Category Archives: Bill

Bill, Dawn, Formal Portrait, Jodie, Kim, Michelle, Road Trip, Shannon, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 51 – ROAD TRIP

September 5, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

Happy Labor Day!

Not so many submissions this week, but that was to be expected. Let’s get to it!

Here are the submissions for ROAD TRIP:

Bill Wentworth

Dawn Krause 1

Dawn Krause 2

Dawn Krause 3

Christopher D. Bennett

Jodie Bennett 1

Jodie Bennett 2

Angie DeWaard

Shannon Bardole

Kim Barker 1

Kim Barker 2

I have to confess that my photo took more effort than normal, mostly because I can’t find a piece that would’ve made this picture quite a bit easier. But it worked out, at least I feel.

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:

WILD CARD!

So what is WILD CARD? Anything! Literally anything you want! A picture of your neighbor mowing his lawn without his shirt on. That counts! A picture of your favorite flower. That counts! A picture of your least favorite child. That counts! A picture of what you’re eating for supper on Thursday night. That counts! Take a picture of anything you want!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge. It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE DIVISION

After small amounts of consideration and consulting with a few people here and there, here is the list of themes for the next 52 weeks. Presented in no particular order:

1. ORANGE
2. YELLOW
3. PURPLE
4. PORTRAIT
5. FACELESS PORTRAIT
6. SELF-PORTAIT
7. SAD
8. HAPPY
9. ANGRY
10. LOW PERSPECTIVE
11. HIGH PERSPECTIVE
12. OLD
13. CHILDREN
14. NIGHT
15. SIGNS
16. WATER
17. RELIGION
18. STILL LIFE
19. BLACK & WHITE
20. MUSIC
21. ABSTRACT
22. ANIMAL
23. WEATHER
24. TREE
25. SILHOUETTE
26. RUINS
27. RURAL
28. SKY
29. TOWN
30. TRANSPORTATION
31. SMOKE
32. FLOWER
33. MACRO
34. ART
35. ROAD TRIP
36. MIRROR
37. GLITTERY
38. GOVERNMENT
39. HANDMADE
40. THE STREETS
41. HOT
42. COLD
43. HUMANIZE
44. TIME
45. AMERICANA
46. LOVE
47. HATE
48. POP ART
49. NATURE
50. LANDSCAPE
51. BODY PART
52. FAMILY

I swapped out more than half the themes from last year. I combined a few and I split up a few. I reworded a few. Some are riffs on previous themes. Some are completely new. Should be a fun year!

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

I am pleased to announce that Brooke Milligan is the latest person to show her taste, class, and sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. Brooke shares an office with longtime Photography 139 supporter and friend of the blog Michelle Haupt, but we won’t hold that against her. So if you see Brooke out and about walking the mean streets, feel free to give her a knowing glance and if you have the time, show her the Super Secret Photography 139 Handshake.

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a wild Monday.

Angie, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Dawn, Kim, Naima, Shannon, Steph, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 49 – REFLECTIONS

August 22, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

I have to confess, I was a little worried about this week. As I crawled out of bed this morning to head to the Computer Mine, I had only received 1 submission in my email inbox. Despite one person telling me at the State Fair that they had just taken their picture and another person messaging me to ask me if a certain subject met the criteria of the theme.

SPOILER ALERT:

Every time you ask me that question, my response is going to be: “Define the theme any way you see fit.”

I mean yes, if you just send me a picture every week of your kid, dog, cat, chinchilla, iguana, ’64 Impala, Uncle Art… I’m eventually going to call poppycock on your “interpretations” of the theme. However, if your subject makes sense to you. It makes sense to me. I’m not going to question it.

But I digress.

The good news is that my worries were for naught, as REFLECTIONS submissions flooded my inbox this morning. Including 2 first time submitters in Debra Krause and Scott Krause. A brother-sister tandem that hails from Boone, Iowa. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of their submitting ways.

But I could stand here and talk tommyrot about this morning, or I could show you the submissions. I know you guys love tommyrot, but here are the submissions:

Angie DeWaard

Mike Vest

Christopher D. Bennett

Stephanie Kim 1

Stephanie Kim 2

Debra Krause 1

Debra Krause 2

Dawn Krause 1

Dawn Krause 2

Dawn Krause 3

Dawn Krause 4

Kim Barker

Scott Krause 1

Scott Krause 2

Becky Perkovich

Bill Wentworth

Shannon Bardole

Macro!

But what is this MACRO you speak of? Is it pictures of carrots?

