufficient. I had a bountiful harvest of rhubarb, raspberries, and cherries this year. Looks like there will be plenty of garlic and maybe a record amount of grapes!

Art, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Event, Sara

2010-03-15

August 15, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

There are two types of pictures in the folder 2010-03-15. One if from the 2010 Methodist Men State Convention that my church hosted. The other is from my trip to the Des Moines sculpture garden with Sara. One of the pictures from that sculpture garden trick still might be my favorite picture I have ever taken. That is hard to choose, but it is definitely up there. Maybe someday I will make a Top Ten list of my favorite images.

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 NO. 13

Meth Men Saturday

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve ACTORS.

Animals, Art, Macro

Hey You Man

July 30, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Today’s collection is a bunch of ANIMAL pictures that weren’t quite ready for mainstream consumption on Monday. Most of them were taken at Jester Park. But a few were taken in my backyard.

I still have another collection of images of ANIMAL alternates in our future.

Animals, Art, Night, Politics, Still Life, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder

My Mind was Full of Razors

July 24, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Friday night I prowled around Boone for a little bit taking NIGHT pictures for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Many of them, just couldn’t make the cut for Monday. But they seem to be ready for the world now.

I really don’t do enough NIGHT photography these days.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ANIMAL.

ANIMAL

An ANIMAL photo is any picture of an ANIMAL or ANIMAL byproduct.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Art, Black & White, Flowers, Logan, Macro, Nature, Still Life, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder

When I Stand in Your Love

July 10, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I have plenty more BLACK AND WHITE alternates for last week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:

I can’t wait until BLACK AND WHITE is the theme again!

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

FACELESS PORTRAIT

Remember that a FACELESS PORTRAIT is simply a portrait of somebody that doesn’t show their face.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Art, Black & White, Flowers, Iowa State, Macro, Nature

Iowa State Walk – Alpha

June 25, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in early May, I took an early afternoon walk around the Iowa State campus with Teresa. It was a good replacement for going to Pella, since going to Pella in early May, in the middle of a pandemic seemed like a terrible idea. Plus, how snooty are the people of Pella?

This isn’t completely a collection of tulips, but there are many tulips in this collection.

I reserve comment on this “art”.

There is one more collection of pictures from this walk still in the hopper.

Art, Flowers, Naima, Photoshop, Road Trip, Still Life, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder

Such a Classic Waste of Cool

June 19, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Another week of working from home almost in the books. I don’t even know how long it has been now. I don’t that much has changed. I still listen to 96.1 in the morning. In the afternoons, there isn’t really anything designated any more. I’ve been listening to podcasts I suppose. But not exclusively.

One positive or one thing I’ll miss when I get called back to working in the office is this: I’ll missing sitting under my cherry trees with Naima and eating my lunch. Listening to the birds. Feeling a warm breeze. It is very peaceful, but also makes it hard to go back to work when my lunch is over.

I have been working on the basement, but the project has become more ambitious than expected. There will be pictures when it is done, but it is several weeks out, at least. I’d guess I’m about 35-40% done.

Logan helped me big time last Saturday with the interior of the project. The Citywide Cleanup was also a big help. Lots of stuff hit the curb and are now on the ash heap of history. Although I’m still finding plenty of stuff that needs to hit the dusty trail. Andy helped me get rid of some of that too.

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I took several YELLOW pictures for this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I’d like to share the one’s that didn’t make the cut for Monday’s reveal at this point:

I always have fun playing with the “creative” settings on my camera.

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

ROAD TRIP

A ROAD TRIP is any photo that involves a ROAD TRIP. Doesn’t have to be a large ROAD TRIP. The reveal photo was taken when I went on a ROAD TRIP to get gas. A ROAD TRIP photo doesn’t even have to be taken on a ROAD TRIP. It can be taken showing planning for a ROAD TRIP or preparing for a ROAD TRIP.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Candid Portrait, Event, Kio, Politics, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

Black Lives Matter – Boone – One

June 12, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I will write more in depth about my experience at the Boone Black Lives Matter event on Monday. I stayed about 15-20 feet away from it with a mask on because of my deep virus concerns, but I was still able to get a fair amount of pictures.

My short version of the story is that it was a great event. There were a couple of right wing agitators there, but nothing came of them.

Here is my first collection of pictures from the event.

My best guess is that there were about 250 people there, but I’m really bad at making such estimates. However, the Boone New Republican article had a similar estimate.

I saw quite a few people I know, especially from my church, including Pastor Dave and his wife Shari. Kio, of course. Anna Olson, of course. Plus a few people who recognized me, but I didn’t recognize. The face mask thing does make it hard for people to recognize one another, but it is necessary, of course.

There are a couple more collections to come.

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A reminder that YELLOW is this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme:

YELLOW

A YELLOW picture is any picture where the subject is YELLOW or YELLOW is a major compositional element of the picture. I’ve already received a bunch of submissions, so I doubt I’ll have to send out any reminders on Monday morning.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Derrick, Evie, Formal Portrait, Jay, Jen, Jonah, Jorge, Layla, Michelle, Movies, Naima, Nature, Photoshop, Railroad, State Fair, WPC - Reminder

Suds, Dickcissel, and Lensbaby Redux

June 5, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Hey, I screwed up the schedule of posts and 2 posts accidentally posted at the same time yesterday. This one, that I took back down and re-posted and another one with daffodils. It is possible that you didn’t get the post about the daffodils yesterday. If that is the case, click on the link below:

My soul and pocketbook are glad to announce that I have finished THE CANVAS WALL PROJECT. 5 new canvases arrived on Monday and I was able to get them up that night. Here are the 5 final canvases:

Before the Swallow Dares – 2020

There is also an update on Naima and birthday wishes for Jorge in there.

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My soul and pocketbook are glad to announce that I have finished THE CANVAS WALL PROJECT. 5 new canvases arrived on Monday and I was able to get them up that night. Here are the 5 final canvases:

This is what the wall looks like:

Now, I realize that when there is furniture in place, not every picture is visible. That isn’t the important part. The important part is that they are there at all.

On to the next decorating project. Whatever that may be!
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I don’t consider pictures that were taken in the same calendar year in which we currently exist to be a backlog. However, if I did, this collection of images would be somewhat of a backlog. This clears out all images from January and February that had yet to be edited or curated.

Pictures from a trip to Dickcissel with Naima, some Lensbaby tests, and a picture of the Root Beer Symposium we had during movie night back in January.

We haven’t had Movie Night at The Union Street theater since February, so we haven’t been able to crown a root beer champion, but those pictures might give you the slightest indication of how messy my basement is right now. Although I would estimate that the big parts of the basement cleanup are about 30% done.

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

SIGNS

A SIGNS picture is just that, a picture of a SIGN or multiple SIGNS. Remember, there are more than one kind of SIGN(S).

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Animals, Art, Black & White, Derrick, Elainie, Flowers, Iowa State, Macro, Mission Trip, Naima, Photoshop, Politics, Sabas, Saydie, Shannon, Youth Group

#63

May 28, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I only have one image to share today. It might not seem like much of an image at first glance. It is just a wet gazania. But this is a focus stacked image. It took 63 pictures just to combine all of them into this one image.

I repeat, it isn’t that I took 63 images and this is the one I like the best, I took 63 images and combined them into one image.

I’m sure I’ll be doing more focus stacking in the future. The photo rail makes it way easier to focus stack. In addition to making it way easier to do super macro.

Now I have yet to do a super-macro photo stacked image, but that is coming. Very soon.

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Thought I would reveal the latest collection of images that have been added to the CANVAS WALL PROJECT.