Category Archives: Dawn

Andy, Dawn, Jen, Jesse, Linda, Micky, Monica, Nature, Shannon, Steph, Still Life, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 225 – HDR

January 6, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I’m not surprised easily, but you guys surprised me this week. Enough of you dipped your toe into the HDR world to keep the streak of double digit submissions going and to hit 15 straight weeks!

But you didn’t come her to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates, you came to see the submissions:

Micky Augustin

Linda Bennett

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Monica Henning

Stephanie Kim

Andy Sharp

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Jen Ensley Gorshe

Dawn Krause

Mike Vest

Jesse Howard

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:

FOOD

FOOD! What a great theme! This is about as easy as a theme can get. Just take a picture of FOOD or somebody preparing FOOD or somebody eating FOOD or anything that is related to FOOD.

Don’t be surprised if your FOOD picture ends up looking disgusting. In some ways, this is THE GREASY STRANGLER of themes. Delicious food often looks disgusting when photographed. That is why in most food advertising, food is often fake. Also, why when local restaurants just do their food photography themselves, the food ends up looking disgusting on their menu. Looking at you Colorado Grill.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations.

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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.

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

I now allow people to text me their submissions. In the past, I had made exceptions for a couple people that aren’t real computer savvy, even though it was an inconvenience for me and required at least 3 extra steps for me. I am now lifting that embargo because I have a streamline way of uploading photos. I’m not giving out my phone number, but if you have it, you can text me.

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 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

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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 hungry Monday!

Animals, Black & White, Dawn, Flowers, House

2009-08-06

January 4, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder 2009-08-06 are taken in my backyard. They are mostly of the products of my garden. The first year I lived in my house, I actually planted a garden. I believe I had some mixed results, but I did manage to grow a few things here and there.

That year Dawn came over and picked the currants. She then took the currants and made me a cheesecake. I think this event closed the chapter in my life where beautiful women would come over and pick things from my garden and then feed me.

I never brought the garden back because, I didn’t really do anything with the stuff I grew. Then I got to the point where I like uninterrupted grass in my yard. I have often thought of doing hay bale gardens, but I have yet to find a good source of hay bales. By that I mean, the one person I asked doesn’t do square hay bales.

This is the first time these pictures have been published.

The next walk down memory lane will involve a road trip to eastern Iowa.

Andy, Angie, Animals, Becky, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Carla, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Kim, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Naima, Photoshop, Shannon, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 224 – CANDID PORTRAIT

December 31, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

14 weeks in a row! 14 weeks in a row of double digit submissions! I hope you guys prove me wrong and we hit 15 weeks in a row with HDR because you guys knocked in out of the park with CANDID PORTRAIT in more ways than one!

Because I have been on the road the last five days, I think I got every submission, but if I missed you somehow, just let me know.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about submission rates. You came to see the submissions:

Andy Sharp

Michelle Haupt

Tamara Peterson

Dawn Krause

Logan Kahler

Elizabeth Nordeen

Carla Stensland

Kim Barker

Jesse Howard

Micky Augustin

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Becky Parmelee

Christopher D. Bennett

Angie DeWaard

Mike Vest

HDR

HDR! What a great theme! Wait a second. What the Hades is an HDR image?

Okay, so this is the one that I was pretty sure would end the double digit submission streak. If the holidays didn’t end it already, but CANDID PORTRAIT is a pretty easy theme especially when, is there a better CANDID PORTRAIT opportunity then little kids opening presents on Christmas morning?

But none of that answers the question what is an HDR image? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Here is a great explanation from Digital Trends:

HDR stands for “high dynamic range.” For those who aren’t so acquainted with this high-tech shutterbug lingo, dynamic range is basically just the difference between the lightest light and darkest dark you can capture in a photo. Once your subject exceeds the camera’s dynamic range, the highlights tend to wash out to white, or the darks simply become big black blobs. It’s notoriously difficult to snap a photo that captures both ends of this spectrum, but with modern shooting techniques and advanced post-processing software, photographers have devised ways to make it happen. This is basically what HDR is: a specific style of photo with an unusually high dynamic range that couldn’t otherwise be achieved in a single photograph.

