Category Archives: Cousin Amy

Memory Lane Denouement

Today is a monumental day. It is the last of our Saturday walks down memory lane. With this last collection of images, I was able to fix all the blogs that had missing pictures due to my constant changing of image gallery hosts. The last entry to be fixed was in August of 2011. Unfortunately many entries weren’t able to be fixed completely because I have lost images over the decade and half this website has been in existence. Most of those were pictures that were “archives” images that were scans of old pictures from the film days. The other major missing hole will be pictures from the first two years of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, originally known as THE RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT. It is sad that this collection will never be “complete” again, but we are never actually fully complete, are we? However, when it comes to the RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT, there is probably less than 50 images missing. So that isn’t terrible. After all, it isn’t like anybody goes back and looks at my journal entries from 11 years ago.

Here is the last collection of images:


Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

Twins vs. Padres - 2011

WEEK 24 - PEOPLE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 25 - SOOTHING - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 26 - LIGHT PLACEMENT - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 27 - BLACK AND WHITE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 28 - GAMES - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 29 - FRAMING - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 30 - NIGHT - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 32 - NOISE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

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:

Minnesota

RWPE Y2 #24 – PEOPLE

RWPE Y2 #25 – SOOTHING

RWPE Y2 #26 – LIGHT PLACEMENT

RWPE Y2 #27 – BLACK & WHITE

RWPE Y2 #28 – GAMES

RWPE Y2 #29 – FRAMING

RWPE Y2 #30 – NIGHT

RWPE Y2 #32 – NOISE

There is no walk down memory lane next Saturday. I’m not sure what next Saturday will even hold. I might start taking Saturdays off. I might start moving the formal portraits to Saturdays and start taking Sundays off. Or I might just start working on the backlog. It is a mystery that only time will solve.

2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17

The grand majority of the pictures in the folders 2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17 are from a trip to Kalona to eat an authentic Amish meal with Funk, Sara, and Cousin Amy. This was before Funk became a total badass and started spending her free time climbing mountains in Peru. There are also a couple pictures here from a camping trip to Ledges and a pictures I took and poorly photoshopped for the United Way of Story County.


Live United

Live United

WEEK 23 - DEPTH OF FIELD - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

Guys' Night

Guys' Night

Guys' Night

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

I miss Kalona. I will need to go there at some point this year, and not just for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT.

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 Y2 #23 – DEPTH OF FIELD

GUYS’ NIGHT

LIVE UNITED

KALONA ROAD TRIP

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a trip to a baseball game.

Nine Emotions

The pictures in the folder Nine Emotions are from when I had the Original 9 pick what the considered what were the best representations of each of the 9 emotions from THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT. I didn’t say that they had to use everybody once. I put no limits on how many times they chose the same person or chose themselves or didn’t choose themselves. I was fascinated with what came back.



My Picks – Otherwise known as the Correct Answer

The 9 Emotions Project - Cousin Amy's Picks
Cousin Amy’s Picks

The 9 Emotions Project - Derrick
Derrick’s Picks

The 9 Emotions Project - Jay
Jay’s Picks

The 9 Emotions Project - Jen
Jen’s Picks

The 9 Emotions Project - Jesse
Jesse’s Picks

The 9 Emotions Project - Jill
Jill’s Picks

The 9 Emotions Project - Sara
Sara’s Picks

The 9 Emotions Project -Shannon
Shannon’s Picks

The 9 Emotions Project - Willy
Willy’s Picks

I was asked the other day (from when I wrote this, but from the time you are seeing this, it was months ago) by Elizabeth what I was going to do when I was done with THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. I’m not saying it was an accusatory way, but it was kind of like, “is that it, are you out of ideas?”. And maybe I am out of ideas, because I have never really been satisfied that I was done with THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT. I did go on to photograph more people after the original 9. Bill, Logan, Johnathan, Nader, Alexis, Anders, Dawn, Brandon, Nate, Laura, Dae Hee, Bethany, and Michelle. But I feel like there needs to be more.

Some photo projects are left abandoned on the side of the road of life, like THE BEAVER MACHETE MASSACRE. But some, I think are worth picking out of the ditch. Dusting off and trying out again.

