Category Archives: Angie

Andy, Angie, Animals, Bill, Birthdays, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elainie, Elizabeth, Holidays, Iowa State, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Macro, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Shawn Lockner, Sheri, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 421 – RELIGION

October 9, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

NOTES: 1 – THE THEME FOR THIS WEEK HAS A SPECIAL RULE. MAKE SURE YOU READ THAT SPECIAL RULE DURING THE THEME REVEAL PART OF THIS HERE JOURNAL ENTRY. 2 – AT THE END OF THE MONTH I WILL BE OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT YEAR’S THEMES. THE LAST MONDAY IN OCTOBER AND THE 1ST MONDAY IN NOVEMBER ARE WHEN SUGGESTIONS CAN BE MADE. THOSE SUGGESTIONS HAVE TO BE MADE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THOSE POSTS. NOT VIA EMAIL, TEXT MESSAGE, TEAMS, PHONE CONVERSATION, SNAPCHAT. ONLY IN THE COMMENTS SECTIONS OF THOSE 2 POSTS. START THINKING OF THEMES YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR NEXT YEAR.

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Today is Indigenous Peoples Day!

I hope we all can find a way to celebrate and research the contributions and history of the indigenous peoples of America today and every day.

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Today is Shawn’s birthday, so I need to wish him a happy birthday. Happy birthday Shawn!

I hope your birthday is as amazing as you want it to be!

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RELIGION! An estimated 6.6 billion people practice a RELIGION. But did many of those billions of people or any of the 1.2 billion unaffiliated find something of a RELIGION to photograph to make it a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, October 2, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Elainie Stensland – 1 week (2)
2-Myriah Sharp – 1 week (3)
3-Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
4-Amy Peterson – 3 weeks (2)
5-Scott Degeneffe – 6 weeks (2)
6-Sabas Hernandez – 7 weeks
7-Willy McAlpine – 7 weeks
8-Mary Green – 9 weeks (3)
9-Mike Vest – 13 weeks
10-Sheri Fakhouri – 16 weeks
11-Monica Jennings – 17 weeks
12-Logan Kahler – 17 weeks
13-Nathanial Brown – 18 weeks
14-Jesse Howard – 18 weeks
15-Tamara Peterson – 21 weeks
16-Alexis Stensland – 26 weeks
17-Mindi Terrell – 33 weeks (3)
18-Brandon Kahler – 57 weeks
19-Linda Bennett – 62 weeks (2)
20-Sarah Toot – 63 weeks
21-Angie DeWaard – 67 weeks
22-Dawn Krause – 71 weeks (3)
23-Kim Barker – 77 weeks (2)
24-Joe Duff – 78 weeks (2)
25-Teresa Kahler – 89 weeks (3)
26-Carla Stensland – 89 weeks (2)
27-Micky Augustin – 91 weeks
28-Andy Sharp – 92 weeks
29-Bill Wentworth – 93 weeks
30-Cathie Morton – 97 weeks
31-Elizabeth Nordeen – 98 weeks (2)
32-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 100 weeks
33-Kio Dettman – 102 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:

Andy Sharp (Boone First United Methodist Parsonage – Boone, Iowa) – 93 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa) – 68 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 94 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Story City, Iowa) – 58 weeks

Carla Stensland (Twin Lakes Bible Camp, Iowa) – 90 weeks

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 98 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Es Selam Mosque – Rural Dallas County, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 72 weeks

Elainie Stensland (Ankeny, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 99 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Marion Methodist Church – Boone, Iowa) – 19 weeks

Jesse Howard (Marion Methodist Church – Boone, Iowa)

Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 79 weeks

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 78 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 103 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Ames, Iowa) – 63 weeks

Linda Bennett (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Boone, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 18 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 92 weeks

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 14 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 34 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Otley, Iowa) – 18 weeks

Myriah Sharp (Hawaii) – 2 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 19 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 8 weeks

Sarah Toot (Bethpage Golf Course – Farmingdale, New York) – 64 weeks

Sarah Toot (Bethpage Golf Course – Farmingdale, New York)

Scott Degeneffe (Rural Boone County, Iowa) – 7 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Des Moines, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 17 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Suzie Brannen (Austin, Texas) – 1 week

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 22 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone First United Methodist Church – Boone, Iowa) – 90 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone First United Methodist Church – Boone, Iowa)

Willy McAlpine (Seville, Spain) – 8 weeks

31 participants! That is a pretty good week.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Hawaii
+ Iowa
+ Nebraska
+ New York
+ Spain
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

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

38 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 75% of the way there!

he Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ Alto del Perdon – Spain
+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Ontario, Canada
+ Vallunareju Norte – Peru
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
+ Puenta de la Reina, Spain
+ St. John pied de port, France
+ Vienna, Austria
+ Munich, Germany
+ Rome, Italy
+ Cannes, France
+ Koper, Slovenia

The major milestone reached this week was Kim joining the Year and a Half Streak Club! WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all good news. It was a veritable blook bath of streaks! Sara’s 2 week streak is gone. Amy’s 3 week streak is toast. Mary’s 9 week streak is over! And most heartbreaking… Alexis’ 26 week streak is but a distant memory!

But all is not lost to those who believe in the power of resurrection and this is a new week where new streaks can begin!

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:

#INSTAGOOD

#INSTAGOOD! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is an #INSTAGOOD image? Here is where that special rule for this theme is revealed. An #INSTAGOOD image is simply the best image you take this week. Period. And because it is the best image you take this week (HERE IS THAT SPECIAL RULE) you can only submit ONE picture for this theme. Only one picture is your best picture.

I will add, do NOT send me multiple images and ask me to pick the best one. Remember that one rule for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is that the picture has to be taken the week of the theme because this is not a curate your pictures challenge, this is a get off your butt and go take pictures challenge! However, this week, you will have to do curate from all the pictures you take this week down to one, best picture.

The term #INSTAGOOD does come from Instagram. It is the second most popular Instagram hashtag. These are the 5 most popular Instagram hashtags.

1. #love (2.1 billion)
2. #instagood (1.7 billion)
3. #fashion (1.1 billion)
4. #instagram (1.1 billion)
5. #photooftheyday (1 billion)

You hashtag an image with #INSTAGOOD that you think it is particularly good. A picture that is definitely worth of the grid. Not the weak kind of image you might throw into your story. For the grid!