No, that’d be crazy! (Picks up a pencil and writes down CARROTS as a theme for the next 52 weeks.) There is a terribly sterile definition of MACRO that involves a 1:1 ratio of subject to 35mm film and you don’t want to hear it and while I want to tell you about it, I’ll restrain myself and define MACRO like this:

MACRO photography is all about getting up into something/sombebody’s grill and telling it “I’m here. I’m up in your grill. I’m not backing down. I’m taking your picture.”

Another way to look at it is that MACRO photography is close-up photography.

But as always, feel free to define the theme anyways you want.

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody this week showed class, taste or sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 Email Subscription. I’ll try to do better next week.

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a no-personal-space kinda Monday.

Angie, Bill, Carla, Dawn, Iowa State, Kim, Monica, Steph, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 47 – ARCHITECTURE

August 8, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

Quite a large selection of submissions this week. It is almost as if THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE has hit its stride. I hope that there is this much passion in the middle of winter!

Dawn has made her first submission(s). I expect big things from her in the future!

Here are the submissions for ARCHITECTURE:

Angie DeWaard

Carla Stensland 1

Carla Stensland 2

Carla Stensland 3

Dawn Krause 1

Dawn Krause 2

Dawn Krause 3

Bill Wentworth

Monica Kewer 1

Monica Kewer 2

Monica Kewer 3

Monica Kewer 4

Monica Kewer 5

Mike Vest

Stephanie Kim 1

Stephanie Kim 2

Stephanie Kim 3

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

While I know most people will appreciate my throw away ARCHITECTURE pictures to my submission, but that is okay. I’m dedicating it to somebody, with whom, I have a special relationship.

That being said, a very solid week of submissions. I’m proud of all of us, everyone.

SPORTS!

But what are SPORTS?

Well, one definition would be:

“an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”

But of course another would be:

“a person who behaves in a good or specified way in response to teasing, defeat, or a similarly trying situation.”

So go out an do some physical exertion, or bully somebody. Do whatever it takes? Or define the theme in any way you see fit!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody this week showed class, taste or sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 Email Subscription. I’ll try to do better next week.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS REMINDER DIVISION

Just a reminder, that if you ever want to look back at previous submissions for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, visit the Gallery by clicking on the link below:

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE TAKE 3

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very sporty Monday.

Andree, Angie, Baier, Basketball, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Dawn, Derrick, Faust, Flat Earth Joe, Frank, History, Jen, Jesse, Jill, Jorge, Laura, Lowell, Mark, Michelle, Micky, Nader, Robert, Russell, Sara, Shannon, Shawn Lockner, Tim, Toby, Willy

ROUNDBALL ORACLES – YEAR 12

August 5, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

I recently presented The Trophy for winning the 12th year of the Roundball Oracles to this year’s champion… Michelle Haupt

It was an exciting NCAA Tournament and an equally exciting Roundball Oracles NCAA Tournament Pool. If North Carolina would’ve won the NCAA Championship Game, Sara Lockner would’ve come home with the trophy this year. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Congratulations Michelle! May your reign be short.

Roundball Oracles - Year 12 Champion - Michelle Haupt

Michelle Haupt – Newest Immortal (Pictured with Lily)
Past Roundball Oracles Champions (The List of Immortals)

2005 – William McAlpine
2006 – William McAlpine
2007 – Tim Peterson
2008 – Mark Wolfram
2009 – Mark Wolfram
2010 – Mark Wolfram
2011 – Carrie Baier
2012 – Lowell Davis
2013 – William McAlpine
2014 – Brandon Kahler
2015 – Derek Dohrman
2016 – Michelle Haupt

Here be the final standings.
1. Michelle Haupt – 275
2. Sean Clubine – 270
3. sara lockner – 259
4. Yours Truly 255
5. Micky Augustin 245
6. Angie DeWaard 241
7. Jackson Faust 241
8. Derek Dohrman 237
9. Frank Meiners 233
10. Toby Sebring 230
11, Lowell Davis 230
12, Mark Wolfram 228
13. Jason Baier 227
14, Corey Faust 221
15, Paul Golden 220
16, Wily McAlpine 218
17, Jordan Toot 217
18. Jesse Howard 216
19. Shannon Bardole 215
20. Benjamin Baier 214
21. Liz Nordeen 214
21. Jill Gorshe 214
23 . Jon DeWaard 207
24. JJ Baier 204
25. Dawn Krause 203
26. Nader Parsaei 202
27, Brandon Kahler 201
28. Carrie Baier 197
29. Jorge Rios 197
30. shawn lockner 194
31. Jen Gorshe 193
32. Derrick Gorshe 193
33. Andree Jauhari 193
34. tim peterson 192
35. Bill Wentworth 183
36. Olivia Baier 180
37. Russ Kennerly 180
38. Carla Stensland 175
39. William Baier 170
40. Rachel Johnson 167
41. Robert Henning 162
42. Joe Lynch 156
43. Laura Priest 152

