Category Archives: Mary

Andy, Angie, Baseball/Softball, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Iowa State, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 393 – COMPETITION

March 27, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

EDITOR’S NOTE: MY WORK SCHEDULE HAS TEMPORARILY CHANGED DUE TO EXTREME SHORT STAFFING AT THE COMPUTER MINE. BECAUSE OF THIS, THE PUBLISHING OF THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE POST MIGHT GET MOVED BACK AT LEAST 30 MINUTES UNTIL THE STAFFING SHORTAGE HAS PASSED. WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

It is the last Monday of the month, so it is a good time revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

What skill level photographer can participate?

THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is open to photographers of all skill levels. From award winning photographers to professionals to the highly ranked amateurs to those that are just beginning to those who don’t even know how to focus a camera. All skill levels are encouraged and welcome. You can’t be too bad and you can’t be too good! Everyone has room to learn and be challenged!

Award winning photographers? Really?

Yes. I can think of at least 5 photographers that participate regularly that have won a photography award of some kind.

Is this a competition?
No.

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

Yes. That limit is 3. If you send me more than 3, I will post the first 3 that you send. I’m not trying to harsh your photography buzz, but any more than that start to overwhelm the other submissions and it takes me about 5 minutes to take a picture from my inbox to code it on the website. So I have to manage my workload.

If participation rates climb, that limit of 3 is subject to lower.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Meh. Only if I think somebody is clearly confusing this week’s theme with last week or next week’s theme. Otherwise, if the submission makes sense in your head, that is good enough to me. However, I would urge you to not try to fit your favorite subject into the theme. This isn’t a challenge to share a picture every week of your kid or your business or your pet. It is a challenge to take pictures of different things every week. Which isn’t to say subjects can’t be repeated, but you shouldn’t become reliant on the same ones.

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

I go to lunch at 11 AM. I leave my office. I’m not near a computer. At 11 AM I hit “Schedule” and then I go throw food down my throat. 167 hours is more than enough time to send a submission. Okay, 166 hours and 59 minutes. You got me.

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

I won’t turn down submissions that are too small. I will probably ask you for a picture of greater resolution if it is really small. The typical 4 x 6 image posted to my website has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 853 pixels. While a 400 x 300 image might look okay on your phone, it looks like trash on a computer monitor. I prefer images that are at least 1000 pixels at their largest point, but don’t ban smaller pictures at this point.

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

Suggestions are closed for next year’s list. It will be a minute before they open up for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

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COMPETITION! A great theme! But did it fire up the competitive juices of a ton of people? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, March 20, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Scott Degeneffe – 1 week
2-Mary Green – 1 week (3)
3-Sara Lockner – 1 week
4-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
5-Mindi Terrell – 5 weeks (2)
6-Suzie Brannen – 9 weeks
7-Jesse Howard – 9 weeks
8-Monica Jennings – 9 weeks
9-Nathanial Brown – 10 weeks (3)
10-Mike Vest – 10 weeks
11-Tamara Peterson – 20 weeks
12-Brandon Kahler – 30 weeks
13-Linda Bennett – 34 weeks (2)
14-Sarah Toot – 35 weeks (3)
15-Angie DeWaard – 39 weeks
16-Dawn Krause – 43 weeks (2)
17-Kim Barker – 48 weeks
18-Joe Duff – 50 weeks
19-Logan Kahler – 51 weeks
20-Teresa Kahler – 61 weeks (2)
21-Carla Stensland – 61 weeks (2)
22-Micky Augustin – 63 weeks (2)
23-Andy Sharp – 64 weeks (2)
24-Bill Wentworth – 65 weeks
25-Cathie Morton – 69 weeks
26-Elizabeth Nordeen – 70 weeks
27-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 71 weeks
28-Kio Dettman – 74 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:

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 40 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 66 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 62 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Joe Duff (Texas) – 51 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 75 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 35 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 72 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 21 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 65 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 6 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Willy McAlpine (Iowa) – 1 week

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 64 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa)

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 71 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa)

Mary Green (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 44 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 1 week

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 62 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 49 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 11 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 31 weeks

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 70 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 36 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 11 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 52 weeks

29 participants! That is a great week.

There were submissions this week taken in the following states:

+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

There were no new states added to the map.

