Category Archives: Kio

Black & White, Flowers, Kio, Linda, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 292 – SHADOWS

April 19, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

There was amount of submissions this week for SHADOWS.

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

Linda Bennett

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett

Kio Dettman

Micky Augustin

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:

HANDS

HANDS! Another great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

A HANDS image is pretty simple. It is merely a picture where the composition involves either HANDS or things that HANDS use, like gloves. It should be an easy theme, since almost everybody has HANDS or knows somebody with HANDS. I mean, even a clock has HANDS.

Think about the following quote while you are contemplating your image:

A man who works with his HANDS is a laborer; a man who works with his HANDS and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his HANDS and his brain and his heart is an artist.
-Louis Nizer

Meditate on this quote and I have no doubt your submission will rise to the level of art!

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 our idea of HANDS in this place that knows to keep its HANDS to itself next Monday.

Angie, Bill, Black & White, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Logan, Railroad, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEK 290 – SLICE OF LIFE AND WEEK 291 – DRINKS

April 12, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

There were two themes for last week, so might as well just get at them.

First up is SLICE OF LIFE:

JOE DUFF

TAMARA PETERSON

KIO DETTMAN

CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

Kim Barker

The second theme was DRINKS:

Bill Wentworth

Christopher D. Bennett

Kio Dettman

Angie DeWaard

Kim Barker

SHADOWS

A SHADOWS picture is pretty simple. It is a picture that includes a SHADOW(S) as part of the composition.

THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE RULES:

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.

Good luck!

Andree, Angie, Basketball, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Dawn, Faust, Jesse, Joe Duff, Jorge, Kio, Lowell, Michelle, Micky, Pastor Sarah, Robert, Tim, Toby, WPC - Reminder

Roundball Oracles – Year 16

April 9, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

Congratulations to Micky on winning this years Roundball Oracles Basketball Pool.

His name has not been etched on the list of immortals:

PAST ROUNDBALL ORACLE CHAMPIONS

2021 – Micky Augustin
2020 – Tournament Cancelled
2019 – Becky Parmelee
2018 – Paul Golden
2017 – Paul Golden
2016 – Michelle Haupt
2015 – Derek Dohrman
2014 – Brandon Kahler
2013 – William McAlpine
2012 – Lowell Davis
2011 – Carrie Baier
2010 – Mark Wolfram
2009 – Mark Wolfram
2008 – Mark Wolfram
2007 – Tim Peterson
2006 – William McAlpine
2005 – William McAlpine

And congratulation, I guess, to Rachel for “winning” this year’s “The Sara” for last place:

Past “The Sara” Winners:

2021 – Rachel Gildersleeve
2020 – Tournament Cancelled
2019 – Russell Kennerly
2018 – Robert Henning
2017 – Shannon Bardole
2016 – Laura Priest
2015 – Derrick Gorshe
2014 – Sara Lockner

Both of your trophies have been ordered.

Here are the final standings:

ROUNDBALL ORACLES – YEAR 16

1. Michael Augustin – 275 points
2. Jorge Rios – 252 points
3. Jordan Toot – 240 points
4. Corey Faust – 233 points
5. Tim Peterson – 229 points
6. Mike G – 228 points
7. Dawn Krause – 216 points
8. Joey Randazzo – 210 points
9. Elizabeth Nordeen – 204 points
10. Kio Dettman – 203 points
11. Humble Narrator – 202 points
12. Angie DeWaard – 202 points
13. Brandon Kahler – 199 points
14. Bill Wentworth – 194 points
15. Toby Sebring – 191 points
16. Carla Stensland – 188 points
17. Andree Jauhari – 187 points
18. Lowell Davis – 184 points
19. Dylan Groves – 179 points
20. Jesse Howard – 177 points
21. Derek Dohrman – 174 points
22. Joseph Duff – 170 points
23. Robert Henning – 168 points
24. Jackson Faust – 167 points
25. Sarah Karber – 151 points
26. Michelle Haupt – 143 points
27. Rachel Gildersleeve – 142 points

Hopefully in 3 or 4 years Iowa State will be good enough to make the tournament again.

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This is your reminder that there are two themes to work on this week:

SLICE OF LIFE

It was apropos that the theme was LOVE the week that we had to say goodbye to Mom. I don’t know anybody that embodied the various definitions of LOVE than my Mom. It is strange that the very next theme is SLICE OF LIFE. SLICE OF LIFE is a theme that was designed to honor my Dad. For those of you that don’t know, my Dad passed away when I was 9 years old. His legacy is a large part of the reason as to why I got into photography. He had started a postcard company called Slice of Life.