Laura (Miller) Priest won the 3rd Annual “The Sara” for last place adult that tried. Joining the trophy’s namesake Sara Lockner and Derrick Gorshe as past winners. I don’t have a picture of Laura with her new trophy yet, but I will as soon as I get “The Sara” in the mail, it arrives in Manhattan, and she sends me a picture with her new pride and joy.

Becky, Bill, Carla, Jesse, Kim, Sara, Shannon, Steph, Still Life, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 46 – ART

August 1, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 9 Comments

A few of the regulars were missing this week, but there were still plenty of submissions for ART!

The submissions for ART:

Bill Wentworth

Carla Stensland 1

Carla Stensland 2

Stephanie Kim 1

Stephanie Kim 2

Stephanie Kim 3

Shannon Bardole

Christopher D. Bennett

Sara Lockner

Becky Perkovich

Kim Barker 1

Kim Barker 2

Kim Barker 3

Another solid week of submissions! I feel like this little project is starting to gain some steam. I know that there somebody out there that badly wanted this to return should start submitting soon, now that she is done with school. Hint-hint!

ARCHITECTURE!

But what is this ARCHITECTURE you speak of? According to Wikipedia:

“Architecture” can mean:

+ A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures.[3]
+ The art and science of designing buildings and (some) nonbuilding structures.[3]
+ The style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures.[3]
+ Knowledge of art, science, technology and humanity.[3]
+ The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering professional services in connection with the design and construction of buildings, or built environments.[4]
+ The design activity of the architect,[3] from the macro-level (urban design, landscape architecture) to the micro-level (construction details and furniture).

For our purposes, I’d say that you should go out and find a building, a staircase, a bridge, a road, or something that was built by humans (or ancient aliens) that is interesting. Or at least take an interesting photograph of such a structure. However. As always. Define the theme any way that you want.

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

This was a big week for the PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION. Thanks to Sara Lockner*, (PHOTOGRAPHY 139 STAR OF THE WEEK) not one, not two, but three people showed their class, taste, and sophistication by becoming Photography 139 email subscribers. So if you see Shawn walking the mean streets of Johnston or Steve and Jessica walking the mean streets of Burnsville, Minnesota feel free to give them a knowing glance and feel free to show them the super-secret Photography 139 handshake.

Because my day job lunch hour is growing short, I won’t going into much details about these great, grand, and wonderful people. It is enough to say that Shawn is married to Sara, so he is a winner at life. Steve is a Cyclone and I hope he joins us for a tailgate this Fall. Jessica is a leather artist of some note as well. Maybe she is a future submitter to the WEEKLY PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE!?!?

This means that I believe there are now 5 married couples that are Photography 139 email subscribers. This also makes 4 Photography 139 email subscribers in Burnsville, Minnesota and 3 Photography 139 email subscribers in Johnston, Iowa. For those of you checking your Photography 139 Heat Maps. Those towns are on fire!

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very architectural Monday.

*First trip to that taco bar is on me!

Anders, Bill, Jay, Movies, Photoshop, Road Trip, Willy

HDR EFEX PRO 2 BETA

June 16, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Today we take a look at the second half of the “made to order” HDR EFEX PRO 2 filters.

As a refresher, here is the original image:

Here is a look at the filters:

Black & White Artistic

Dramatic

Sinister

Pale & Structured

Granny’s Attic

End of the Road

Indoor 1

Indoor 2

Outdoor 1

Outdoor 2

Soft

Vignetted

Graduated 1

Graduated 2

Then, of course. If you want, you can play with the numerous options and come up with a creation of your own. Like so…

My Concotion

I am, once again, sorry for the disgusting subject of these photos, but like I wrote, tomorrow will be something fuzzy and cuddly.

We will touch base with the Nik Collection again in the near future.

THE CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT TRIVIA QUIZ

QUESTION 19

In youth, my friends and I tried and failed to make 1 horror movie STAYIN’ ALIVE: THE SPORTING twice, an action movie (SWORN TO VENGEANCE), and another horror movie (QUIETUS). However, we did successfully finish a movie starring Jay Janson (as an androgynous ne-er-do-well), Bill Wentworth as his manservant, William McAlpine as a short tempered natural philosopher, Anders Runestad as a hen-pecked husband with a gambling addiction, Corey Faust as an omniscient narrator, and Christopher D. Bennett as a trash talking homophobe, playing a deadly game of RISK. What was the name of this nearly cult classic?