I look forward to seeing the best image you take this week!

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 best in this place that I hope is some of the best of me next Monday.

Alexis, Amy, Andy, Angie, Art, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Christianity, Dawn, Elainie, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Street Photography, Tamara, Tenderloining, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 420 – ARCHITECTURE

October 2, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 10 Comments

NOTES: 1 – SOME OF THE SUBMISSIONS ARE STARTING TO COME IN VERY SMALL. WATCH THE SIZE OF THE IMAGES YOU SEND IN. IDEALLY THEY SHOULD BE AT LEAST 1,000 PIXELS. SMALLER IMAGES MIGHT LOOK GOOD ON YOUR PHONE SCREEN, BUT DON’T LOOK GOOD ON A COMPUTER MONITOR. 2 – AT THE END OF THE MONTH I WILL BE OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT YEAR’S THEMES. THE LAST MONDAY IN OCTOBER AND THE 1ST MONDAY IN NOVEMBER ARE WHEN SUGGESTIONS CAN BE MADE. THOSE SUGGESTIONS HAVE TO BE MADE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THOSE POSTS. NOT VIA EMAIL, TEXT MESSAGE, TEAMS, PHONE CONVERSATION, SNAPCHAT. ONLY IN THE COMMENTS SECTIONS OF THOSE 2 POSTS. START THINKING OF THEMES YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR NEXT YEAR.

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This morning the Iowa Pork Producers Association released the finalists for this year’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin. There are 5 finalists and 3 of them are close to Boone!

Here are the Finalists:

+ Cliff’s Place – Manning (80 minutes)
+ Spillway Supper Club – Harpers Ferry (3 hours 35 minutes)
+ Stumpy’s Bar & Grill – Duncombe (45 minutes)
+ ToJo’s Bar & Grill – Jamaica (42 minutes)
+ The Roadhouse – Orange City (3 hours 11 miuntes)

A total of 774 restaurants were nominated this year.

Looks like it is time for me to get out on the open road again.

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ARCHITECTURE! Everybody lives or works in or near a building or structure that is a form of ARCHITECTURE. But were there structures around enough people to inspire them to take and submit a picture? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, September 25, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Corey Faust – 1 week
2-Sara Lockner – 1 week
3-Amy Peterson – 2 weeks (2)
4-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 3 weeks
5-Susanna Funk – 4 weeks
6-Scott Degeneffe – 5 weeks (2)
7-Sabas Hernandez – 6 weeks
8-Willy McAlpine – 6 weeks
9-Mary Green – 8 weeks
10-Mike Vest – 12 weeks
11-Sheri Fakhouri – 15 weeks (2)
12-Monica Jennings – 16 weeks (2)
13-Logan Kahler – 16 weeks (2)
14-Nathanial Brown – 17 weeks (2)
15-Jesse Howard – 17 weeks
16-Tamara Peterson – 20 weeks
17-Alexis Stensland – 25 weeks (3)
18-Mindi Terrell – 32 weeks (3)
19-Brandon Kahler – 56 weeks
20-Linda Bennett – 61 weeks
21-Sarah Toot – 62 weeks (3)
22-Angie DeWaard – 66 weeks
23-Dawn Krause – 70 weeks (3)
24-Kim Barker – 76 weeks (2)
25-Joe Duff – 77 weeks
26-Teresa Kahler – 88 weeks (3)
27-Carla Stensland – 88 weeks (3)
28-Micky Augustin – 90 weeks
29-Andy Sharp – 91 weeks
30-Bill Wentworth – 92 weeks
31-Cathie Morton – 96 weeks (2)
32-Elizabeth Nordeen – 97 weeks (2)
33-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 99 weeks
34-Kio Dettman – 101 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:

WEEK 420 - ARCHITECTURE - ELAINIE HERNANDEZ

Elainie Hernandez (West Side Market – Cleveland, Ohio) – 1 week

Elainie Hernandez (West Side Market – Cleveland, Ohio)

Becky Parmelee (Bella Vista, Arkansas) – 1 week

Myriah Sharp (Maui, Hawaii) – 1 week

Myriah Sharp (Maui, Hawaii)

Sara Lockner (Windsor Heights, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Amy Peterson (Washington D.C.) – 3 weeks

Amy Peterson (Washington D.C.)

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 6 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa)

Sabas Hernandez (Cleveland, Ohio) – 7 weeks

Willy McAlpine (Spain) – 7 weeks

Mary Green (Edgewood, Iowa) – 9 weeks

Mary Green (Edgewood, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 13 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Elite Eye – Ankeny, Iowa) – 16 weeks

Monica Jennings (Ogden, Iowa) – 17 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 17 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Boone, Iowa) – 18 weeks

Jesse Howard (Boone, Iowa) – 18 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 21 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Des Moines, Iowa) – 26 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Des Moines, Iowa) – 33 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Des Moines, Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 57 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 62 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 63 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa) – 67 weeks

Dawn Krause (Barcelona, Spain) – 71 weeks

Dawn Krause (Barcelona, Spain)

Kim Barker (Austin, Texas) – 77 weeks

Kim Barker (Ms. Congeniality Stage – San Antonio, Texas)

Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 78 weeks

Joe Duff (League City, Texas)

Teresa Kahler (Linwood Cemetery – Boone, Iowa) – 89 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa State Fairgrounds – Des Moines, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Eldora, Iowa) – 89 weeks

Carla Stensland (Pine Lake – Eldora, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Ames, Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 91 weeks

Andy Sharp (UNI Dome – Cedar Falls, Iowa) – 92 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 93 weeks

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 97 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa State University – Ames, Iowa) – 98 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa State University – Ames, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Mackinac Island, Michigan) – 100 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 102 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Des Moines, Iowa) – 524 weeks

34 submissions! That is a pretty great week. Could have been 35 if TJ Maxx has more inspiring buildings or 36 if Funk could have found a building in the mountains. But I digress.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Hawaii
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Michigan
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Spain
+ Texas

Thanks to Myriah’s trip to Hawaii, we get to add Hawaii to the list!