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Minnesota
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Missouri
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas
+ Wisconsin

17 states! That is pretty impressive!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Nassau Bahamas

I took my picture about 15 miles from my front door. So I didn’t add to the map, yet again.

There were a couple of big milestones this week! Suzie, Monica, and Jesse both reached double digit streaks. Logan reached the One Year Club!

But it wasn’t all sunshine and happiness! Scott, Sara, and Becky couldn’t build on their submissions last week to get to two week streaks!

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:

BLUE

BLUE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a BLUE image? It is simply an image where the subject or a major compositional element of the image is the color BLUE. That is it! Almost too simple!

While thinking about a possible subject for your submission, meditate on the following quite and I have no doubt that you will come up with a great image:

She had blue skin, And so did he. He kept it hid; And so did she. They searched for blue; Their whole life through, Then passed right by – And never knew.
–Shel Silverstein

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. There is a limit of 3 submissions per participant. To be considered the photographer, you have to be the one that takes the picture. Don’t be stealing the work of other artists. You can submit pictures for other photographers that took pictures with your camera or phone, but give credit where credit is due.

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

That is it. Thems the rules!

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 BLUE in this place that hopefully never gives you the blues next Monday.

Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 392 – PURPLE

March 20, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

PUPRLE! An important color in my life, but did it inspire a ton of submissions? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, March 13, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Mindi Terrell – 4 weeks (3)
2-Suzie Brannen – 8 weeks (2)
3-Jesse Howard – 8 weeks
4-Monica Jennings – 8 weeks
5-Nathanial Brown – 9 weeks
6-Mike Vest – 9 weeks
7-Tamara Peterson – 19 weeks
8-Brandon Kahler – 29 weeks
9-Linda Bennett – 33 weeks (3)
10-Sarah Toot – 34 weeks (3)
11-Angie DeWaard – 38 weeks
12-Dawn Krause – 42 weeks
13-Kim Barker – 47 weeks
14-Joe Duff – 49 weeks
15-Logan Kahler – 50 weeks
16-Teresa Kahler – 60 weeks
17-Carla Stensland – 60 weeks
18-Micky Augustin – 62 weeks
19-Andy Sharp – 63 weeks
20-Bill Wentworth – 64 weeks
21-Cathie Morton – 68 weeks
22-Elizabeth Nordeen – 69 weeks
23-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 70 weeks
24-Kio Dettman – 73 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:

Scott Degeneffe (Florida) – 1 week

Scott Degeneffe (Florida)

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 39 weeks

Andy Sharp (Oklahoma) – 64 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 48 weeks

Micky Augustin (Arizona) – 63 weeks

Micky Augustin (Arizona)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 61 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 74 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 34 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Nathanial Brown (Minnesota) – 10 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Minnesota)

Nathanial Brown (Iowa)

Mary Green (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 20 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 65 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 50 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 71 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Nebraska) – 70 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 5 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 43 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 30 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 9 weeks

Jesse Howard (Minnesota) – 9 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 61 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 9 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 51 weeks

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 69 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 35 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania)

Becky Parmelee (Arkansas) – 1 week

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 10 weeks

29 participants! That is a great week!

There were submissions this week taken in the following states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ Florida
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Minnesota
+ Nebraska
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

While there a lot of states covered, there were no new states added to the map.

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Minnesota
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Missouri
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas
+ Wisconsin

17 states! That is pretty impressive!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Nassau Bahamas

I took my picture in my basement. So, I didn’t add to the map, yet again.

The big milestone with week was Nathanial and Vest reaching the double digit steak club! WooHoo!

COMPETITION

COMPETITION! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a COMPETITION image? It is simply an image of beings engaged in some kind of contest. Or it can be a picture of something that is used in a COMPETITION. Like a bowling ball. Or it can be a picture of the result of a COMPETITION. Like a trophy. There are so many possibilities!

While thinking about a possible subject for you submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great image:

Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.
-Bertrand Russell

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 it. Thems the rules!

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 COMPETITION in this place that tries not be competitive it next Monday.

Angie, Art, Cathie, Mary, Music, Night, Photoshop, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa, Travel, WPC - Reminder

Viva Las Vegas: Day 1B

March 17, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I might normally start today with a picture celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day. But I don’t really celebrate. I’ll be working for the man with my nose to the grindstone, swinging my computer mine pick away. If I’m lucky, I might be able to get a Reuben. The West Street Deli has the best Reuben. At least the best that I’ve had.