Therefore, a SLICE OF LIFE image is an image that looks at your local town and capture an image that could be used as a postcard. His postcards were black and white, if you want to go the extra mile.

The second theme to work on this week:

DRINKS

This theme isn’t very complicated. It is merely a picture of a DRINK or DRINK(S).

Happy photo harvesting!

Alexis, Andy, Bill, Cathie, Dad, Dawn, Elainie, Kim, Kio, Michelle, Micky, Mom, Sabas, Sara, Shannon, Slice of Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 289 – LOVE

April 5, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

For those of you that haven’t heard, my Mom passed away about 10 days ago. Because of that, I have not been in a state to reveal the submissions for LOVE on time or reveal the new theme for last week. Because of that, I don’t know how steady my posts are going to be in the next few weeks, but this site might just turn into a fan page for my Mom for a little while. However, I will do my best to get back on track with THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Because of that, there will be two themes for this week to get back on track with the Photography 139 Calendar.

Sara’s submission was not exactly an intended submission, but its message was a perfect encapsulation of what I needed to see when it came through. Thank you Sara!

Here are the submissions for LOVE:

Kim Barker

Dawn Krause

Micky Augustin

Michelle Haupt

Andy Sharp

Steve White

Tamara Peterson

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Bill Wentworth

Cathie Raley

Kio Dettman

Sara Lockner

Christopher D. Bennett

Here is the first of two themes to work on this week:

SLICE OF LIFE

Therefore, a SLICE OF LIFE image is an image that looks at your local town and capture an image that could be used as a postcard. His postcards were black and white, if you want to go the extra mile.

The second theme to work on this week:

DRINKS

This theme isn’t very complicated. It is merely a picture of a DRINK or DRINK(S).

THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE RULES:

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.

Good luck!

Dawn, Kio, Michelle, Monica, Pastor Sarah, Shannon, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 288 – STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

March 22, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

I’m not going to get into a big thing today about submissions. If you haven’t heard, my family experienced a medical emergency over the weekend. Please keep us in your prayers.

I wasn’t sure I was going to post anything today, but I decided to and this way you can start working on this week’s theme. If you were going to submit, but forgot, feel free to send your submission and I will get it up at a later date:

Dawn Krause

Kio Dettman

Michelle Haupt

Sarah Karber

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Steve White

Tamara Peterson

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett

Monica Henning

This week’s theme is LOVE:

LOVE

A LOVE image is pretty simple. Just a picture of somebody or something you LOVE expressing LOVE.

Good luck!

Aaron, Alexis, Anela, Birthdays, Brandon, Carla, Dawn, Derrick, Elainie, Elizabeth, Grandma, Jason, Jen, Joe Duff, Johnathan, Kanoa, Kim, Kio, Kupono, Logan, Michelle, Mom, Monica, Photoshop, Sabas, Sara, Self-Portrait, Shannon, Tamara, Teresa

WPC – WEEK 287 – PICTURE IN PICTURE

March 15, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start today by wishing my sister Carla a happy birthday. Happy birthday Carla!

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

+++++++

I also need to wish Monica a happy birthday. Happy birthday Monica!

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

+++++++

We did it! 76 straight weeks of double digit submissions! I was worried about PICTURE IN PICTURE for a bit, but we came through!

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

Joe Duff

Tamara Peterson

Aaron Barnett

Christopher D. Bennett

Elizabeth Nordeen

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Kio Dettman

Monica Henning

Dawn Krause

Michelle Haupt

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

It is here. Judgement Day. The last theme that didn’t get double digit submissions. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY. 76 weeks ago. September 23, 2019.

There were only 7 submissions from 7 people:

+ Jen Ensley-Gorshe
+ Andy Sharp
+ Kim Barker
+ Humble Narrator
+ Stephanie Kim
+ Tamara Peterson
+ Jesse Howard

But what is STREET PHOTOGRAPHY? Why is it so scary and intimidating?

Sorry, Chris from 5 seconds ago. I reject your premise. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY isn’t scary or intimidating. It is awesome!

Some of the best and most famous photographers in history were STREET PHOTOGRAPHYers.

+ Dorothea Lange
+ Helen Levitt
+ Diane Arbus
+ Robert Frank
+ Fan Ho
+ Vivian Maier
+ Robert Doisneau
+ Henri Cartier-Bresson

Okay, great, you are thinking, but you still haven’t defined STREET PHOTOGRAPHY. Is it pictures of a street? No, but it is photography that often takes place on the streets.