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

38 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 75% of the way there!

he Outside of the United States map is currently:

There were some pretty big milestones reached this week! Shannon became the 2nd member ever of the Triple Digit Club! WooHoo! Joe reached the Year and a Half Club! WooHoo! Finally Alexis reached the Half Year Club! WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all good news. Faust couldn’t build on his submission from last week. Jen’s streak went up in flames at 3. Funk’s streak tumbled back down the mountain after 4 weeks. The humanity!

RELIGION

RELIGION! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!!

RELIGION! I bet a few people groaned when they saw this was the theme. That is okay. You didn’t think a website that is grounded in Christianity would go a year without the RELIGION theme did you? Where do you think the name Photography 139 comes from? I’m not forcing you to go to church to take this picture. A RELIGION picture could be as easy as taking a picture of a house of worship. Doesn’t have to be a church. There are a ton of RELIGIONs in the world and a ton of them are probably practiced near you. Within 20 minutes of where I live in central Iowa there are synagogues, mosques, and even a mandir. But it doesn’t have to be of a building. Or even a worship service. It can be a picture of a book or a song or a symbol. There are religious symbols all over, if you take a second to look. There are so many possibilities!

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

Science gives man knowledge which is power, religion gives man wisdom which is control.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

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 RELIGION in this place that is was built on a foundation of Christianity next Monday.

Alexis, Amy, Andy, Angie, Bill, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Faust, Funk, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 419 – BLACK AND WHITE

September 25, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It is the last collection of submissions for the month of September, so it is a good time to revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ. I’ve noticed an uptick in small-sized submissions lately. It wouldn’t hurt to review the resolution FAQ if you haven’t looked at it lately.

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. This limit is tentatively scheduled to go down to 2 at the beginning of 2024. Unless there is a sudden big falloff in participants.

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.

If participation rates climb, that limit of 3 is subject to lower.

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.

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BLACK & WHITE! Everybody knows that it is my favorite theme, but did a bunch of people love it as much as I do to make it a popular theme? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out!

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

1-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
2-Amy Peterson – 1 week
3-Ernie Redd – 1 week
4-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
5-Susanna Funk – 3 weeks (2)
6-Scott Degeneffe – 4 weeks (2)
7-Sabas Hernandez – 5 weeks
8-Willy McAlpine – 5 weeks
9-Mary Green – 7 weeks (3)
10-Mike Vest – 11 weeks
11-Sheri Fakhouri – 14 weeks
12-Monica Jennings – 15 weeks
13-Logan Kahler – 15 weeks
14-Nathanial Brown – 16 weeks
15-Jesse Howard – 16 weeks
16-Tamara Peterson – 19 weeks
17-Alexis Stensland – 24 weeks (3)
18-Mindi Terrell – 31 weeks (3)
19-Brandon Kahler – 55 weeks
20-Linda Bennett – 60 weeks (3)
21-Sarah Toot – 61 weeks (2)
22-Angie DeWaard – 65 weeks
23-Dawn Krause – 69 weeks (2)
24-Kim Barker – 75 weeks (2)
25-Joe Duff – 76 weeks (3)
26-Teresa Kahler – 87 weeks (2)
27-Carla Stensland – 87 weeks (3)
28-Micky Augustin – 89 weeks
29-Andy Sharp – 90 weeks
30-Bill Wentworth – 91 weeks
31-Cathie Morton – 95 weeks
32-Elizabeth Nordeen – 96 weeks
33-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 98 weeks
34-Kio Dettman – 100 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:

Kio Dettman (Rural Ogden, Iowa) – 101 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 99 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, Iowa) – 97 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, Iowa)

Cathie Morton (Des Moines, Iowa) – 96 weeks

Cathie Morton (Ames, Iowa)

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 92 weeks

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 91 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 90 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 88 weeks

Carla Stensland (Sioux City, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Boxholm, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 88 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa State University – Ames, Iowa)

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas) – 77 weeks

Kim Barker (Ames, Iowa) – 76 weeks

Dawn Krause (Cannes, France) – 70 weeks

Dawn Krause (Rome, Italy)

Dawn Krause (Koper, Slovenia)

Angie DeWaard (Scottsdale, Arizona) – 66 weeks

Sarah Toot (Baltimore, Maryland) 62 weeks

Sarah Toot (Baltimore, Maryland)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 61 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 56 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 32 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 25 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 20 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Galesburg, Illinois) – 17 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Princeton, Illinois)

Jesse Howard (Grimes, Iowa) – 17 weeks

Logan Kahler (Near Luther, Iowa) – 16 weeks

Logan Kahler (High Trestle Trail Bridge – Boone County, Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Ogden, Iowa) – 16 weeks

Monica Jennings (Ogden, Iowa)

Sheri Fakhouri (Elite Eye Care – Ankeny, Iowa) – 15 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Elite Eye Care – Ankeny, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 12 weeks

Mary Green (Holt, Michigan) – 8 weeks

Willy McAlpine (Albuergue in Foncebadón – Spain) – 6 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Niagara Falls, New York) – 6 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Carroll, Iowa)

Susanna Funk (Dallas County, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Houston, Texas) – 3 weeks

Amy Peterson (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Amy Peterson (Iowa)

Corey Faust (Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, Iowa) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa) – 1 week

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone, Iowa)

35 participants!! That is a great week! I know I’m prejudiced, but I think this is one of the best collection of submissions. Every week there are at least a couple of pictures where i think, “I wish I had taken that picture.” This week there were more than usual!

No new states added this week, but at this point that is to be expected. One new country though. Dawn submitted the first picture from Italy this calendar year!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arizona
+ France
+ Kansas
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Italy
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ New York
+ Slovenia
+ Spain
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

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

37 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 70% of the way there!

he Outside of the United States map is currently:

The big milestone this week was Faust’s first ever submission!! I don’t know if it will lead to more submissions in the future, but I certainly hope it does.

On a personal note, watching the Iowa State-Ohio “football” game last week was an absolutely soul crushing experience. The only reason I didn’t give up on the season is because the Big 12 is hot garbage this year and I thought there was still the chance to win a few games.

Then this week… an entirely different football team showed up. I know part of that was that they were over the virus that plagued the team last week. However, you may have noticed that both Elizabeth and Faust were at the game (not together, they don’t know each other) for the first time this season. Suddenly Iowa State doesn’t suck. One of them is clearly good luck and they both better go to every game the rest of the season.