The best way to think of it is several pictures taken at different exposure levels, combined to create one image.

There should be a setting on your camera that will do this for you automatically.

I look forward to your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

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 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and 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 very dynaimc Monday!

Andy, Angie, Basketball, Carla, Dawn, Drone, Iowa State, Kim, Micky, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 221 – HIGH PERSPECTIVE

December 9, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

HIGH PERSPECTIVE proved to be a highly unpopular theme. That is the bad news. The good news is that by skin of its teeth, HIGH PERSPECTIVE had double digit submissions, to run the streak of double digit submission to eleven! Woot! Woot!

My best prognostication is that the streak will make it to fourteen, but that the 15th theme will be a soul crusher. It will be one of those weeks where we get like 3 submissions.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

Christopher D. Bennett

Andy Sharp

Carla Stensland

Angie DeWaard

Tamara Peterson

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Kim Barker

Dawn Krause

Micky Augustin

SPORTS/GAMES

SPORTS/GAMES! What a great theme! But what is a SPORTS/GAMES image? A SPORTS/GAMES image is any image of a SPORT or a GAME. It doesn’t even have to involve a GAME or SPORT in progress. A picture of a basketball would work. A picture of a fantasy football trophy would work.

Of course SPORTS/GAMES have multiple meaning, so feel free to not be too literal if you don’t want to be.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations.

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

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 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and 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 very sporty Monday!

Andy, Angie, Animals, Becky, Billy, Cathie, Christianity, Dawn, Dory, Elizabeth, Equipment, Formal Portrait, J.T., Jen, Jesse, Jim, Kim, Laura, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Naima, Nate, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, Shannon, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 220 – COLORFUL

December 2, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Before we get into the meat of today’s post, I just want to throw out a quick prayer request out there. On Friday when I was ringing the bell for the Salvation Army, a woman that I don’t know handed the money directly to me and asked me to pray for her. She has a job interview on Monday (today) and she really needs that job. It is possible at this hour that she has already had the interview and the decisions have already been made*, but if you are the praying type, throw up a quick prayer for this woman.

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COLORFUL really inspired a wide group of people in many different directions. We’ve reached a double digit streak for weeks with double digit submissions!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Monica Henning

Kim Barker

Monica Henning

Andy Sharp

Dawn Krause

Jesse Howard

Elizabeth Nordeen

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

Micky Augustin

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Monica Henning

Michelle Haupt

Tamara Peterson

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Angie Dewaard

HIGH PERSPECTIVE

HIGH PERSPECTIVE! What a great theme! But what is a HIGH PERSPECTIVE image. Think of it like this 97% of the images taken in this world, in a study I just made up to back up my point, are taken from exactly the eye level of the person taking the picture. A HIGH PERSPECTIVE picture challenges you to do one of two things. Find a way to get higher up than normal ground level and take a picture. Climb a ladder. Go on a roof. Take your company helicopter for a spin. Or, you could simple look down and be higher than your subject.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

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 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and 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 very high Monday!

*This isn’t my understanding of the way prayer works, but using for illustrative purposes.

Alexis, Andy, Becky, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Carla, Dawn, Drone, Elizabeth, Michelle, Micky, Monica, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 219 – SHADOW

November 25, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Running just a tad bit behind schedule today. As I am on vacation and my motivation levels might not be what they normally are. Fortunately, for the 9th straight week, motivation levels were high enough that we had double digit submissions. Perhaps a record. I don’t know. I’ll have to check with the Photography 139 historian.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates, you came to see the submissions:

Andy Sharp

Elizabeth Nordeen

Dawn Krause

Micky Augustin

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Tamara Peterson

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Monica Henning

Becky Parmelee

COLORFUL

COLORFUL! What a great theme! But what is a COLORFUL photo? That is pretty straight forward. Any photo that is filled with COLOR. Find something COLORFUL and photograph it. Go crazy with the saturation in your photo editing. Remember, there is more than one definition of the term COLORFUL.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations.

+++++++

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

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 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and 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 very colorful Monday!