Problem is, these days, I’m pretty much a social pariah. I only see the same handful of people.

I see the same like five or six people when I got to work: Denise, Elizabeth, The Hof, Jesse, Joe, Kim, Michelle, and Ron.
I see the same like four people at my Monthly Movie Night: Anders, Jay, Jason, and Jesse.
I see Teresa after church for lunch.
I see Andy when we make soap.

Rinse and repeat. Five or six people. Over and over again. Don’t get me wrong. These are some pretty wonderful people. But it makes a project like this difficult to pick up again. However, maybe some day, I will fire it up again. But I will need to find new blood. I could revisit some of the originals, it has been 10 years after all. I don’t know. I’m just thinking out loud.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #70

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a camping trip, at the very least.

2011-01-27

I’m trying to piece the 2011 archives together across a few different hard drives. I know I have definitely lost a bunch of images in 2011, but I’m always discovering some that I thought were lost but really aren’t. In the folder 2011-01-27 are the first set of pictures I ever took for THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT. It is a project I keep saying that I’m going to visit again, but then, I just never do. I’ll get to it. I just need to find more friends that like having their picture taken.

Here are the pictures from the folder 2011-01-27:


Cousin Amy - Joy

Cousin Amy - Sadness

Cousin Amy - Anger

Cousin Amy - Amusement

Cousin Amy - Fear

Cousin Amy - Jealousy

Cousin Amy - Surprise

Cousin Amy - Sympathy

Cousin Amy - Boredom

9 Emotions Project - Cousin Amy

Sara - Joy

Sara - Sadness

Sara - Anger

Sara - Amusement

Sara - Fear

Sara - Jealousy

Sara - Surprise

Sara - Sympathy

Sara - Boredom

9 Emotions Project - Sara Junck

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 #54

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #57

The next time we walk down memory lane, it will involve a 6 month old.

01JANUARY2011

At the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 I seem to have lost a ton of pictures. I’m grouping all the pictures that are in the folder 01JANUARY2011 together for this post:


WEEK 1 - REFLECTIONS - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 2 - LONG EXPOSURE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

Nuclear Library Redux

Nuclear Library Redux

Nuclear Library Redux

The Story

The Story

The Story

The Story

The Story

The Story

The Story

The Story

The Story

The Story

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 Y2 #1: REFLECTIONS

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #53

RWPE #52 – EYE

RWPE Y2 #2: LONG EXPOSURE

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #49

I’m not sure what next week’s walk down memory lane will cover. My files from 2011 are a complete mess. Just a complete mess.

2010-08-25, 2010-08-26, 2010-08-29, and 2010-08-30

There weren’t many pictures in the folders 2010-08-25, 2010-08-26, and 2010-08-30 so I combined them with the folder 2010-08-29. Most of the pictures are from a baby shower Sara and I (she really did all the work) for Jen and Derrick when Jen was preggers with Evie. There are also a few full moon images in the other folders.


Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

Gorshe Baby Shower

WEEK 34 - FOOD - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

Personal Photo Project of the Week #44 Alternate

Personal Photo Project of the Week #44 Alternate

Personal Photo Project of the Week #44 Alternate

Personal Photo Project of the Week #44 Alternate

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 #37E

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #44

RWPE #34 – FOOD

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a turtle and Shannon. Possibly together.

Post #4,000

August 9, 2006. That was the date where I first took keyboard in hand and began typing out the blog that I entitled “An Artist’s Notebook”. I entitled that first post “First Journal Entry”. The categories for that first post were “Blogging”, “Contests”, “Jay”, and “Sara”.

This is the first paragraph I posted:

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”.

Then it goes on to talk about how I attended the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon Reception with Sara to see what two pictures had been accepted for display that year. Then I would go on to talk about how Jay had talked me into entering the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

The last line of the entry was simply:

I don’t want to mail it in.

While I was actually referencing the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest, it is my hope that I also didn’t choose to “mail it in” as it pertains to “An Artist’s Notebook”.

It has been 5,276 days since that first post. 5,276 days to reach this day and the 4,000th post in this blog, or “online journal” like I sometimes call it when I don’t like calling it a blog. It is hard to believe I have made it this far, for this long.