One thing I’ve learned in my long tenure as an Iowa State fan, I am not good luck. But I digress…

There weren’t any other big milestones reached this week. But we are closing in on some big ones next week. However, there was some heartache. Becky and Ernie could not build on their submissions from last week. Their streaks are over before they even began.

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is an ARCHITECTURE image? It is an image where the focus is on buildings or structures. It is image of the interior or exterior of buildings, bridges, structures, or cityscapes.

While considering the building and/or structure you want to photograph, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will create a great image:

Buildings are deeply emotive structures which form our psyche.
-David Adjaye

I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

RULES

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 ARCHITECTURE in this place that is built on an Apache infrastructure I should next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Ernie, Funk, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Road Trip, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Street Photography, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 418 – SKY

September 18, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

SKY! A great theme, but was it the limit for the amount of people that would participate this week? You will have to keep scrolling to find out:

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, September 4, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week
2-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week
3-Susanna Funk – 2 weeks
4-Scott Degeneffe – 3 weeks
5-Sabas Hernandez – 4 weeks
6-Willy McAlpine – 4 weeks
7-Mary Green – 6 weeks (2)
8-Sara Lockner – 6 weeks
9-Mike Vest – 10 weeks
10-Sheri Fakhouri – 13 weeks
11-Monica Jennings – 14 weeks (2)
12-Logan Kahler – 14 weeks
13-Nathanial Brown – 15 weeks
14-Jesse Howard – 15 weeks
15-Tamara Peterson – 18 weeks
16-Alexis Stensland – 23 weeks
17-Mindi Terrell – 30 weeks (3)
18-Brandon Kahler – 54 weeks
19-Linda Bennett – 59 weeks
20-Sarah Toot – 60 weeks
21-Angie DeWaard – 64 weeks
22-Dawn Krause – 68 weeks
23-Kim Barker – 74 weeks
24-Joe Duff – 75 weeks
25-Teresa Kahler – 86 weeks (2)
26-Carla Stensland – 86 weeks
27-Micky Augustin – 88 weeks
28-Andy Sharp – 89 weeks
29-Bill Wentworth – 90 weeks
30-Cathie Morton – 94 weeks
31-Elizabeth Nordeen – 95 weeks
32-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 97 weeks (2)
33-Kio Dettman – 99 weeks (2)

Heading into this week, this is the current map of states where submissions have come from:

Getting pretty full!

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:

Joe Duff (Texas) – 76 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas)

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 91 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone County, Iowa) – 100 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone County, Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Boone County, Iowa) – 60 weeks

Linda Bennett (Boone, Iowa)

Mary Green (Cleveland, Ohio) – 7 weeks

Mary Green (Cleveland, Ohio)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 19 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 24 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Vienna, Austria) – 69 weeks

Dawn Krause (Munich, Germany)

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 65 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa)

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) 14 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Oskaloosa, Iowa) – 15 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Johnston, Iowa) – 31 weeks

Mindi Terrell (West Des Moines, Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Johnston, Iowa)

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 96 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Britt, Iowa) – 16 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 89 weeks

Susanna Funk (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Susanna Funk (Iowa)

Ernie Redd (Kentucky) – 1 week

Kim Barker (Estes Park, Colorado) – 75 weeks

Kim Barker (Estes Park, Colorado)

Willy McAlpine (Sahagun, Spain) – 5 weeks

Amy Peterson (Washington D.C.) – 1 week

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 87 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Spencer, Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 16 weeks

Logan Kahler (Stratford, Iowa) – 15 weeks

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 90 weeks

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 95 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 55 weeks

Carla Stensland (Lake Okoboji, Iowa) – 87 weeks

Carla Stensland (Clay County Fair – Spencer, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Arnold’s Park, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Des Moines, Iowa) – 98 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Sarah Toot (E. Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) – 61 weeks

Sarah Toot (E. Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania)

Becky Parmelee (Arkansas) – 1 week

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 5 weeks

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 11 weeks

35 participants! That is a great week! Thanks to Ernie’s first ever submission, we get to add Kentucky to the submission map!!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Austria
+ Colorado
+ Germany
+ Iowa
+ Nebraska
+ Ohio
+ Pennsylvania
+ Spain
+ Texas
+ Washington D.C.

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

37 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 70% of the way there!

The current states missing are:

+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Hawaii
+ Indiana
+ Maine
+ Massachusetts
+ Mississippi
+ New Mexico
+ Rhode Island
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

I took my picture about 140 miles from my front door, but still in Iowa. I continue not to contribute.

The big… huge… gargantuan milestone reached this week is Kio is the first person to ever hit the Triple Digit Club! WooHoo!!

But it wasn’t all good news. Sara’s streak ends at 6 and Suzie couldn’t build her streak to 2.

BLACK & WHITE

BLACK & WHITE! If you know me at all, you know that this is my absolutely favorite theme!

What is a BLACK & WHTIE image? Bro! It is a BLACK & WHITE picture. Period. End of story.

But just a reminder. BLACK & WHITE photography is all about tones and textures. Remember that and you will do great.

While thinking on possible subjects for your BLACK & WHITE submission, meditate on the following quote and I no doubt you will take a great picture:

To see in color is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul.
-Andri Cauldwell

I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

RULES

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 BLACK & WHITE in this place that behind the scenes is all monochrome I should next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Animals, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Flowers, Funk, Holidays, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 416 – NATURE

September 4, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

To all of us who toil on the frontlines in the mines of America, I wish us a happy Labor Day!

If you don’t know why we celebrate Labor Day, it is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers.

What kind of social and economic achievements?

Well… the Computer Mine is not a union shop, but trust me, I’m very pro-union. While they aren’t without their problems and a history of corruption, if it weren’t for unions and labor activists, we wouldn’t have the following:

1. Weekends
2. Paid vacation
3. FMLA
4. Paid sick leave
5. Child labor laws (while we have them)
6. Social Security
7. Minimum wage (even though it is too low)
8. 8 hour work day
9. Overtime pay
10. OSHA
11. Health care (even though tying health care to employment is a profoundly awful idea, but better than what we had before)
12. Collective bargaining (in some states)
13. Breaks (including bathroom and lunch)
14. Wrongful termination laws
15. Age discrimination laws
16. Raises
17. Sexual harassment laws
18. American Disabilities Act
19. Holiday pay (enjoying that right now)
20. Military leave
21. Equal Pay Act (1963 & 2011)
22. Civil rights
23. Workers compensation
24. Unemployment insurance
25. Whistleblower protection
26. The right to strike

While this list is hardly comprehensive, it is just many of the things I’m thankful for on this Labor Day.