Andy, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Jen, Kim, Michelle, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 218 – PURPLE

November 18, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

PURPLE was not anywhere near as popular as ORANGE, but I don’t think that is a reflection of the color so much as the time of year. However, PURPLE did inspire enough people that we manage to hit double digits for submissions for the 8th week in a row!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

Dawn Krause

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Tamara Peterson

Carla Stensland

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Michelle Haupt

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

SHADOW

SHADOW! What a great theme! But what is a SHADOW picture? It is simply any picture that features a shadow as a main part of its composition. A silhouette, for example, is a SHADOW picture.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

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 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and 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 very shadowy Monday!

Animals, Becky, Candid Portrait, Cousin Amy, Dawn, Event, Formal Portrait, Geri, Jay, Jaycees, Jen, Music, Sara, Shannon, Teresa, Willy

2009-07-10

November 16, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

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:

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.

Andy, Animals, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Kim, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Shannon, Tamara, Underwater, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 217 – ORANGE

November 11, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I would be remiss if I didn’t start out this post to saying Happy Veteran’s Day. I don’t have a photo to back up these sentiment, so instead, let me remind you that veterans often struggle greatly when they leave the military.

The suicide rate for veterans of 35 per 100,000. The suicide rate for homeless veterans is 81 per 100,000. Veterans make up approximately 9 percent of all homeless adults.

Thanks to our veterans! They bear more scars than the ones that we can easily see.

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ORANGE once again proved to be a popular theme. For the 7th straight week, the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE brought in double digit submissions:

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

Jesse Howard

Dawn Krause

Andy Sharp

Elizabeth Nordeen

Cathie Raley

Micky Augustin

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Logan Kahler

Kim Barker

Becky Parmeleee

Carla Stensland

PURPLE!

PURPLE! What a great theme! But what is a PURPLE picture? A PURPLE picture isn’t all that much different than an ORANGE picture. Only instead of ORANGE, it should incorporate the color PURPLE. This one might be a bit trickier as PURPLE isn’t as prevalent in nature as much as ORANGE is this time of year, but I have no doubt, that you will be able to find PURPLE somewhere in your life.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

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 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and 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 very purple Monday!

Andy, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Formal Portrait, Jen, Jesse, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Vest, WPC - Submissions, Youth Group

WPC – WEEK 216 – FORMAL PORTRAIT

November 4, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I was a little worried that our 5 week double digit submission streak wouldn’t his 6 weeks with FORMAL PORTRAIT. I hadn’t received some of the normal early submissions, and I translated that into a lack of enthusiasm for the theme. However, there was a deep late arriving enthusiasm. In fact, we almost hit 20 submissions. Which might be a record, but I don’t keep those kind of stats. Maybe when I get some free time, I can comb the archives and see what the record is for most submissions is for a week. If it isn’t 19, it can’t be much higher than that.

In fact, after I wrote this, I got a semi-late submission for 20 total submission!

Add to the excitement of the FORMAL PORTRAIT theme, we have a first ever submission from Evie Gorshe. I’m not sure if she is the youngest to ever submit, but she has to be pretty close. I know a couple of the Augustin girls have submitted before. I think Scott Krause submitted at a pretty young age as well. We’ll just say that Evie is a Top 5 youngest to ever submit!

Almost as exciting as Evie’s submission is Dawn’s return to the fold. Dawn has been wandering the wilderness for the last couple of years. But she has a different job now and says she is back in the game. It is good to have her home. Somebody bring me a fatted calf!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me make weak links to parables and talk tommyrot about participation rates, you came to see the submissions:

Micky Augustin

Evie Gorshe

Dawn Krause

Andy Sharp

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Micky Augustin

Kim Barker

Michelle Haupt

Carla Stensland

Mike Vest

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

Christopher D. Bennett

Elizabeth Nordeen

Jesse Howard

ORANGE

ORANGE! What a great theme! But what is an ORANGE photo? An ORANGE photo is any photo where the color ORANGE plays an important part in the image. Luckily, this time of year, there is a lot of ORANGE in nature.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

+++++++

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

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 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and 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 very orange Monday!