It hasn’t been necessarily smooth sailing the whole time. My website has been through a couple different servers. I have been through a couple different hosts for the blog part of the website. I have been through 4 (I think) different image hosting options in those 5,275 days. That jumping around for image hosting solutions did cause the problem that images from my posts from the first few years of this website’s existence have had to be “restored” slowly over time. So far I have semi-successfully restored all the entries though June of 2010. Which means, I still have a full year’s worth of entries left to restore. Somewhere in 2011, was when I fully made the move to my current SmugMug image hosting solution. I have unfortunately lost a few images, probably forever, mostly old phone pictures, but those old posts are as complete as they will ever be.

When I hit these milestones, I like to publish a lot of fairly meaningless stats. This one will be no different. So, here are the “An Artist’s Notebook” categories that I have used the most often:

Top 10 An Artist’s Notebook Categories

#1. Black & White – 698 Entries

#2. Flowers – 693 Entries

#3. Animals – 620 Entries

#4. Jesse – 495 Entries

#5. Portrait – 472 Entries

#6. Shannon – 421 Entries

#7. Carla – 391 Entries

#8. WPC – Submissions – 381 Entries

#9. Teresa – 364 Entries

#10. Mom – 363 Entries

Top Ten An Artist’s Notebook People Categories

#1. Jesse – 495 Entries

#2. Shannon – 421 Entries

#3. Carla – 391 Entries

#4. Teresa – 364 Entries

#5. Mom – 363 Entries

#6. Jay – 320 Entries

#7. Derrick – 295 Entries

#8. Willy – 268 Entries

#9. Vest – 258 Entries

#10. Jen – 254 Entries

Top Ten Non-People An Artist’s Notebook Categories

#1. Black & White – 698 Entries

#2. Flowers – 693 Entries

#3. Animals – 620 Entries

#4. Portrait – 472 Entries

#5. WPC – Submissions – 381 Entries

#6. Nature – 349 Entries

#7. Macro – 332 Entries

#8. Photoshop – 327 Entries

#9. Road Trip – 326 Entries

#10. Art – 314 Entries

People often ask what is the best way to improve their Photography 139 Category Score. The easiest way is to submit pictures to THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. But posing for and assisting me with photo project or photo adventures is also a very good way.

What people have a shot at cracking the Top Ten by the time we hit Post #5,000? Kim, Sara, Logan, and Micky all have a shot. But 1,000 posts is a long ways away. So anybody has a shot!

But what are the Ten Most Popular Photo Galleries in Photography 139 history? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question. I can only process stats up to 365 days ago. However, I can tell you the Ten Most Popular Photo Galleries of the last 365 Days are.

Click on the image to peruse that gallery.

Top Ten Most Popular Photography 139 Galleries (by view) of the Last 365 Days


WEEK 209 - ARCHITECTURE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
#1. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 7 – 57697 Views

Be True
#2. Christopher D. Bennett – 41080 Views

9 Emotions Project - Johnathan
#3. 9 Emotions Project – 36972 Views

Taylan Howard
#4. Taylan Howard – 2020 – 34075 Views

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2016
#5. Daisies – 26800 Views

Morning in America
#6. Drone – 24659 Views

WEEK 274 - FACELESS PORTRAIT - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
#7. Weekly Photo Challenge – HOF – 24603 Views

Be Aggressive!
#8. Family Happenings – 18,231 Views

Alexis Pregnant with Anela
#9. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020 – 17057 Views

Black Lives Matter - Boone
#10. Black Lives Matter – Boone – 2020 – 16160 Views

The Ten Most Popular Photography 139 Images of the Last 365 Days (by Views)


Alexis Pregnant with Anela
#1. 7254 Views

Taylan Howard
#2. 3153 Views

2020 Birthday Party Invites
#3. 2460 Views (Photo by Logan Kahler)

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009
#4. 2228 Views

Garrett Larson
#5. 2127 Views

Baier Family Photo Shoot - 2009
#6. 2111 Views

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3
#7. 1971 Views

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card
#8. 1916 Views

The Most Tolerable Third Party
#9. 1891 Views

The Hero of Africa
#10. 1830 Views

Now the secret to the popularity of some of these images is that they are cover photos for albums, but shhhh… don’t tell anybody!