+++++++

NATURE! A great theme, but was it people’s nature to get out in the world and take a picture of it? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, August 28, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week
2-Scott Degeneffe – 1 week
3-Evie Gorshe – 1 week
4-Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
5-Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
6-Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks (3)
7-Mary Green – 4 weeks
8-Sara Lockner – 4 weeks
9-Mike Vest – 8 weeks
10-Sheri Fakhouri – 11 weeks
11-Monica Jennings – 12 weeks
12-Logan Kahler – 12 weeks (2)
13-Nathanial Brown – 13 weeks
14-Jesse Howard – 13 weeks
15-Tamara Peterson – 16 weeks
16-Alexis Stensland – 21 weeks (3)
17-Mindi Terrell – 28 weeks (3)
18-Brandon Kahler – 52 weeks
19-Linda Bennett – 57 weeks
20-Sarah Toot – 57 weeks
21-Angie DeWaard – 62 weeks
22-Dawn Krause – 66 weeks (2)
23-Kim Barker – 72 weeks
24-Joe Duff – 73 weeks (2)
25-Teresa Kahler – 84 weeks (2)
26-Carla Stensland – 84 weeks (2)
27-Micky Augustin – 86 weeks
28-Andy Sharp – 87 weeks
29-Bill Wentworth – 88 weeks
30-Cathie Morton – 92 weeks
31-Elizabeth Nordeen – 93 weeks
32-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 95 weeks
33-Kio Dettman – 97 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:

Lori Backous (Boone County, Iowa) – 1 week

Lori Backous (Boone County, Iowa)

Susanna Funk (Colorado) – 1 week

Amy Peterson (Idaho Falls, Idaho) – 1 week

Amy Peterson (Yellowstone National Park – Wyoming)

Scott Degeneffe (Ledges State Park – Boone County, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Cleveland, Ohio) – 3 weeks

Willy McAlpine (Puenta de la Reina, Spain) – 3 weeks

Willy McAlpine (Puenta de la Reina, Spain)

Willy McAlpine (St. John pied de port, France)

Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Mary Green (Manchester, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Mary Green (Manchester, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 9 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 12 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Ogden, Iowa) – 13 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 13 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Dayton, Iowa) – 14 weeks

Jesse Howard (Grand Junction, Iowa) – 14 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 17 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Ames, Iowa) – 22 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Ames, Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 29 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Albert Lea, Minnesota) – 53 weeks

Linda Bennett (Sparks, Kansas) – 58 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 59 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania)

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 63 weeks

Dawn Krause (Dayton, Iowa) – 67 weeks

Kim Barker (Nevada, Iowa) – 73 weeks

Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 74 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 85 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 85 weeks

Carla Stensland (Deal’s Orchards – Jefferson, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (West Lake Okoboji – Arnold’s Park, Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Wyoming) – 87 weeks

Andy Sharp (Storm Lake, Iowa) – 88 weeks

Andy Sharp (Near Perry, Iowa)

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 89 weeks

Cathie Morton (Water Works Park – Des Moines, Iowa) – 93 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 94 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Pakwash Lake – between Ear Falls and Red Lake, Ontario, Canada) – 96 weeks

Kio Dettman (Moingona, Iowa) – 98 weeks

Kio Dettman (Moingona, Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone, Iowa) – 520 weeks

34 participants! That is a pretty great week! Especially for a holiday weekend! There were submissions from all over the place this week.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Colorado
+ France
+ Kansas
+ Idaho
+ Iowa
+ Minnesota
+ Nebraska
+ Ohio
+ Ontario, Canada
+ Pennsylvania
+ Spain
+ Texas
+ Wyoming

Thanks to Amy’s trip, Idaho has been added to this year’s map!

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

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

36 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 70% of the way there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Ontario, Canada
+ Vallunareju Norte – Peru
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
+ Puenta de la Reina, Spain
+ St. John pied de port, France

I took my picture about 3 miles from my front door, so I continue not to contribute.

There were no major milestones this week. Unfortunately 3 steaks did bite the dust. Suzie and Evie couldn’t build on last week’s submission. Becky’s streak ended at 2.

SHOES – SUGGESTED BY SARAH TOOT

SHOES! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a SHOES photo? Simply put, it is an image where SHOES are the subject OR play a major compositional element.

While thinking about the SHOES to photograph for this week’s theme, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great image!

Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.
-Marilyn Monroe

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

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 SHOES in this place that is mostly written in my bare feet next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Nature, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 415 – SHADOW

August 28, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

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

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?

If participation rates climb, that limit of 3 is subject to lower.

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?

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

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?

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.

+++++++

SHADOW! A great theme, but did inspire people to lurk in the dark or come out into the light of participation? You’ll have to keep streaming to find out!

I do want to say that hope at least somebody appreciates my submission this week. I was pretty close to kicked out of a museum for taking it.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, August 21, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Sabas Hernandez – 1 week
2-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
3-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
4-Nader Parsaei – 1 week
5-Mary Green – 3 weeks (2)
6-Sara Lockner – 3 weeks (3
7-Mike Vest – 7 weeks
8-Sheri Fakhouri – 10 weeks
9-Monica Jennings – 11 weeks
10-Logan Kahler – 11 weeks (2)
11-Nathanial Brown – 12 weeks
12-Jesse Howard – 12 weeks
13-Tamara Peterson – 15 weeks
14-Alexis Stensland – 20 weeks
15-Mindi Terrell – 27 weeks (3)
16-Brandon Kahler – 51 weeks
17-Linda Bennett – 56 weeks (2)
18-Sarah Toot – 57 weeks (2)
19-Angie DeWaard – 61 weeks
20-Dawn Krause – 65 weeks (2)
21-Kim Barker – 71 weeks
22-Joe Duff – 72 weeks (2)
23-Teresa Kahler – 83 weeks (3)
24-Carla Stensland – 83 weeks (3)
25-Micky Augustin – 85 weeks
26-Andy Sharp – 86 weeks
27-Bill Wentworth – 87 weeks
28-Cathie Morton – 91 weeks
29-Elizabeth Nordeen – 92 weeks
30-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 94 weeks
31-Kio Dettman – 96 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 (Boone, Iowa) – 97 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 95 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 93 weeks

