Category Archives: Jesse

Let’s Party

Don’t know that there is anything particularly special in these images from Iowa State’s Spring Game, but another notch in the back log is another notch in the back log.

Plus after Iowa State’s victory over Iowa on the basketball court last night, I felt like an Iowa State sports type post:


Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

Spring Game - 2017

I never would’ve guessed, sitting in Jack Trice Stadium, on that Saturday afternoon, that this Cyclone team would go on to beat 2 Top 5 teams on the way to ending Iowa State’s bowl drought.

I already got my Liberty Bowl tickets ordered. Jesse, Russell, and I are going to Memphis!

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Quick message from Photography 139 Shameless Commerce Division:

At this time, 40% of the 2018 Photography 139 Calendars have been sold:


2018 Calendar - Composite

If you wish to purchase one, they are $10. I will hand deliver for free anywhere in Boone’s Golden Circle. Otherwise, I will ship anywhere in the United States for a small fee. If you are interested in purchasing a Photography 139 Calendar, contact the email address below:


bennett@photography139.com

I will only keep tagging the end of the blog posts with this commercial message until I’m sold out.

Strap a Grenade to my Head, Pull Out the Pin, My Photography is Mind Blowing, Ain’t Nobody Do It Like I Do It

The world wasn’t ready for these PORTRAIT images on Monday. I’m not sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:


PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

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PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

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PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

PORTRAIT - ALTERNATE

Most of these PORTRAITs were taken around the computer mine. Some were taken during communion at my church. Others were taken in my back yard.

You’re welcome world!

01-18-08

The images from the folder 01-18-08 are proof that my reputation for hating cats is often overblown.


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The fat cat is Fat Jake. The other cat is Toby. I don’t wish to speak ill of the deceased, so that is all I can write about him in conscience. But okay, that cat sucked. Even by cat standards that cat sucked.

Fat Jake was cool though.

By restoring these images to the Photography 139 SmugMug Gallery I was able to restore the following old-timey blogs to their original gloryL

JAYCEES RUN
FELINE PORCINE

Next week’s stroll down Memory Lane will include another one of my first steps down a broken road of stupidity.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE REMINDER – PORTRAIT

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


WEEK 116 - PORTRAIT
PORTRAIT

Here is a good definition of PORTRAIT provide by the good folks at Wikipedia:

Portrait photography or portraiture in photography is a photograph of a person or group of people that captures the personality of the subject by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait picture might be artistic, or it might be clinical, as part of a medical study.

Seems simple enough! Here are a few examples:


LOSER - PORTRAIT

PORTRAIT - LOSER

Faceless Portrait Loser

WEEK 91 - PORTRAIT - MICKY AUGUSTIN 1
Micky Augustin

WEEK 34 - PORTRAIT - ANGIE DEWAARD 1
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 34 - PORTRAIT - CARLA STENSLAND 1
Carla Stensland

WEEK 91 - PORTRAIT - MIKE VEST 2
Mike Vest

WEEK 68 - SELF-PORTRAIT - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

AMUSEMENT - DAE HEE YOON

WEEK 34 - PORTRAIT - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

That collection ought to get your creative juices flowing!

Happy photo harvesting!

Dog Face

I have a considerable backlog of images that I need to edit. Part of the problem is that I edit photos in 2 separate distinct locations and it is often difficult for me to figure out what I have edited in one location, but not the other. I have begun the process of mirroring these images in both locations so that I can actually make real head way on my back log. Plus, it should free up some valuable hard drive real estate in both locations.

Not to bore you with too many details, but the first step in this process involves tons or robocopy scripts AND an external hard drive.

And with that, here are some backlog images of Naima from February.


Bunny Tracks

Naima - February 2017

Naima - February 2017

Naima - February 2017

Naima - February 2017

In addition to trying to get a better organizational grasp on my images that are physically in my possession, I’m also trying to get a better organization to my images that are in the SmugMug Gallery.

While it doesn’t help that effort, it is part of a slight re-design of the website. If you’ve been on the website lately you may have noticed some slight changes.

*The base color remains purple. It will always be purple. However, I got rid of some gold and green accent colors and replaced those with a silver and a light blue.
*I completely replaced the old headers with new headers.
*On the homepage, gone is the slide show of recent pictures added to the SmugMug Gallery. It has been replaced with a slide show of images submitted for The Weekly Photo Challenge.

There are some more changes coming, eventually. I’m looking to re-design every page from the About page to the Products page. I might even add a services page where I quote my prices. Like $75,000 to do a wedding on a Saturday that is an Iowa State home game. I hope you don’t think that prices me out of the market.

Here are a look at the current rotating headers on the website:


Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

In the end, I hope to add about 15 more rotating headers to the slight website redesign.

Won’t Take that Credit; I know Where We Get It; Them Blessings Be Comin’ from God Above

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Rather than my standard picture of an inflatable turkey, thought (with apologies to Lecrae, I’d give thanks for some of the many blessings in my life.

Count it up, count it up, count it up.
Line ’em up, line ’em up, line ’em up.


Bennett 2017 Family Photo
Blessed with a tremendous biological family. Blessed to share DNA and a life with these people.


Blessed to be a part of Olivia’s family. Blessed to learn a new definition of the word “family” from Shorty and Doris.

