Category Archives: Jen

Event, Evie, Jen, Layla, Music, WPC - Reminder

Renaissance Faire – Misc

November 4, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in May I met up with Jen, Layla and the twins at the Renaissance Faire down in Des Moines to watch Evie do her Irish dance thing.

Here is a collection of pictures from just walking around the Faire:

There is one more collection of pictures from my day at the Renaissance Faire left to share.

+++++++

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

DECORATION

DECORATION! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a DECORATION photo? A DECORATION image is simply a picture of a DECORATION or a picture where a DECORATION plays a heavy element in the composition.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Event, Evie, Jen, Layla, WPC - Reminder

Renaissance Faire – Knight Battle

October 28, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 9 Comments

Way back in May I met up with Jen, Layla, and the twins at the Renaissance Faire down in Des Moines to watch Evie dance. I’ve already shared the pictures of Evie dancing, but I took plenty more pictures on that day.

This collection is of the knight battle we watched. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I was expecting a sword duel that would put the sword fight between Inigo Montoya and the Dread Pirate Roberts to shame. This was mostly dudes in armor kind of grabbing each other and trying to throw the other to the ground.

While Inigo Montoya’s swordplay still stands as the greatest these eyes have ever seen, this battle was still fun to watch.

I’m not steeped in Renaissance Faire culture. I knew some people in college that were involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism, but I was too big of a jerk then to take anything they said seriously. Therefore, I didn’t learn much. But my understanding, is that one of the knights in the battle had to win so many fights to become fully knighted or something like that. I should have taken notes.

One thing I remember clearly is that it was incredibly hot that day, so wearing all that armor and fighting, must have been brutal. The guy trying to earn his title was wearing a helmet that didn’t have a way to access his face, so in between bouts they had to run a tube from a water bottle through the helmet to keep him hydrated.

I still have a couple more collections of pictures from the Renaissance Faire to share.

I wasn’t sure if I was a Renaissance Faire Person, but I had a great time. I hope Evie dances down there again next year and I get to go again.

+++++++

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

ART

ART! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is an ART image? It is simply a picture of something that is a piece of ART. I would urge you to not just take a standard straight on picture of a piece of ART. Try to see it from a different angle than it might be normally viewed. While your subject might be ART, your interpretation of your subject should be ARTistic. Now a truly arrogant photographer could just claim that every picture they take is ART.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Angie, Art, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Drone, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 371 – LINES

October 24, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

LINES. A quick and easy theme. But did it trigger the creative juices of a ton of people? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, October 17, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Harrison Gorshe – 1 week
2-Sabas Hernandez – 1 week
3-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
4-Mike Vest – 1 week
5-Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
6-Sara Lockner – 4 weeks
7-Suzie Brannen – 8 weeks
8-Brandon Kahler – 9 weeks
9-Linda Bennett – 12 weeks (3)
10-Sarah Toot – 13 weeks
11-Monica Jennings – 14 weeks
12-Angie DeWaard – 17 weeks
13-Dawn Krause – 21 weeks
14-Kim Barker – 27 weeks
15-Joe Duff – 29 weeks (2)
16-Logan Kahler – 30 weeks (4)
17-Teresa Kahler – 39 weeks (2)
18-Tamara Peterson – 39 weeks
19-Carla Stensland – 39 weeks (3)
20-Michelle Haupt – 40 weeks
21-Micky Augustin – 41 weeks
22-Andy Sharp – 42 weeks
23-Bill Wentworth – 43 weeks
24-Cathie Morton – 47 weeks
25-Elizabeth Nordeen – 48 weeks
26-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 50 weeks
27-Kio Dettman – 53 weeks (4)

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:

Carla Stensland – 40 weeks

Carla Stensland

Joe Duff – 30 weeks

Joe Duff

Kio Dettman – 54 weeks

Kio Dettman

Linda Bennett – 13 weeks

Linda Bennett

Michelle Haupt – 41 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 51 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 40 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 44 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Micky Augustin – 42 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 18 weeks

Kim Barker – 28 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 49 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen

Teresa Kahler – 40 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Andy Sharp – 43 weeks

Suzie Brannen – 9 weeks

Sara Lockner – 5 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks

Logan Kahler – 31 weeks

Logan Kahler

Dawn Krause – 22 weeks

Dawn Krause

Brandon Kahler – 10 weeks

Monica Jennings – 15 weeks

Monica Jennings

Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Becky Parmelee – 1 week

Cathie Morton – 48 weeks

Cathie Morton

Sarah Toot – 14 weeks

Sarah Toot

Jesse Howard – 3 weeks

Mike Vest – 2 weeks

Mary Green – 1 week

Mary Green

30 participants! That is a great week. Possibly 30!