Here is the best definition: “conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places.”

The 2 most important things. RANDOM and PUBLIC. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is often mistaken for CANDID PORTRAITS. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY has to be done in a public place. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a portrait. It can be a piece of art. It can be a building. It can be a sign. It doesn’t have to be on a street. It can be at a sporting event. It can be at an art festival. A farmer’s market. The most common place would be a business district. It only has to meet those 2 criteria: public and random.

What is public? I mean that is pretty obvious. It can’t be in your house or in your friend’s house. It has to be somewhere in the public. Where other people can be.

What is random? That simply means that you didn’t go to wherever you went with the intent of taking that picture. Something about the place you went to compelled you to take that picture. You may have went there to take a picture, but not a pre-planned picture.

Some people think of STREET PHOTOGRAPHY as candid portraits. It isn’t, but it certainly can be. However, the picture can be of street art like the example. Egene Atget, was the first STREET PHOTOGRAPHYer. He took pictures of buildings.

I’ll make one last comparison. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is to photography what jazz is to music. It is all about improvisation. This is perhaps why I love it so much.

Okay, one last thing. Most of the great STREET PHOTOGRAPHYers worked in black & white. I’m not saying your submission should be in black & white, but it is something to think about.

Also, think about this quote before thinking about your STREET PHOTOGRAPHY creation:

“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected you find in the street.”
-Robert Doisneau

Meditate on this before you go out looking for some STREET PHOTOGRAPHY images.

Then send me your submission(s) by 11 AM CST next Monday. 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 our idea of PICTURE IN PICTURE in this place that was born on the streets next Monday.

Andy, Becky, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kio, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Photoshop, Self-Portrait, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 286 – PLAY

March 8, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

75! 75 straight weeks of double digit submissions! That is 3/4 of the way to triple digits on the double digits! But it won’t be able to get to the triple-double. This week’s theme couldn’t be easier, but the week after that is the theme that killed the last double digit streak. (Insert dramatic music here.)

I just want to say that this might be one of the best collection of submissions to date!

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

Andy Sharp

Elizabeth Nordeen

Dawn Krause

Joe Duff

Kio Dettman

Becky Parmelee

Christopher D. Bennett

Micky Augustin

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Logan Kahler

Carla Stensland

Cathie Raley

Michelle Haupt

Mike Vest

Carla Stensland

Jesse Howard

PICTURE IN PICTURE

PICTURE IN PICTURE! Another great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

PICTURE IN PICTURE is a brand new theme in the 8+ year history of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. In fact, I’m not sure it existed until I invented it a couple months ago.

A PICTURE IN PICTURE image isn’t just an outdated feature on a television (maybe it still exists but I haven’t used it since 1983), but it is an existing picture(s) put in your PICTURE. There are several ways to do this. One is simply to photograph an photograph that is on your wall. Another way to do this is grab a box of old prints (for you young bucks, people used to get their pictures “developed” and printed on photo paper) and spread them across a table or floor and take a picture of it. You can organize them in a way that makes sense to you, or just spread them out and enjoy the chaos. Another way to do this would be to open up a folder of images on your computer and use the Snipping tool to create an image of digital thumbnails. I’m sure there is also a way to do this on a Mac, but it probably involves paying an extra $200 for less functionality and a cute little fruit logo. Hopefully, you will find away to take an old picture and find a new way of thinking about it.

Let me just throw this out there… Photomosaic?!?!?

Think about the following quote by Ansel Adams when composing your image:

There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
-Ansel Adams

In this project, you are both the photographer and the viewer, even if you weren’t the photographer of the initial image. Meditate on that and I have no doubt you will create a great PICTURE IN PICTURE interpretation.

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 our idea of PICTURE IN PICTURE in this place that is little more than pictures in pictures in pictures next Monday.

Aaron, Carla, Dawn, Elizabeth, Funk, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kio, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 285 – LINES

March 1, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

74 straight weeks of double digit submission and we did it before I even got out of bed on Monday morning! LINES seemed to be a popular theme! I mean, who doesn’t like LINES?

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

Micky Augustin

Aaron Barnett

Bill Wentworth

Joe Duff
“Lines in the ceiling, floor, and walls. Plus the lines for Covid vaccine. Got mom vaccinated; well organized and looking like they are starting to hit their stride. Lots vaccinated this weekend.”

Michelle Haupt

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Susanna Funk
“The Manitou Incline has 2,000 feet of stairs which are actually lines! And my hamstrings felt every one of them.”