Anyways, happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all those the celebrate. May your beer be green and your shakes be Shamrock and may you not be stalked and murdered by a leprechaun. If I would have had time I could have done a LEPRECHAUN movie power rankings. I do own a boxed set, on physical media. Cause I’m old.

I did read that Catholics can ask for a special dispensation this year to allow them to eat meat on Saint Patrick’s Day.

From KCCI:

This week, Friday is also St. Patrick’s Day. For some, St. Patrick’s Day is commonly associated with corned beef and other Irish dishes. Therefore, several locations across the country, including the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota, are allowing parishioners to eat meat Friday.

St. Francis of Assisi in West Des Moines says there is no blanket guidance, but parishioners are encouraged to talk to clergy if they would like a dispensation. The priest is evaluating situations on a case-by-case basis.

St. Joseph on the east side of Des Moines says the same.

The Diocese of Des Moines is leaving it up to its local parishes to decide what is best.

“While there will be no general dispensation granted, people are free to approach their pastor or petition Bishop William Joensen for a particular dispensation.”

The Diocese of Sioux City, which covers parts of Central Iowa, says this Friday will be a “typical Friday in Lent.” The diocese says “the faithful are to abstain from eating meat per Bishop Walker Nickless.”

The Archdiocese of Dubuque says Catholics in their Archdiocese are “dispensed from the obligation to abstain from meat on that day.”

Sioux City don’t mess around. I assume the churches that are handling it on a case by case basis are doing the old dispensation for a cash contribution dance. Either way, I find this amusing and would like to sit in on one of these dispensation requests. While eating a Reuben of course.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate.

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Time to share the second collection of images from Day 1 of my trip to Las Vegas for the Computer Mine Convention. There isn’t much more to tell about this day that I didn’t already share last Friday. After walking around a bit, we went back to the hotel and I fell asleep by like 8:30. Which made be feel pretty cool.

Are these the names of bands or of mathlete teams?

I regret not going up in the High Roller, but those pods hold 40 people. That seems excessive.

I had no clue that you could go up inside the Eiffel Tower. Not doing this is maybe my biggest Vegas regret.

This was the only day/night in Vegas where the weather was good. It was cold the rest of the trip. Well Saturday was almost warm and then it rained the entire day too, so that was fun.

Even though the weather was warm, it was still incredibly windy. When I looked to the sky, I thought it was foggy, but turned out the wind had whipped up quite a bit of sand. I found this out when I looked the wrong direction and got an eye full of sand. Fun.

According to my extremely inaccurate Fit app on my phone I took 11,634 steps and walked 5.35 miles on the day.

Still plenty more pictures to share from the Las Vegas work trip.

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

PURPLE

PURPLE! What a great them for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a PURPLE image? Simply put, it is an image where the subject OR a major compositional element of the image is PURPLE. That is it! Couldn’t be simpler than falling off a log. Getting a bruise from falling of the log. Then taking a picture of that bruise.

This isn’t the first time that PURPLE has been a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Take a look at some past submissions to help inspire your creative juices:

Angie DeWaard – Week 90

Cathie Raley (Morton) – Week 90

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 90

Mary Green – Week 369

Teresa Kahler – Week 369

Happy photo harvesting!

9 Emotions Project, Aaron, Alexis, Angie, Baby Got Rack, Bethany, Black & White, Blogging, Boone County Fair, Formal Portrait, Kanoa, Kio, Kupono, Mary, Mom, Road Trip, Saydie, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Town Sign Project, Travel

An Artist’s Notebook Post #4757

March 4, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It has been 6,052 days since August 9, 2006. 16 years. 6 months. 24 days. Since I first posted something in this little experiment known as “An Artist’s Notebook”. 145,2485 hours. 8,714,800 minutes. 522,892,800 seconds. Which is to say, it has been a minute.

There are some very important people in my life that I didn’t even know 16 years, 6 months, 24 days ago. There are people that I thought were important in my life that have come and gone in that 864 weeks and 4 days. It has been a journey. Some good. Some bad. Some of it ugly, I’m sure.