Pictures this weeks from Madrid, Spain for the international flavor. Those were Joe’s pictures. From the States, I got pictures submitted that were taken in Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, and California. The California submission will probably be the last from California for a bit. Sabas has moved to Iowa and is becoming an Iowan. A welcome addition to the Cyclone State!

I took my picture about 4 miles from my house.

The big accomplishment this week was Brandon. He joined the double digit streak club!

It wasn’t all good news though. Harrison’s couldn’t extend his streak to two weeks. But submitting at all is a pretty big accomplishment from a toddler.

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:

ART

ART! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

While considering possible subjects for your submission, meditate on the following quote:

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
-Aristotle

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

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.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

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 ART in this place where I record the art of my life next Monday.

Andy, Angie, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Flowers, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Macro, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Pastor Sarah, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 369 – VIOLET

October 10, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

VIOLET. Purple. Lavender. I got submission sent under all those headings. But did I get a lot of them? Was VIOLET a popular theme? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, October 3, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1Becky Parmelee – 1 week
2Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
3Suzie Brannen – 6 weeks
4Brandon Kahler – 7 weeks
5Linda Bennett – 10 weeks (2)
6Sarah Toot – 11 weeks
7Sabas Hernandez – 13 weeks
8Monica Jennings – 13 weeks
9Angie DeWaard – 15 weeks
10Mary Green – 15 weeks (4)
11Dawn Krause – 19 weeks
12Kim Barker – 25 weeks
13Joe Duff – 27 weeks
14Logan Kahler – 28 weeks (2)
15Teresa Kahler – 37 weeks (2)
16Tamara Peterson – 37 weeks
17Carla Stensland – 37 weeks (3)
18Michelle Haupt – 38 weeks
19Micky Augustin – 39 weeks
20Andy Sharp – 40 weeks
21Bill Wentworth – 41 weeks
22Cathie Morton – 45 weeks
23Elizabeth Nordeen – 46 weeks
24Shannon Bardole-Foley – 48 weeks
25Kio Dettman – 51 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:

Teresa Kahler – 38 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Angie DeWaard – 16 weeks

Andy Sharp – 41 weeks

Andy Sharp

Micky Augustin – 40 weeks

Kim Barker – 26 weeks

Joe Duff – 28 weeks

Carla Stensland – 38 weeks

Kio Dettman – 52 weeks

Kio Dettman

Logan Kahler – 29 weeks

Mary Green – 16 weeks

Mary Green

Sarah Karber – 1 week

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 49 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 38 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 42 weeks

Cathie Morton – 46 weeks

Cathie Morton

Christopher D. Bennett

Jesse Howard – 1 week

Jesse Howard

Suzie Brannen – 7 weeks

Sarah Toot – 12 weeks

Sarah Toot

Michelle Haupt – 39 weeks

Linda Bennett – 11 weeks

Linda Bennett

Elizabeth Nordeen – 47 weeks

Sara Lockner – 3 weeks

Monica Jennings – 14 weeks

Dawn Krause – 20 weeks

Dawn Krause

Evie Gorshe – 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week

Brandon Kahler – 8 weeks

28 participants! That is a good week.

We had submissions from (assumptions on my part mostly) Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas. My pictures was taken approximately 16 steps from my front door.

Also, Cathie’s pictures were taken in the Bahamas!

Another fun fact! 3 Sara(h)s is once again the record for most participants of one first name.

Another fun fact! On Sunday I learned that October is Pastor Appreciation Month. There were submissions from 2 former pastors of my church. I do appreciate their contributions into making me the person that I am. Hopefully who I am is appreciated by somebody, cause they definitely tried!

Also, congratulations to Kim who joined the Half Year Club! Way to go Kim!

But it wasn’t all good times. Becky couldn’t extend her streak to 2 weeks. Tragically, Sabas’ epic 13 streak ends at unlucky number 13.