Another category of meaningless statistics, I’d like to share is what have been the most popular posts since the inception of “An Artist’s Notebook”. Although it might not be the most accurate way to judge such things, the only statistic I can use to judge this is “Comments” left on each post. That doesn’t mean emails or text messages or comments I received in person. These are comments that were left in the Comments section of each post.

Most Popular An Artist’s Notebook Entries (by Comments)

#1. The People’s Choice Round Two – 24 Comments

#2. Weekly Photo Challenge – Week 9 – Food – 22 Comments

#2. Weekly Photo Challenge – Week 43 – Sunrise/Sunset – 22 Comments

#4. Town Sign Project: Hamilton County – 21 Comments

#4. Town Sign Project: Dallas County – 21 Comments

#6. Postcard Recreation Project: Some Churches – 20 Comments

#6. Rodan139: Swede Valley Lutheran Church – 20 Comments

#8. Will History Blame Me… – 19 Comments

#9. Yo, Ya Just Get in that, You Get in that Head Space, Ya Know – 15 Comments

#9. You Can Call it a Comeback – 15 Comments

#9. Wild Goose Chase – 15 Comments

#9. Sorry Not Sorry – 15 Comments

One thing to note is that each “An Artist’s Notebook” entry has its Comments section close 30 days after being posted. Some of those still have a chance to grow, but most have been locked into place forever.

The last statistic I want to share before closing out Post #4,000 is kind of a loyalty score. To even be considered for this list, you first have to have a Photography 139 Email Subscription. The following is a statistic based on “loyalty” for lack of a better term to that service.

Top Five Most Loyal Photography 139 Subscribers

1. Michelle Haupt – 99%
2. Joe Duff – 97%
3. Shannon Bardole-Foley – 94%
4. Sara Lockner – 90%
5. Corey Faust – 89%

Thanks to everybody that has supported this adventure for 14 years, 5 months, and now 10 days!

2009-11-19 + 2009-11-21

There were only a couple of pictures in the folder 2009-11-19, so I decided to also post some pictures from the folder 2009-11-21.

The picture from the first album is of Becca and her beau at the time. There is one picture of a Window Project I made for Salon 908. I always meant to make a companion piece to go with it, but never did. amazingly, that window still hangs in Salon 908. I am amazed that is hasn’t fallen apart yet. I really didn’t know what I was doing when I made it.

The majority of the pictures in the second folder are from a photo shoot I did with Cousin Amy and her son Sam. That was fun photo shoot!


Salon 908 Window

Becca and Gelli

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

Cousin Amy and Sam - 2009

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:

Wednesday Surprise
Window Project #2

Next Saturday’s trip down memory lane will involve Kansas City.

2009-08-24

There are a ton of photos in the folder 2009-08-24. Most of them are from my trips to the Iowa State Fair in 2009. However, there is also a good chunk of them that are pictures of Teresa and Ernie.

This is already going to be a long post, so I don’t want to overwhelm you with a ton of words up front. I want to overwhelm you with pictures on the backside:


Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Iowa State Fair - 2009

Teresa and Ernie

Teresa and Ernie

Teresa and Ernie

Teresa and Ernie

Teresa and Ernie

Teresa and Ernie

Teresa and Ernie

Teresa and Ernie

Teresa and Ernie

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

The State Fair

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve some Stephanie and some of my mad gardening skills.

2009-07-10

The pictures from the folder 2009-07-10 are all from an Ames on the Half Shell concert that featured by far my favorite artist that we ever booked. Her name was Bonne Finken and she was one of maybe 3 artists that we booked during my entire run with the Jaycees that couldn’t be described as generic classic rock cover band.

Listen, that isn’t an insult. There is nothing wrong with a classic rock cover band. They are usually pretty enjoyable to listen to, but they certainly don’t challenge you as a music enthusiast.

I’m terrible at describing her sound, but it both pop and rock and it is undeniably powerful. Bonne is still producing music, but she has moved on from this local scene. She moved to Tennessee. She released her third album earlier this year. It was produced by a member of Slipknot.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Bonne Finken’s conert:


Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” post to its original glory:

Bonne Finken

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flowers and sparklers, but not necessarily together.