6,052 days ago I started this journal with the following words:

So here is the first journal entry. I felt like having as pretentious sounding name as possible for my journal. I have a few goals about this journal. My main goal is just to actually write in it. My second goal is to be as truthful as possible towards my true thoughts and feelings. I have another journal on another website, but it is really just a collection of sarcastic statements and cheap jabs at open faced sandwiches. This journal is meant to be about what my achievements and failures are in the world of art. What projects I am working on and what I have accomplished and what I have failed to accomplish. What I am photographing and what I am thinking about entering in photo contests. What I am thinking about. It might not always make sense. It might just be things I need to write down because they strike me as poignant or inspirational. This is in a small way an online “idea box”.

Since those words, I have posted 4,756 journal entries. (Normally I would do this little exercise on post #4,750, but I was in Vegas at that time.) This website is still something of an “idea box”. Sometimes I’m just working stuff out here. I don’t know why, sometimes I need to work stuff out in public. But this website is definitely more than just an “idea box”. It is a place where I post a few thoughts and a ton of pictures. I’ve gone through a few photo projects on these pages. From THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT to the 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT to THE SELFIE PROJECT to the POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT to name just a few. This website has also created a community with THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Which is one of my proudest achievements. Even if it sputtered and spit and barely survived in its first few years.

4,757 posts. We’ve been through some stuff. I hope to keep going through some stuff for many, many, many more posts. 4,757 posts and I feel like I’m just getting warmed up.

On these reflective posts, I like to publish a bunch of statistics that me and Joe Duff find interesting. So I might as well get to it.

Every post in “An Artist’s Notebook” is tagged with at least one Category. It is one of the easiest ways to navigate around the website. They are listed at the top of each post. Here are some statistics about Categories:

THE TOP 10 MOST USED CATEGORIES (RANK IN POST #4500 & INCREASE SINCE THEN)
10. Macro – 495 (NR)
9. Teresa – 525 (#9 – +70)
8. Carla – 530 (#8 – +54)
7. Shannon – 539 (#6 – +39)
6. Road Trip – 569 (#7 – +92)
5. Art – 622 (#5 – +116)
4. Jesse – 630 (#4 – +51)
3. Animals – 735 (#3 – +37)
2. Flowers – 881 (#2 – +62)
1. Black and White – 992 (#1 – +74)

Dropped from the rankings was WPC – Submissions

THE TOP 10 NON-HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Photoshop – 389 (NR)
9. Nature – 437 (#9 – +41)
8. Formal Portrait – 447 (#10 – +66)
7. WPC – Submissions – 493 (#6 – +38)
6. Macro – 495 (#7 – +54)
5. Road Trip – 569 (#5 – +92)
4. Art – 622 (#4 – +116)
3. Animals – 735 (#3 – +37)
2. Flowers – 881 (#2 – +62)
1. Black & White – 992 (#1 – +74)

Dropped from the rankings is PORTRAIT. I’m trying to eliminate it as a category, so it should eventually drop to zero.

NAIMA and CANDID PORTRAIT have a shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post #5,000.

THE TOP 10 HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Willy – 318 (NR)
9. Logan – 329 (NR)
8. Derrick – 330 (#7 – +10)
7. Kim – 342 (#8 – +45)
6. Jay – 348 (#6 – +11)
5. Mom – 458 – (#5 – +5)
4. Teresa – 525 (#4 – +70)
3. Carla – 530 (#3 – +54)
2. Shannon – 539 (#2 – +39)
1. Jesse – 630 (#1 – +51)

Dropping from the rankings was Jen and Vest.

Micky, Vest, and Jen have the best shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post #5,000.

If you are wondering what is your best way to improve your Photography 139 Score and crack the Top 10, it is simply to be active in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE or go on trips with me or participate in various other photo projects or be related to me. Now these aren’t necessarily the 10 people that have influenced my photography the most, but these are the 10 people that have made the largest imprint on this website.

I can tell you the people that have influenced my photography the most, but that is a tale for another time. But I’m pretty sure you can guess who.

If you have spent any time on the Photography 139 website, you know that on the left sidebar, the “Top 100 Categories” are listed. I thought I would give a little bit of coverage to the Bottom 10 of the Top 100. There are currently 200 categories used on the website. I could cover the Bottom 10, but they are mostly people that either very recently came into the life of this website by birth (Jonah Kahler) or another way (Nathanial, Mindi, Fran). Or people that I thought would be a bigger part of my life and then weren’t. No need to cover those people. The Category that is #200 probably needs to be purged.