MACRO

MACRO! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a MACRO photo? There is a long technical definition of MACRO photography that involves being a 1:1 ratio on 35 mm film, but for our purposes, just think of MACRO photography as getting close to your subject. On this theme you should figure out what the closest focusing distance of your camera is and be awful close to that in your closeness to your subject.

While considering possible subjects for you submission, meditate on the following quote:

If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.
-Robert Capa

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 all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of MACRO in this place that is both a macro and a micro look at my life next Monday.

Baby Got Rack, Bethany, Carla, Contests, Evie, Greyson, Jen, Jesse, Jodie Cue, Kanoa, Kim, Layla, Logan, Michelle, Monica, Nader, Naima, Nora, Pufferbilly Days, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, State Fair, Teresa, Willy

Selfie Project – August 2022

September 3, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Another month down and another month of THE SELFIE PROEJCT in the books. I think I had a pretty active August. At least in spurts. With Pufferbilly Days and the State Fair and some much needed vacation all in August, I did some things man.

I don’t anticipate September being anywhere as busy, but hopefully I’ll do some cool stuff this month.

Here are some of my favorites from August for THE SELFIE PROJECT:

August 1

August 2

August 3

August 4

August 5

August 6

August 8

August 9

August 11

August 12

August 13

August 14

August 16

August 17

August 18

August 19

August 20

August 21

August 24

August 25

August 26

August 27

August 28

August 29

August 31

Of course there can only be one selfie that represents THE SELFIE PROJECT every day, but I did have a busy August, so here are the many alternates:

SELFIE PROJECT - ALTERNATE - AUGUST 2022

You might be thinking, “That is a lot of pictures with ice cream!” There is a reason for that. The reason isn’t because I love ice cream, but that is probably the base level reason. I’ll explain the real reason in a future post. Or I won’t. What is important for you to know is that your humble narrator is a champion. A ice cream champion. Also, Willy and Jesse owe me dinner.

You also might be thinking, “How many gray t-shirts do you own?” The answer is, plenty.

Finally you might be thinking, “You need to retire that green t-shirt.” Yeah, that is true enough.

Andy, Angie, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Ruins, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, Tim, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 362 – WEEKENDS

August 22, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 20 Comments

To clarify some information about Sunday’s post. The part about the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. Even though the book does say two people got all 4 of their entries in, in fact NOBODY got all 4 submissions accepted for display. That is the first time I can ever remember that happening. They had some tough judges.

The time I spent yesterday at the Photography Salon was pretty joyful.

I think that WEEKENDS is going to end up being a more popular theme than FAMILY. Seems people like their WEEKENDS more than they like their FAMILY. Very strange. But you’ll have to keep scrolling to find out if the data matches the theory.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, August 15, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

+ Brooklyn Erb – 1 week
+ Brandon Kahler – 1 week
+ Linda Bennett – 3 weeks
+ Sarah Toot – 4 weeks
+ Sabas Hernandez – 6 weeks
+ Monica Jennings – 6 weeks
+ Mary Green – 8 weeks
+ Angie DeWaard – 9 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 13 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 19 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 20 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 22 weeks (3)
+ Teresa Kahler – 30 weeks (3)
+ Tamara Peterson – 30 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 30 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 31 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 32 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 33 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 34 weeks
+ Cathie Morton – 38 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 39 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 41 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 44 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:

Kim Barker – 20 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 31 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Angie DeWaard – 10 weeks

Andy Sharp – 34 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 40 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen

Bill Wentworth – 35 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Kio Dettman – 45 weeks

Kio Dettman

Linda Bennett – 4 weeks

Linda Bennett

Mary Green – 9 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 32 weeks

Sarah Toot – 5 weeks

Sarah Toot

Tim Tim Cuculic – 1 week

Tamara Peterson – 31 weeks

Tamara Peterson

Dawn Krause – 14 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 7 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 1 week

Joe Duff – 21 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week

Micky Augustin – 33 weeks

Cathie Morton – 39 weeks

Logan Kahler – 23 weeks

Logan Kahler

Brandon Kahler – 2 weeks

Sara Lockner – 1 week

Carla Stensland – 31 weeks

Carla Stensland

Monica Jennings – 7 weeks

Jesse Howard – 1 week

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 42 weeks

28 participants! That is a great week! I guess people really do like their weekends more than they like their families!

On the list of new participants was first time ever participant Tim! I’m hoping this is just the start of big things for Tim.