Cathie Morton (Water Works Park – Des Moines, Iowa) – 92 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 88 weeks

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 87 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 86 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 84 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Ames, Iowa) – 84 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Joe Duff (Dallas, Texas) – 73 weeks

Joe Duff (Dallas, Texas)

Kim Barker (Nevada, Iowa) – 72 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 66 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 62 weeks

Sarah Toot (East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) – 58 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 57 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 52 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 28 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 21 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 16 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 13 weeks

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 13 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 12 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 12 weeks

Logan Kahler (Guthrie Center, Iowa)

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 11 weeks

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 8 weeks

Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Mary Green (Camp Wyoming – Wyoming, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Becky Parmelee (King Author Flour & Bakery – Norwich, Vermont) – 2 weeks

Becky Parmelee (West Lebanon, New Hampshire)

Becky Parmelee (Atlanta, Georgia)

Sabas Hernandez (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Cleveland, Ohio) – 2 weeks

Willy McAlpine (Boone, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Evie Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Scott Degeneffe (Dickcissel Park – Boone, Iowa) – 1 week

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 1 week

Christopher D. Bennett (Union Station – Omaha, Nebraska)

34 participants! That is a pretty great week! And pictures were taken from all over the country this week!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:
+ Georgia
+ Kansas
+ Iowa
+ Nebraska
+ New Hampshire
+ Ohio
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas
+ Vermont

Thanks to Becky’s recent travels, 2 more states have been filled in on the map. New Hampshire and Vermont. WooHoo!

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

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

35 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 70% of the way there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Vallunareju Norte – Peru
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture 156 miles from my front door. In a state where a regular contributor resides. I continue not to contribute.

The big milestone this week is Brandon joining THE YEAR LONG STREAK CLUB! WooHoo! Congratulations Brandon!

But it wasn’t all good news! Nader could not build on their submissions last week and their streaks are over before the began.

NATURE

NATURE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a NATURE photo? “Nature photography is a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures.”

That encompasses a lot of the world. So what isn’t NATURE? Humans and anything created by humans. Although those elements can be included in a NATURE photo. But they aren’t the main subject matter.

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

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
-Khalil Gibran

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

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 NATURE in this place that shows mine next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elainie, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nader, Nathanial, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Sheri, State Fair, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 414 – ART

August 21, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I’m leaving for Omaha later than I anticipated, so I did have time to get this post out on time.

ART! A great theme! But did it make a large number of people feel ARTistic enough to submit? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, August 14, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Mary Green – 2 weeks
2-Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
3-Mike Vest – 6 weeks
4-Suzie Brannen – 7 weeks
5-Sheri Fakhouri – 9 weeks (2)
6-Monica Jennings – 10 weeks
7-Logan Kahler – 10 weeks
8-Nathanial Brown – 11 weeks
9-Jesse Howard – 11 weeks
10-Tamara Peterson – 14 weeks
11-Alexis Stensland – 19 weeks
12-Mindi Terrell – 26 weeks (3)
13-Brandon Kahler – 50 weeks
14-Linda Bennett – 55 weeks (2)
15-Sarah Toot – 56 weeks
16-Angie DeWaard – 60 weeks
17-Dawn Krause – 64 weeks
18-Kim Barker – 70 weeks
19-Joe Duff – 71 weeks
20-Teresa Kahler – 82 weeks (3)
21-Carla Stensland – 82 weeks
22-Micky Augustin – 84 weeks
23-Andy Sharp – 85 weeks
24-Bill Wentworth – 86 weeks
25-Cathie Morton – 90 weeks
26-Elizabeth Nordeen – 91 weeks (2)
27-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 93 weeks
28-Kio Dettman – 95 weeks (2)

Here is a look at the updated THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE SUBMISSION MAP:

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:

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 20 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 86 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 61 weeks

Becky Parmelee (?????) – 1 week

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 87 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 51 weeks

Carla Stensland (Spirit Lake, Iowa) – 83 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 91 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Des Moines, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 65 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 92 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 12 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 72 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas)

Kim Barker (Ames, Iowa) – 71 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 96 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Ann Arbor, Michigan) – 56 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Logan Kahler (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 11 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Mary Green (Elkader, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Mary Green (Elkader, Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 85 weeks

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 7 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 27 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 11 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa)

Nader Parsaei (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 1 week

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 12 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Sara Lockner (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa)

Sarah Toot (Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) – 57 weeks

Sarah Toot (Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 94 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 10 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 15 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 83 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Des Moines, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa State University – Ames, Iowa)

Willy McAlpine (McHose Park – Boone, Iowa) – 1 week

32 participants this week! That is a great week!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Michigan
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Louisiana
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ North Carolina
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Carolina
+ South Dakota
+ Tennessee
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

33 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 60% of the way there!

This is the list of current missing states:
+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Hawaii
+ Idaho
+ Indiana
+ Kentucky
+ Maine
+ Massachussetts
+ Mississippi
+ New Hampshire
+ New Mexico
+ Rhode Island
+ Vermont
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Vallunareju Norte – Peru
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The big accomplish week this week was Sheri joining the Double Digits Streak Club! WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all good news. Suzie’s 7 week streak came crashing to a halt. The humanity!

SHADOW

SHADOW! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a SHADOW photo? Simply put it is a picture where a SHADOW plays a major compositional element.

While considering a possible subject for your SHADOW picture meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a fascinating interpretation.

To light a candle is to cast a shadow.
-Ursula K. Le Guin

I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

RULES

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 SHADOW in this place that is a candle in my life next Monday.