THE BOTTOM 10 OF THE TOP 100

#100. Kelly – 71 (NR)
#99. Commercial – 72 (#97 – +1)
#98. Self-Portrait Project – 73 (NR)
#97. Andree – 75 (#94 – 0)
#96. Flat Earth Joe – 75 (NR)
#95. Lowell – 79 (#93 – +2)
#94. Photo Journal – 79 (#92 – 0)
#93. Suzie – 80 (NR)
#92. Pastor Sarah – 86 (#95 – +12)
#91. Becca – 87 (NR)

The following categories have either fallen out of the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 or climbed out of it:

Jaycees, Vacation, Mark, Life, and Birthdays.

Now something I should explain is that I used to put Flat Earth Joe and Joe Duff under the same Category of simply “Joe” out of laziness, but in the last 250 posts, I split them.

Of these categories, I think Pastor Sarah and Suzie have the best chance to climb out of this list. Since I’m not doing the Self-Portrait Project his year, it could fall out of the Top 100. And I’m not sure what part of my life Flat Earth Joe will have in the future. He has taken a hard turn down the path of terrible decision making and has been in jail for over a month now. I hope he gets sorted at some point in the future. But quite frankly, I can’t make a prediction on his future. I can barely make a prediction on my future. So it is hard to say what will happen to that category. As for the category of Andree, I talk to Andree regularly, but he rarely makes an appearance on this website.

The categories that are closest to falling into the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 are Faust, Birthdays, and Joe Duff. But I think at least Birthdays and Joe Duff are pretty safe. I talk to Faust now and again, but he rarely makes an appearance on the website. I still someday need to go visit the Godzilla statue in his town. But I also need to visit Nate and Bethany and Becca and Bill and Sarah and well it is quite a list. When I think about it, I have to sit down on the couch and watch another episode of THE LAST OF US.

That categories that are closest to cracking into the Top 100 are Mark, Layla, and Vacation. But since Mark isn’t really part of my life anymore, I don’t see that busting through. I also can’t see a vacation on my horizon any time soon. But I like Layla’s odds. A lot of spunk in that one.

“An Artist’s Notebook” is part of Photography 139. The 139 comes from Psalm 139:1-12. The Photography part comes from the fact this website is supposed to be filled with photography. So, what are the most popular photo galleries on the Photography 139 website? Glad you asked:

TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHY 139 PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERIES (LAST 365 DAYS)

To View the Gallery, Click on its Representative Image

10. Las Vegas – 2023 – 42,941 Views

9. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020 – 47,269 Views

8. Jayton Poole – 2022 – 47,464 Views

7. 9 Emotions Project – 51,763 Views

6. Miami Beach – 2022 – 53,087

5. Christopher D. Bennett – 112,907 Views

4. Selfie Project -2022 – 162,595 Views

3. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images – 184,949 Views

2. Town Sign Project – 201,352 Views

1. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9 – 223,723 Views

At post 4,500 these were the 10 Most Popular Galleries:

10. Iowa
9. 9 Emotions Project
8. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 8
7. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9
6. Selfie Project – 2022
5. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020
4. Christopher D. Bennett
3. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images
2. Selfie Project – 2021
1. Town Sign Project

The galleries that are right outside the Top 10 that have a shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post 5,000 are:
+ Drone
+ Daisies
+ FatMumSlim 2022

But considering I’m done with the FatMumSlim project, I don’t know that its gallery will maintain any popularity. I only know one person that definitely loves my daisy pictures, but I don’t think they poke around my website much these days. However, perhaps the Era of Rodan139 is nearly upon us. I could live with that.

But what are the most popular single images of the last 365 days? Don’t worry, I’m gonna feed you baby birds.

Top 10 Photography 139 Images

10. Dexter, Iowa – 1,964 views

9. Badger, Iowa – 1,967 views

8. Selfie with Mom – 1,993 views

7. Coon Rapids, Iowa – 2,146 views

6. Moingona, Iowa – 2,190 views

5. Prego Alexis – 2,415

4. Saydie and Kyle – 3,231 views

3. Baby Got Rack at Boone County Fair – 4,423 views

2. Miami – 6,039 views

1. Selfie at Bellevue – 6,864 views

That selfie at Bellevue was the most popular picture on my website at Post 4,500 as well.