Angie joined the double digit streak club. Congrats Angie!

This is just a guess, but I believe the submissions spanned from Pennsylvania to Indiana to Illinois to Nebraska to Texas to California and I assume many of these pictures were taken in Iowa. My picture was taken in Illinois.

However, it wasn’t all fun and games and travel. Brooklyn Erb could not extender her streak to 2 weeks. I blame Andy.

CIRCLE

CIRCLE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But what is a CIRCLE image? It is simply a picture where a major compositional element of the picture is a CIRCLE. 360 degrees of fury! There are CIRCLE(s) literally everywhere! Once you starting looking for them, it is hard to not see them everywhere.

While thinking about possible subjects for your CIRCLE image, meditate on the following quote for inspiration:

The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.
-Empedocles

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 all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of CIRCLE in this place that is my circle of trust next Monday.

Angie, Carla, Contests, Evie, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Kim, Kio, Layla, Logan, Michelle, Monica, Pufferbilly Days, State Fair, Teresa

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Results

August 13, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Before I delve into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest, I do know what picture and what award I got into the Iowa State Fair. It is my policy not to reveal the pictures I entered until after the State Fair is over, but your clue is don’t go all the way into the main room. Go almost into that room, then look to your left.

+++++++

I think that the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest was a success this year. Not a smashing success, but I definitely feel like it is on greater footing now. A more solid foundation. In 2021 there were only 24 pictures entered. This year that number more than doubled to 61. Which is a good number, but I won’t be satisfied until that number hits triple digits. Until we outgrow KWBG and I’m forced to find a new location.

This is how the entries broke down.

ADULT
+ BLACK & WHITE – 1 entry (I can’t put into word how this breaks my heart!)
+ HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY – 3 entries
+ NATURE – 16 entries
+ PEOPLE – 5 entries
+ TRAINS, PLANES, AND AUTOMOBILES – 6 entries
+ TOTAL – 31 entries

TEEN
+ BLACK & WHITE – 3 entries
+ HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY – 1 entry
+ NATURE – 7 entries
+ PEOPLE – 1 entry
+ TRAINS, PLANES, AND AUTOMOBILES – 0 entries
+ TOTAL – 12 entries

YOUTH
+ BLACK & WHITE – 4 entries
+ HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY – 1 entry
+ NATURE – 10 entries
+ PEOPLE – 1 entry
+ TRAINS, PLANES, AND AUTOMOBILES – 2 entries
TOTAL – 18 entries

Thank God for the Youth and teens that are holding down the BLACK & WHITE class. Once again the balance with the NATURE class was all out of whack, so next year I’m going to split them up into ANIMALS and PLANTS.

These are the winners:

Best of Show – “Pismo Beach Beauty” – Angie DeWaard

People’s Choice Award – “Just A Swingin'” – Daphne Harris

1st Place Adult Overall – “Pismo Beach Beauty” – Angie DeWaard

2nd Place Adult Overall – “The Art in Nature” – Angie DeWaard

3rd Place Overall – “La Vita Dolce” – Angie DeWaard

1st Place Teen Overall – “Edison Phonographs” – Emma Wiebold

2nd Place Teen Overall – “Happy Little Squirrel” – Simon Enabnit

3rd Place Teen Overall – “Cartwheel in the Creek” – Emma Wiebold

1st Place Youth Overall – “Light Shining on Tables” – Tommy Williams

2nd Place Youth Overall – “Fly” – Layla Gorshe

3rd Place Youth Overall – “Lake Sunset” – Reese Howie

1st Place Adult Nature – “Pismo Beach Beauty” – Angie DeWaard

2nd Place Adult Nature – “Libella pulchella” – Allison Kayser

3rd Place Adult Nature – “Lithobates castebeianus maculosus” – Allison Kayser

1st Place Adult People – “The Art in Nature” – Angie DeWaard

2nd Place Adult People – “Good Sports” – Angie DeWaard

3rd Place Adult People – “Persevere” – Jen Ensley

1st Place Adult Trains, Planes, and Automobiles – “La Vita Dolce” – Angie DeWaard

2nd Place Adult Trains, Planes, and Automobiles – “Two Tracks” – Sally Kay Whitney

3rd Place Adult Trains, Planes, and Automobiles – “Spike Driving Contest” – Bea Upah