Mission Trip  - Day 0
Blessed to be a part of an incredible church family. From Youth Group to Methodist Men to the people I see in the pews on Sundays.

Thanksgiving - 2017
Blessed to have a job and double blessed to have a great work family. 7 AM comes pretty early, but so many of the people I work with make the struggle worth the effort.


Blessed to share a life with this band of brothers. Not one of us has any fashion sense, but I’d still take a bullet for any of them.


Blessed to fit in with this band of sisters as well.

Movie Club
Blessed to be able to share my love of weird cinema with like minded individuals once a month.

October 28, 2017
Blessed to be a Cyclone and double blessed to have somebody to share so many trips to Jack Trice (a spiritual place for me) with.


Blessed to have a roof over my head that belongs to me. Blessed that I can extend that roof over friends and family when their life needs it. Blessed that when I say, “Want to help paint by house?” 20+ people show up.


Blessed that friends from past jobs are still important pillars of my current life.

The Howard Children
Blessed that people that aren’t related to me consider me an uncle to them.

August 15, 2017
Blessed to have a car that I can drive out of town and not worry about the tire falling off.


Blessed to have so many people in my life that when I say, “I’m coming to your city”, they say, “You’re staying with us right?”

Tenderloining at Nick's
Blessed to have so many people in my life that fill gaps.

Selfie Project - March 5
Blessed that even though I’m aged, I still healthy enough to still ball. Although pretty poorly these days.

Selfie Project - January 27
Blessed that even though I’m aged, I still have people in my life that keep me young.

Selfie Project - January 21
Blessed to have people in my life that want to change the world for the better, when I get cynical.

Selfie Project -January 14
Blessed to have art in my life.

May 25, 2017
Blessed to have a beautiful beard. Even if the old guys at my church hate it.


Blessed to have people who will help with projects like this, no questions asked.

Photo of the Day 0003 - May 5, 2014
Blessed to share a life and a domicile with this crazy beast. Teaches me about selfless love every single day.

June 28, 2017
Blessed to have a chance to spread my blessings to others, sometimes, with some of my favorite people.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of my blessings. But I don’t want it to start to sound like I’m bragging.

01-08-08

This huge collection of photos was found in the folder called 01-01-08:


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I don’t know if it the holidays or recently seeing some old friends, or a recent death to a close relation of a very close friend or if it is just because it is that time of year, but this particular walk down memory lane made me particularly nostalgic.

Nostalgic for:

1. A time when I stayed up late enough to do night photography.
2. A time when some of the people on the chili scoring sheet still worked at the computer mine.
3. A time when the computer mine had the old set up and not the cube farm setup.
4. A time when Vest could grip a toy gun with 10 fingers. Too soon?
5. A time when Symposium was still a thing.
6. A time when my beanie collection was so wanting.
7. A time when I was stuck at work after dark on holidays. Which is crazy because I always hated that.
8. A time when we could actually turn the lights off at work.
9. A time when being a piece of human debris made you ineligible for political office, rather than eligible for a cabinet position.

But when I wasn’t feeling all melancholy, by adding this images to the Photography 139 SmugMug Gallery, I was able to restore the following old timey blog posts:

EDWARDS ON NEW YEAR’S DAY
JUST TELL ME
SYMPOSER
KENTUCKY FRIED METHODIST

Next Saturday’s stroll down memory lane will involve a broken mirror at the very least.

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 98

This picture for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT was taken a couple months back during the annual Howard Family Photo Shoot:


Photo Journal - Page 98
Photo Journal – Page 98 – Take a group portrait that captures the individuality of each subject.

Here are some other I took during the same session that I like, but won’t be physically adhered in the physical manifestation of A PHOTO JOURNAL:


Page 98  Reject

Page 98  Reject

Page 98  Reject

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Page 98  Reject

Page 98  Reject

Page 98  Reject

Page 98  Reject

Page 98  Reject

I’m not sure what page we will hammer out next time we check-in with THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Possibly pages 50-51.

Selfie Project – October

You can tell the year is starting to wind down. I don’t feel I did the best work on THE SELFIE PROJECT in October. It admittedly wasn’t the busiest month of the year for me, but I still had plenty of things go down. I’ll have to try to do better in November. Finish off THE SELFIE PROJECT strong!!


October 1, 2017
October 1

October 3, 2017
October 3

October 4, 2017
October 4

October 6, 2017
October 6

October 7, 2017
October 7

October 8, 2017
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October 18, 2017
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October 22, 2017
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October 24, 2017
October 24

October 25, 2017
October 25

October 28, 2017
October 28

October 30, 2017
October 30

October 31, 2017
October 31

I do at least have plans to travel farther than Ankeny in November. So that is something!

Remember, you can follow THE SELFIE PROJECT’S daily progress by following me on Instagram:

CHRISTOPHERDBENNETT

We will check in on this project again in a month!

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 58 Beta

On the last Saturday of my vacation I corralled Jesse and we went out to McHose Park and took the second picture for Page 58 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:


Photo Journal - Page 58 Beta
Page 58 Beta – Take a picture of yourself pretending to be yourself.

Here are a couple of others we took during the session that won’t be physically adhered into the physical PHOTO JOURNAL:


PAGE 58 BETA - REJECT

PAGE 58 BETA - REJECT

I have a few more pages for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT taken, so I’m not sure what page I will unveil next. Leaning towards Page 33 though.