Angie, Contests, Drone, Elainie, Evie, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Logan, Nathanial, Sabas, State Fair, Willy

Iowa State Fair Power Rankings

August 20, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

When this publishes I will be in possession of my Iowa State Fair Photo Contest entries. So at this time, I can lift the blackout on what pictures I entered and what picture was accepted for display. I assume that everybody honored my social media blackout of my picture. And I thank you for that.

Here are the pictures I submitted. The one that got some love and the ones that were told “Get out of here kid! You have no future!”.

2023 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon -

Not Selected for Display

Honorable Mention – Color People

Not Selected for Display

I wasn’t the only person in this little circle of trust that had pictures displayed at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. Logan had two pictures displayed and one of his pictures got a little love on the Iowa State Fair Show on IPTV. Nathanial and Angie both got 3 pictures in and got Honorable Mentions in the Sports class.

I hope more people I know enter again next year. Layla expressed interest in entering. I hope Vest gets back in the game too. I also wonder if Carla won’t consider entering. She is going to enter the Clay County Fair Photo Contest this year.

As for me, I probably start getting organized for next year’s contest. Start a folder of possible entries right now. Maybe I could even break a long standing tradition and have people help pick my submissions. I did give some feedback to Angie, Logan, and Nathanial on their possible entries. Maybe I could do the same. Stranger things have happened.

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On Tuesday as we were leaving the Iowa State Fair after the barbecue contest, Scottie D. asked me why I loved the Iowa State Fair. So I thought I would give a list of things I love about the Iowa State Fair:

#10. Food

I’m sure most people would rank food higher on their list. I do love the food at the Iowa State Fair, but it isn’t actually one of the main attractions for me. I used to have a go-to where I would always get a grinder from Jennie’s Grinder, but Jennie passed away several years ago and I have never found a replacement. There is a “grinder” place near where Jennie’s used to be that sells “Gizmos”. But they aren’t anywhere near the same. Starting with the fact that they don’t use sausage, they use beef. Blah! There is a different grinder place at the State Fair, but I will get into that at a later date.

I also used to get a turkey leg from the Iowa Turkey Federation, but I’ve fallen out of love with the turkey leg. It is just not that much food for the price and it is just too darn messy. But it is very photogenic. Hard to beat a picture with a giant turkey leg.

#9 – People Watching

It is hard to beat the Iowa State Fair for people watching. It truly is a crossroads of all of humanity. You can just post up on a bench anywhere and for hours fascinating things and people walking by.

#8 – Shows

I love the fact that there is so much free entertainment everywhere in the Fair. From concerts on the free stages to chainsaw sculpture artists to the bands playing in Pioneer Hall to the entertainers that are roaming the fairgrounds. There are hypnotists to musicians to jugglers to things that kind of defy description.

#7 – Animals

From the lunkers in the DNR Building to the Biggest Bull to the Biggest Boar to the Avenue of the Breeds I love checking out the animals. And such a wide variety. From turtles to ducks to rabbits to cows to sheep to pigs to chickens to ostriches to elk to horses there is an incredible variety to check out.

#6 – Art

There so much amazing art to check out at the Fair. From sweet murals to sculptures to interactive art displays to sand sculptures to hay sculptures to butter sculptures to so much more.

#5 – Flowers

It is well documented that the Discovery Garden is one of my favorite places at the Iowa State Fair. However, it isn’t the only place to check-out flowers and do some flowertography at the fair. There are 27 flowerbeds and 13,000 flowers. Roses, vinca, zinnias, marigolds… oh my!

#4 – Contests

Obviously I’m partial to the Photography Salon, but there is literally a contest for everybody at the Iowa State Fair. From the barbecue contest to the Ugly Cake Contest to the Big Pumpkin Contest to pie eating to husband calling to the chicken calling to the cow chip throwing to rubber chicken throwing to outhouse racing to horseshoes to crocheting to the 4-H to FFA to the Bill Reilly Talent Show! There are 178 canning categories to enter alone!

#3 – Photo Opportunities

I love street photography! Any place where there is great people watching, art, flowers, animals, and food… to name just a few… you know there is going to be photo opportunities every where you look!

#2 – Tradition

I love the tradition of the State Fair. I have many personal traditions I have every year at the Fair. Some are to remind me of others (such as the Scottish Highland at the Avenue of the Breeds) and some are relatively new (such as going to watch Evie and Layla dance). I have a list of things that I have to do every year. And those are my traditions.

#1 – Family

Going to the State Fair is something that reminds me of family. Both biological and the family I don’t share DNA with. This year I saw Logan and Amanda there. Elainie and Sabas. At one time I was going to go with Teresa and/or Carla before plans fell through. Logan entered the Photo Contest this year. Which is a family tradition. My Dad used to enter the photo contest. Winning the Slide Category one year. My parents both used to volunteer in Pioneer Hall and had a booth there as well.

This year I also met up with the extended family of the Gorshes and the Degeneffes and the Jennings. Nader and Jesse as well. Well maybe, Nader. It is supposed to be in the ballpark of triple digits today, so as of the writing of this entry it is unclear if he ended up punking out.

I might make these power rankings a new Iowa State Fair tradition! Until next year’s Fair!

Andy, Angie, Boone FUMC, Carla, Contests, Dawn, Jason, Jesse, Logan, Michelle, Nathanial, Pufferbilly Days, Teresa

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Recap

August 18, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I know I might have written that I was finally going to start sharing pictures from the Color the Wind Festival today, but instead I’m going to do a recap of the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest before it gets too long in the tooth.

First, I should announce to those of you that voted in the People’s Choice Award what photo took home the prize:

Road Trip by Savannah Martin

Road Trip received 50 votes. The next highest vote total received was 21 votes.

If you are interested in seeing this year’s photo books, click on the links below:

Readable Photo Book

Printable Photo Book

There is a lot of people I need to thank for making this years Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest a success.

The Judges:
+ Andie DeWaard
+ Janae Erickson
+ Lisa Person

The Administrative Staff:
+ Teresa Kahler
+ Carla Stensland

The Pegboard Builders:
+ Andy Sharp
+ Jason Stensland

The Graphic Designer:
+ Monica Jennings

The Photo Display Team:
+ Dawn Krause
+ Jesse Howard
+ Monica Jennings
+ Graham Jennings

The Book Designer:
+ Michelle Haupt

The Best of Show & People’s Choice Award Creator:
+ Anonymous

The Merchants that hosted the photo entries:
+ Boone Theater (Teen and Adult Places)
+ Ema’s Elegance (Adult Animals)
+ The Houndstooth Haberdashery (Adult Trains, Planes, & Automobiles)
+ Infamous Ink (Adult Black & White)
+ The Lavender Basket (Adult Plants)
+ Paradox (Youth)
+ Studio 721 (Adult People)

I didn’t take as many pictures as I have in the past of the machinations of the Photo Contest but I did take a few.