1st Place Adult Black & White – “Zebra Bark” – Angie DeWaard

1st Place Adult Hidden Treasures of Boone County – “Through the Wires in Pilot Mound” – Angie DeWaard

2nd Place Adult Hidden Treasures of Boone County – “Mill Creek Stone Arch” – Bea Upah

3rd Place Adult Hidden Treasures of Boone County – “Sunset Over Boone” – Nicole Schecklman

1st Place Teen Nature – “Happy Little Squirrel” – Simon Enabnit

2nd Place Teen Nature – “Fence Post” – Emma Wiebold

3rd Place Teen Nature – “Garden Raider” – Simon Enabnit

1st Place Teen People – “Cartwheel in the Creek” – Emma Wiebold

1st Place Teen Hidden Treasures of Boone County – “Beautiful Garbage” – Simon Enabnit

1st Place Teen Black & White – “Edison Phonographs” – Emma Wiebold

2nd Place Teen Black & White – “Rosie the Pug” – Emma Wiebold

3rd Place Teen Black & White – “Old Tree in Pasture” – Emma Wiebold

1st Place Youth Nature – “Lake Sunset” – Reese Howie

2nd Place Youth Nature – “The Cone” – Kayelee Burns

3rd Place Youth Nature – “Black Lab Smelling Flowers” – Tommy Williams

1st Place Youth People – “Grass” – Evie Gorshe

1st Place Youth Hidden Treasures of Boone County -“Kate Shelley Museum” – Kayelee Burns

1st Place Youth Trains, Planes, and Automobiles – “Fly” – Layla Gorshe

2nd Place Youth Trains, Planes and Automobiles – “Steam Engine” – Kayelee Burns

1st Place Youth Black & White – “Light Shining on Tables” – Tommy Williams

2nd Place Youth Black & White – “Easy on Me” – Kayelee Burns

3rd Place Youth Black & White – “Snickers” – Daphne Harris

Maybe you don’t agree with the judges? Which is fine. I don’t agree with all of their decisions, but I selected a great collection of judges this year and they did a tremendous job!

Meet them:

One thing I learned this year is that a lot of people seem to think I was “the judge” or “a judge” and then when they found out I wasn’t a judge, then I didn’t really do that much. Which I think is funny, but I’m okay with people not knowing how much work goes into this and thinking the judges do all the work. If people see how much work this is, then I’m not doing my job.

I’ve already mentally selected the three judges for next year. Two of them have already committed. I’m sure the third one will commit as well, I just have to make the call. Janae will be returning and Nathanial and Logan will be rotating out. The second judge that has committed is Angie. I had been playing with the idea of whomever wins Best of Show gets to be a judge the following year. Her winning Best of Show cemented that or maybe quickcreted it for this year, at least.

While I’ve already tried to explain how much work I put into this contest. I definitely don’t do it myself. I need to thank people that helped along the way:
+ Kim Barker – Helped with label printing and only complained once, but for good reason.
+ Nathanial Brown – a judge, but also a good idea man. For example, his idea to split the youth division into Teen and Youth. Also provided sides for dinner AND most responsible for streamlining the Judges Form.
+ Kio Dettman – Got me this gig, but also is part of the Display Team. Both setting up and tearing down.
+ Janae Erickson – Judge while being super pregnant. A trooper.
+ Michelle Haupt – Did the Photo Contest Book. It looks professional because it is professional. I think she was only moderately frustrated when she would ask a question and 9 times out of 10 my answer was “I trust you.”
+ Jesse Howard – Part of the tear down team and gophered stuff between Ames and Boone for me. Including purchasing the photo stands for the overall photos.
+ Jay Janson – Designed one of the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Flyers.
+ Monica Jennings – Designed multiple Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Flyers, designed and assembled the judges board for the display case, designed and put together the certificates that went with each ribbon. She was also instrumental in putting together the display. Bossing Logan around even more than I did. Which is saying something. I got so many compliments on what the display looked like this year. I think that was a lot of Monica.
+ Logan Kahler – Was a judge. Which was big. But even bigger in my mind, was being the “inside the display case” man when putting the display together. He also provided the meat for the judgement night meal. It was delicious.
+ Teresa Kahler – Did a ton of the administrative stuff and has big ideas for streamlining that process next year with mail merge.
+ Carla Stensland – Did a ton of administrative stuff as well. She was the judges’ assistant and helped keep them moving forward.
+ The Staff of KWBG – They are all wonderful, but Jennifer in particular is VERY helpful. She put up lights so there is some lighting in there at night and fixed some of the small mistakes that were made on the administrative end.