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Tamara Peterson

Kio Dettman

Dawn Krause

Elizabeth Nordeen

Jesse Howard

Monica Henning

Carla Stensland

PLAY

PLAY! Another great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

A PLAY image is simply an image where the composition includes either something that is PLAYed or somebody PLAYing. There are all types of things that can be PLAYed. Games to musical instruments to sports to people.

Of course, PLAY has multiple meanings. A PLAY can be words on a piece of paper that tell a story or a PLAY can be acting out those words on a stage. It is more than just humans that PLAY. Animals also PLAY.

Think about the following old proverb when you are considering your PLAY interpretation:

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,
All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.

Meditation on these words will no doubt lead to a fascinating PLAY image.

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 our idea of PLAY in this place that is little more than a little PLAYed out next Monday.

Aaron, Andy, Angie, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Funk, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kio, Michelle, Monica, Railroad, Shannon, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 284 – SYMMETRY & PATTERNS

February 22, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

We did it! Again! 73 straight weeks of double digit submissions. More than a few of the submissions this week were attached to emails with people pointing out that they also like art that is heavy in SYMMETRY & PATTERNS. I immediately crossed these people off my Christmas Card List.

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

Andy Sharp

Aaron Barnett

Angie DeWaard

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Joe Duff

Kio Dettman

Michelle Haupt

Tamara Peterson

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Dawn Krause

Bill Wentworth

Micky Augustin

Elizabeth Nordeen

Jesse Howard

Susanna Funk

Monica Henning

Cathie Raley

Mike Vest

LINES

LINES! Another great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

A LINES image is simply an image that heavily incorporates LINES into the composition of the image. Carla’s submission this week would also be an excellent submission for LINES. LINES that appear in a photograph CAN BE framed and positioned by the photographer to draw the viewer’s eye towards a specific point of interest. LINES draw the viewer’s eye to a specific direction of an image.

You can use all sorts of lines in your composition. You can use horizontal LINES. You can use vertical LINES. You can use diagonal LINES. You can use converging LINES. There are just so many options!

Of course, the term LINES has more than one meaning.

Think about the following quote from Martin Luther while considering your LINES image:

God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick.

Meditate on these words and you will create a fascinating LINES image.

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 our idea of LINES in this place that is little more than LINES of code next Monday.

Funk, Jen, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Logan, Micky, Monica, Shannon, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 283 – WIND

February 15, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 24 Comments

Well, we did it! Andy said it couldn’t be done, but we hit double digits with WIND like it ain’t no thing, but a chicken wing on a string. A phrase, that while I enjoy typing, don’t understand in the slightest. 72 weeks in a row of double digit submissions!

An exciting development this week was that I received the first ever submission from Susanna Funk. For those of you that don’t know Susanna, she is one of the most badass people I know. In addition to be under the stress of being a health care professional in a state (Iowa) with a completely inept governor, she spends her spare time climbing mountains. Her WIND picture comes from Rocky Mountains National Park.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about submission rates to shove it in Andy’s face, you came to see the submissions:

Susanna Funk

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Kio Dettman

Joe Duff

Micky Augustin

Kim Barker

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Logan Kahler

Monica Henning

SYMMETRY & PATTERNS

SYMMETRY & PATTERNS! Another great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

I can’t help but think of Shannon when I think of the theme of SYMMETRY & PATTERNS. Back in the day, we would occasionally go to art shows and fairs together. It often ended up being a painful and frustrating experience because the art booths that she would like to stop and look at were the art that actually hurt my soul (at least a little bit) to look at. It was all symmetrical lines and shapes. I always thought, “if this is the kind of art she likes and she likes my photography, what does that say about my photography? Is it this awful and boring?”

On the other side of the coin, she also hated most of the art I liked. Considered it to be derivative of the illustrations one sees in children’s books. Whatever.

I’m not saying you should tap into your inner Shannon when making your SYMMETRY & PATTERNS picture, but it might not hurt. I’m not saying your picture should be boring and uninteresting. I borderline enjoy the theme reveal picture of the bathroom floor in front of my toilet*. I am saying that you should find a pattern and/or a subject that has symmetry. While this isn’t my favorite theme, I do look forward to seeing your interpretations. I bet Shannon will be counting down the days.

When thinking about creating your SYMMETRY & PATTERNS image, think on the following quote from noted Japanese author Junichiro Tanizaki:

Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.

Meditate on these words and you will no doubt, make a completely almost interesting SYMMETRY & PATTERNS image.

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 our idea of SYMMETRY & PATTERNS in this place that admittedly has some symmetry and patterns of its own next Monday.

*Admit it. You are impressed with how clean it is.