ANSWER: GAMES

BONUS

What was the unfortunate name of the “studio” that produced this film?

ANSWER: CHEESEDICK FILMS

Bill, History, Jesse, Willy

03-14-07, 03-26-07, 03-26-07 B

May 21, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

This dip into the archives covers folders 03-14-07, 03-26-07, & 03-26-07 B.

As promised, there is a picture of a Gra Lab Timer. Control your enthusiasm.

Next Saturday’s images will probably include a few week attempts at Still Life.

THE CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT TRIVIA QUIZ ANSWER

QUESTION 4

When I was finally invited to play Saturday Morning Basketball, Bill Wentworth pulled me aside and told me that they just let two players do all the scoring. There was a standing rule that those two players could not be on the same team. Name those two ballers:

ANSWER: Dan Dill & Willy McAlpine

BONUS

One year later, the rule had changed so what two ballers were not allowed to be on the same team:

ANSWER: Christopher D. Bennett & Jesse Howard

Angie, Bill, Black & White, Carla, Formal Portrait, Kim, Micky, Mom, Pastor Sarah, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 34 – PORTRAIT

May 9, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

Another solid week of submissions. Here are the submissions for PORTRAIT:

Kim Barker

Bill Wentworth 1

Bill Wentworth 2

Angie DeWaard 1

Angie DeWaard 2

Sarah Karber

Christopher D. Bennett

Mike Vest

Micky Augustin

Carla Stensland 1

Carla Stensland 2

Solid submissions across the board! But why live in the past. Let’s look to the future. After all, that is where we will live the balance of our lives.

This week’s theme…

GLASS!

Those of you with a little bit of elephant in you may be a little like: “Didn’t we just do GLASS?” However, those of you that are more learned will know that more than just windows are made of GLASS. Things like glasses are made of GLASS. The kind you drink out of and the kind you put on your face. (At least they used to be.) Bottles. Also made of glass. (At least they used to be.) Lenses. Made of glass. (At least they used to be.) Lots of wonderful art is made out of GLASS. So go out and explore the wonderful world of GLASS.

HOUSEKEEPING

Nothing new to report. I’ll try to do better next week.

Angie, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Kim, Micky, Nature, Shannon, Vest

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 32 – COUNTRY

April 25, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Going to be a quick write up today, but excited that there were a plethora of submissions this week. Including a submission from first time submitter Jodie Bennett. Which is pretty sweet!

Here are the submissions for COUNTRY:

Becky Perkovich

Bill Wentworth

Jodie Bennett

Kim Barker 1

Kim Barker 2

Shannon Bardole

Christopher D. Bennett

Angie DeWaard 1

Angie DeWaard 2

Mike Vest

Micky Augustin

A fine selection of submissions!

But what is the theme for this week?

WINDOWS!

WINDOWS is not as easily accessible of a theme as COUNTRY, but everybody has access to WINDOWS. Of course there are many ways to interpret WINDOWS. Some would say that the eyes are the WINDOWS to the soul. If you are serious about running your business, WINDOWS is the OS for you. Of course, there are WINDOW(S) displays for WINDOW(S) shopping. Even cars have WINDOWS. Translate the theme however you see fit.

No HOUSEKEEPING today. I’ll try to do better next week.

Angie, Bill, Kim, Pastor Sarah, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 31 – OLD

April 18, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 8 Comments

So I made a rookie mistake and left my camera battery at work over the weekend. Good thing that I had already taken a plethora of pictures of old things on Wednesday.

This week’s submissions for OLD:

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole

Bill Wentworth

Sarah Karber

Christopher D. Bennett

Angie DeWaard

A pretty good selection of submissions methinks.

So what is this week’s theme…

COUNTRY!

So what is COUNTRY? When I wrote this theme down and put it on a Post-It note, my basic concept of country was anything that isn’t within a city limits. Anything rural would qualify. However, you can take the theme any way you want it. Want to saunter down to your local honky tonk and grab a picture of a pretend cowboy. That would qualify. Have a cherry collection of old Tom T. Hall 8 tracks? Take a picture of that. If you want to take a picture of a map and say “look, it’s a country!” Do that. Express the theme however you see fit.

No HOUSEKEEPING today. I’ll try to do better next week.

If the Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll see you next Monday. With a sweet collection of COUNTRY pictures, I have no doubts.