I’ve already mentioned some of the tweaks I’m going to make for next year. There are still more to make. However, the rest I’m going to keep close to my vest for now. But I might share them when I share some of the behind the scenes pictures in the future.

However, I think there is time for one last look back. I mentioned the incredible job that Michelle did on the book. This idea is pretty much completely stolen from, I mean influenced by, the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. Michelle is a genius when it comes to making this kind of thing and I think you should click on the links below and really appreciate her work:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Book – Easy to Read

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Book – Easy to Print

Be wary, next year I might try bothering you to get you on the photo contest team! Or even better, maybe next year you or your kids will enter. I heard more than one story about this being a great activity for parents to do with their children and grandparents to do with their grandchildren.

Andy, Angie, Automobiles, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jen, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Road Trip, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Still Life, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 359 – ODD CAMERA ANGLE

August 1, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Was ODD CAMERA ANGLE oddly popular? I guess you will have to scroll down to find out.

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

+ Sarah Toot – 1 week (3)
+ Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
+ Suzie Brannen – 3 weeks
+ Sabas Hernandez – 3 weeks
+ Monica Jennings – 3 weeks
+ Sara Lockner – 4 weeks
+ Mary Green – 5 weeks (3)
+ Angie DeWaard – 7 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 10 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 16 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 17 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 19 weeks (2)
+ Teresa Kahler – 27 weeks (2)
+ Tamara Peterson – 27 weeks (2)
+ Carla Stensland – 27 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 28 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 29 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 30 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 31 weeks
+ Cathie Morton – 35 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 36 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 38 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 41 weeks (4)

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:

Linda Bennett – 1 week

Linda Bennett

Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week

Mike Vest – 1 week

Brandon Kahler – 2 weeks

Sarah Toot – 2 weeks

Sarah Toot

Suzie Brannen – 4 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 4 weeks

Monica Jennings – 4 weeks

Mary Green – 6 weeks

Mary Green

Angie DeWaard – 8 weeks

Angie DeWaard

Dawn Krause – 11 weeks

Kim Barker – 17 weeks

Kim Barker

Joe Duff – 18 weeks

Logan Kahler 20 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 28 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Tamara Peterson – 28 weeks

Carla Stensland – 28 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 29 weeks

Micky Augustin – 30 weeks

Andy Sharp – 31 weeks

Andy Sharp

Bill Wentworth – 32 weeks

Cathie Morton – 36 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 37 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 39 weeks

Kio Dettman – 42 weeks

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett – 463 weeks

26 participants! That is a pretty good week! We had submissions from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas, California, Kansas, Colorado, Michigan and even Iowa this week!

There were 4 weeks that sadly were snapped though. Sarah Karber’s couldn’t extend her streak this week. Willy’s streak snapped at 2. Looks like that guy just can’t keep streaks going… Sara Lockner’s streak was snapped at 4 weeks. Just not a good week for Saras. Sarah Toot kept the pride in the name going though.

PEOPLE

PEOPLE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a PEOPLE picture? Well, it is simply a picture that has a PEOPLE or multiple PEOPLE in it. (Somewhere an English teacher is hanging their head so low right now.) I know. PEOPLE are vile and disgusting subjects. They are a failed species that are responsible for 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the evil on this planet. Completely susceptible to propaganda. Responsible for the complete and utter raping of our planet. Avarice. Greed. War. Genocide. Racism. Homophobia. Transphobia. Misogyny. All unique products of PEOPLE. What I’m trying to say is that in the coming war between monkeys and humans, I am hard core #TeamMonkey*. I’d like to say we’ve had a good run, but all the evidence is to the contrary.

But as bad as PEOPLE are, even they aren’t on the list of things I hate most in this world. Well they aren’t the only thing on that list. That Top 5 list goes like this:

#1. People who say “hate” is a strong word. Yeah, I know, that is why I used it.
#2. Powerlines in front of pretty churches or murals. I mean it is 2022? Why aren’t all powerlines buried?
#3. People who park in front of murals. I know there are parking spots there, doesn’t mean you have to use them.
#4. People who are living their own life and getting in my shots, like their world doesn’t revolve around me.
#5. The open faced sandwich. Makes no sense. Shouldn’t exist.