Here are some from the Judging:

Judging went very smooth. There was some good and spirited debate from the judges and for the first time ever, had to engage in some tie-breakers. Including a tie-breaker for Best in Show.

I already have 2 of the judges picked out for next year. Still thinking on that third judge, for now. But I have a pretty good idea. Or at least a couple of candidates in mind.

Monica and I set up the photo displays on Thursday. Paradox and Studio 721 set up the displays themselves, which was a big help. Monica really put the displays together and I did the grunt work.

Here are some pictures of the displays:

On Saturday Jesse and I tore down all the displays. On Sunday we transported them out to McHose Park. Graham and Monica met us out there and setup the tents and the display. Jesse and I sat out there in the pouring rain all day trying to keep the pictures dry.

Here are some pictures from Art in the Park:

Watching over the photo display at Art in the Park was a pretty cool experience, even if the conditions weren’t ideal. I got to meet and speak with a few of the photographers that I hadn’t met before. And I met one person that is interested in entering next year and another that is an artist that urged their friend to enter this year. I enjoyed all of those interactions.

After Art in the Park concluded Dawn and Nathanial helped tear down the display and the tents. Logan returned all the pictures that weren’t picked up at Art in the Park for me.

All things considered, it was a successful year. I’m not sure what changes I will make for next year, but I know I will need to add some new faces to the list of volunteers. That volunteer might be you!

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Bill, Birthdays, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Funk, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Photoshop, Pufferbilly Days, Russ, Sara, Shannon, Sheri, Street Photography, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 413 – NEGATIVE

August 14, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

WARNING! NEXT MONDAY I WILL BE ON THE ROAD, SO NEXT WEEK’S POST WILL PUBLISH LATE AND THERE MIGHT NOT BE ANY REMINDERS. PLAN ACCORDINGLY!

I need to start this post by wishing Russ a happy birthday. Happy birthday Russ!

I hope you have lots of visitors today!

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I did have a late submission for SELF-PORTRAIT that I do need to share. A couple actually:

Susanna Funk (Vallunareju Norte – Peru)

You might be asking yourself why Funk gets special privileges and can blow past the deadline and nobody else can? Because she is climbing a mountain in Peru! If you go climb a mountain in Peru, I will also let you miss the deadline. Maybe.

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NEGATIVE! An abstract and maybe demanding theme. But were there many people that could find some NEGATIVE in their life to make NEGATIVE into a positive theme? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, August 7, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Mary Green – 1 week
2-Sara Lockner – 1 week (3)
3-Becky Parmelee – 3 weeks
4-Willy McAlpine – 4 weeks
5-Mike Vest – 5 weeks
6-Suzie Brannen – 6 weeks
7-Sabas Hernandez – 6 weeks
8-Sheri Fakhouri – 8 weeks
9-Monica Jennings – 9 weeks
10-Logan Kahler – 9 weeks
11-Nathanial Brown – 10 weeks
12-Jesse Howard – 10 weeks (2)
13-Tamara Peterson – 13 weeks
14-Alexis Stensland – 18 weeks
15-Mindi Terrell – 25 weeks (3)
16-Brandon Kahler – 49 weeks
17-Linda Bennett – 54 weeks
18-Sarah Toot – 55 weeks (3)
19-Angie DeWaard – 59 weeks
20-Dawn Krause – 63 weeks (2)
21-Kim Barker – 69 weeks
22-Joe Duff – 70 weeks
23-Teresa Kahler – 81 weeks (3)
24-Carla Stensland – 81 weeks
25-Micky Augustin – 83 weeks
26-Andy Sharp – 84 weeks
27-Bill Wentworth – 85 weeks
28-Cathie Morton – 89 weeks
29-Elizabeth Nordeen – 90 weeks
30-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 92 weeks
31-Kio Dettman – 94 weeks
* Susanna Funk – 1 week

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:

Micky Augustin (Hickory Grove Park – Story County, Iowa) – 84 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (High Trestle Trail – Boone County, Iowa) – 93 weeks

Kim Barker (Nevada, Iowa) – 70 weeks

Linda Bennett (Ann Arbor, Michigan) – 55 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 7 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, Iowa) – 11 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 95 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 60 weeks

Joe Duff (Dallas, Texas) – 71 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 9 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Mary Green (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Mary Green (Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 11 weeks

Monica Jennings (Des Moines, Iowa) – 10 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 50 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 82 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 64 weeks

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 90 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 91 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 14 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 85 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Ames, Iowa) – 19 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 82 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 26 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 56 weeks

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 6 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 86 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Orpheum Theater – Minneapolis, Minnesota)

29 participants! Subtracting last week’s 33 participants, creates a negative 4. But 29 is still pretty good considering it is somewhat of an abstract theme.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

33 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 60% of the way there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Vallunareju Norte – Peru
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture 226 miles from my front door. But in a state that has already been marked. I continue to not contribute.

The big milestones this week were Monica and Logan reaching The Double Digit Streak Club. WooHoo! Mindi reached The Half Year Streak Club! WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all good news. Becky’s 3 week streak ended. Willy’s 4 week streak is gone. Sabas’ 6 week streak is no more.

ART

ART! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is an ART photo? Simply put, it is a picture of an existing piece of ART. You could simply find a piece of ART and stand back and take a picture of it. But I would urge you to take an ARTistic look at a piece of an ART. Take a picture of it from a different angle. Take a picture of only part of the picture. Take a picture of it in its environment. Other possibilities are to take pictures of an ARTist making a piece of ART or tools made in the creation of ART. There are just so many possibilities.

While considering possible subject for your submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt your ART submission will be a new piece of ART all its own:

Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.
-Stella Adler

I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

RULES

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 NEGATIVE in this place that started with a pile of negatives next Monday.