But even I have PEOPLE I like. If you are reading this, you are one of my PEOPLE. Or dare I say, one of my peeps? I will put in a good word for you with our soon to be monkey overlords.

While considering possible subjects for your PEOPLE image meditate on the following quote:

I love mankind… it’s people I can’t stand!!!
-Charles M. Schulz

I look forward to the interpretations.

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

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 PEOPLE in this place that is made for humans by humans next Monday.

* The war has already started. Look into the Japanese monkeys that are already out there stealing babies.

Andy, Angie, Animals, Baby Got Rack, Bill, Boone County Fair, Carla, Cathie, Contests, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Sabas, Sara, Scottie D., Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 357 – WORK

July 18, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

WORK sure can be a lot of WORK. But how many people put in the WORK of getting a WORK photo? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, July 11, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

+ Suzie Brannen – 1 week
+ Sabas Hernandez – 1 week
+ Monica Jennings – 1 week
+ Brandon Kahler – 1 week
+ Mike Vest – 1 week
+ Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
+ Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 3 weeks
+ Mary Green – 3 weeks (2)
+ Angie DeWaard – 5 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 8 weeks
+ Linda Bennett – 10 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 14 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 15 weeks (2)
+ Logan Kahler – 17 weeks (2)
+ Teresa Kahler – 25 weeks (2)
+ Tamara Peterson – 25 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 25 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 26 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 27 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 28 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 29 weeks
+ Cathie Morton – 33 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 34 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 36 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 39 weeks (4)

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:

Kim Barker – 15 weeks

Joe Duff – 16 weeks

Andy Sharp – 29 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 35 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen

Micky Augustin – 28 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 6 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 30 weeks

Cathie Morton – 34 weeks

Kio Dettman – 40 weeks

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett

Linda Bennett – 11 weeks

Linda Bennett

Mary Green – 4 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 27 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 26 weeks

Dawn Krause – 9 weeks

Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 26 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Jesse Howard – 1 week

Monica Jennings – 2 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 4 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 1 week

Logan Kahler – 18 weeks

Logan Kahler

Sara Lockner – 3 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 37 weeks

Mike Vest – 2 weeks

Carla Stensland – 26 weeks

Carla Stensland

27 participants! That is a great week!

This week’s milestones were pretty major. Teresa and Tamara and Carla all reached reached the Half-Year Club! WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all good news. Brandon couldn’t build on his 1 week streak, but he claims he will cook up something good for this week.

Here are the current top streaks:

Here are the current streaks:

9. Teresa Kahler – 26 weeks
9. Tamara Peterson – 26 weeks
9. Carla Stensland – 26 weeks
8. Michelle Haupt – 27 weeks
7. Micky Augustin – 28 weeks
6. Andy Sharp – 29 weeks
5. Bill Wentworth – 30 weeks
4. Cathie Morton – 34 weeks
3. Elizabeth Nordeen – 35 weeks
2. Shannon Bardole-Foley – 37 weeks
1. Kio Dettman – 40 weeks

WILD

WILD! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a WILD image? A WILD image is simply a picture of something that isn’t domesticated. Something that is out in nature. A WILDflower. A WILD animal. Such as (in this neck of the woods) a squirrel or a bunny or a bird or a deer or (if you are super lucky) a snake. Any trip into the WILDerness should provide you ample WILD photo opportunities. Lichens and fungus and just all sorts of things that exist, without the aid of man.

Remember, there is also more than one definition of the word WILD!

While thinking on possible subjects for your WILD picture, meditate on the following quote:

It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to point B.

It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.
-Cheryl Strayed

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 all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of WILD in this place that is untamed next Monday.

Andy, Angie, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jen, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Road Trip, Sabas, Sara, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 356 – ROAD TRIP

July 11, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last week’s theme represented the 26th theme of Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Thought I would share a few of those statistics that I like so much. Although, I don’t think these are as meaningless as the statistics I share during the milestone posts.

6 Month Statistics

+ 36 different people have submitted at least one photo. (37 if you count Harrison and Beck separately, but are twins really separate people?)
+ The following people have submitted every week so far:
* Micky Augustin
* Shannon Bardole-Foley
* Kio Dettman
* Cathie Morton
* Elizabeth Nordeen
* Andy Sharp
* Bill Wentworth
+ On the other end of the spectrum, the following people have submitted exactly one week:
* Robyn Augustin
* Jodie Cue
* Derrick Gorshe
+ People with submission rates above 90% (but below 100%) are:
* Michelle Haupt – 96%
* Teresa Kahler – 96%
* Tamara Peterson – 96%
* Carla Stensland – 96%
+ There have been 786 photos submitted.
+ There have been 572 combined participants. That is an average of 22 participants a week
+ The most popular theme has been SELF-PORTRAIT with 31 participants. The least popular theme has been ROCK with 16 participants.
+ The theme that snapped the most streaks was ENTERTAINMENT. Snapped 11 streaks.

Now on to the second half of Year 9.

ROAD TRIP. It is one of my favorite things to do, but did it prove to be a popular theme with the masses? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out.

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

+ Beck and Harrison Gorshe – 1 week
+ Sara Lockner – 1 week
+ Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
+ Mary Green – 2 weeks (2)
+ Angie DeWaard – 4 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 7 weeks
+ Linda Bennett – 9 weeks (7)
+ Kim Barker – 13 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 14 weeks (2)
+ Logan Kahler – 16 weeks (2)
+ Teresa Kahler – 24 weeks (2)
+ Tamara Peterson – 24 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 24 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 25 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 26 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 27 weeks (2)
+ Bill Wentworth – 28 weeks
+ Cathie Morton – 32 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 33 weeks (2)
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 35 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 38 weeks (6)

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 – 15 weeks

Joe Duff

Kio Dettman – 39 weeks

Kio Dettman

Linda Bennett – 10 weeks

Mary Green – 3 weeks

Mary Green

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 36 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 26 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 1 week

Tamara Peterson – 25 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 29 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Micky Augustin – 27 weeks

Andy Sharp – 28 weeks

Kim Barker – 14 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 25 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Sara Lockner – 2 weeks

Sara Lockner

Dawn Krause – 8 weeks

Dawn Krause

Logan Kahler – 17 weeks

Logan Kahler

Elizabeth Nordeen – 34 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 5 weeks

Monica Jennings – 1 week

Suzie Brannen – 1 week

Carla Stensland – 25 weeks

Carla Stensland

Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 3 weeks

Cathie Morton – 33 weeks

Brandon Kahler – 1 week

Mike Vest – 1 week

26 participants! That is a great week! I’m particularly pumped about the first ever submissions by Sabas and Brandon! Hopefully there are more in the future from them! Maybe Sabas can even get Elainie to submit?!?! Who knows? Crazier things have happened.

There was only one streak snapped. That was the one week streak by two man photography team of Beck and Harrison, but to expect toddlers to go on a ROAD TRIP, might have been asking a bit much.

Linda reached the double digit club for streaks! Michelle reached the 6 Month club! Big accomplishments! Congratulations!

Here are the current streaks:

9. Teresa Kahler – 25 weeks
9. Tamara Peterson – 25 weeks
9. Carla Stensland – 25 weeks
8. Michelle Haupt – 26 weeks
7. Micky Augustin – 27 weeks
6. Andy Sharp – 28 weeks
5. Bill Wentworth – 29 weeks
4. Cathie Morton – 33 weeks
3. Elizabeth Nordeen – 34 weeks
2. Shannon Bardole-Foley – 36 weeks
1. Kio Dettman – 39 weeks

WORK!

WORK! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a WORK image? A WORK picture is simply a picture of somebody doing WORK or tools that are used to do WORK or a place where WORK is done. Remember not everybody has to WORK as hard as I do. Some people have slacker jobs where they get to frolic on a mezzanine or play with trains all day. Try not to think how hard I have it at the Computer Mine and maybe think on the physics definition of WORK. The measure of energy transfer that occurs when an object is moved over a distance by an external force.

WARNING: If you are taking a picture at your place of employment, consider what things in your picture your employer would not want the rest of the world to see. You won’t get in trouble with me, but you might with one of your eight bosses.

While considering your possible subjects for your submission, meditate on the following quote:

So I’m sitting in my cubicle today and I realized that ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So it means that every single day you see me, that’s on the worse day of my life.
– OFFICE SPACE

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 all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of WORK in this place that doesn’t feel like WORK for me next Monday.