The final statistic I want to share with everybody before riding off into the sunset and not boring you with these statistics for another 250 posts is the 5 people with the highest Photography Subscriber Loyalty Scores.

1. Kio Dettman – 100%
2. Aaron Barnett – 99.7%
2. Angie DeWaard – 99.7%
2. Mary Green – 99.7%
5. Joe Duff – 99.5%

There are a lot of people in the 90% range that could break into this list next time. Jeanette, Jesse, Sarah, Logan, Tamara, Frank, Michelle, and Andy.

To be honest, I don’t know how this number is figured. I believe it is the percentage of emails from the subscriber list that you open within the first 24 hours of getting an email from me, but I really don’t know if we are being honest. But thanks for doing what it is you are doing!

If you are interested in checking out some of the milestone posts of the past, I got you. Click on any of the links below to check them out:

Post 1
Post 750
Post 850
Post 1,000
Post 1,101
Post 1,200
Post 1,447
Post 1,718
Post 2,500
Post 3,000
Post 3,252
Post 3,751
Post 4,000
Post 4,250
Post 4,500

I think that is enough for now. We’ll check in again in another 243 posts.

Andy, Angie, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Music, Nathanial, Pastor Sarah, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Travel, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 389 – MUSIC

February 27, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It is the last Monday of the month, so it is a good time revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

What skill level photographer can participate?

Award winning photographers? Really?

Yes. I can think of at least 5 photographers that participate regularly that have won a photography award of some kind.

Is this a competition?
No.

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

If participation rates climb, that limit of 3 is subject to lower.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

Suggestions are closed for next year’s list. It will be a minute before they open up for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

+++++++

MUSIC! Did you know that there are people in the world that don’t like MUSIC? They are called bad people. But were there a lot of good people out there that submitted picture of MUSIC? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, February 20, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Scott Degeneffe – 1 week
2-Sarah Karber – 1 week
3-Mindi Terrell – 1 week (3)
4-Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
5-Becky Parmelee – 4 weeks
6-Suzie Brannen – 5 weeks
7-Sabas Hernandez – 5 weeks
8-Jesse Howard – 5 weeks
9-Monica Jennings – 5 weeks
10-Nathanial Brown – 6 weeks (3)
11-Mike Vest – 6 weeks
12-Tamara Peterson – 16 weeks (2)
13-Brandon Kahler – 26 weeks
14-Linda Bennett – 30 weeks
15-Sarah Toot – 31 weeks
16-Angie DeWaard – 35 weeks
17-Dawn Krause – 39 weeks
18-Kim Barker – 44 weeks
19-Joe Duff – 46 weeks
20-Logan Kahler – 47 weeks (3)
21-Teresa Kahler – 57 weeks (2)
22-Carla Stensland – 57 weeks (3)
23-Micky Augustin – 59 weeks
24-Andy Sharp – 60 weeks
25-Bill Wentworth – 61 weeks
26-Cathie Morton – 64 weeks
27-Elizabeth Nordeen – 66 weeks
28-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 67 weeks
29-Kio Dettman – 69 weeks

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:

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 36 weeks

Kim Barker (Nevada) – 45 weeks

Kim Barker (Nevada)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 6 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 60 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 61 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa)

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 58 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 40 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Willy McAlpine (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 27 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 62 weeks

Cathie Morton (Nevada) – 65 weeks

Cathie Morton (Nevada)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 58 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 47 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 70 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 31 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 48 weeks

Mary Green (Iowa) – 1 week

Sarah Karber (Minnesota) – 2 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 32 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 17 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Nevada) – 67 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Nevada)

Christopher D. Bennett (Nevada)

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 7 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa)

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 7 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 68 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa)

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 6 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 6 weeks

30 participants for the 2nd week in a row! I’m pretty excited about that!

I got an email after the books submission that (this is me paraphrasing) that said that they loved the BOOKS theme because after they saw that books that other people owned they felt an instant kinship with some other people. I thought something like that might happen again with MUSIC. I’m not sure it will, but maybe it will.

This week we had our first submission of the year from Mary Green. At least I think. I wouldn’t swear to it in a court of law.

This week we had submissions taken in the following states:

+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Minnesota
+ Nevada
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

It is weird that my picture and Cathie’s and Elizabeth’s and Kim’s pictures were all taken in Nevada. It is almost like we were all in Las Vegas together for some reason.

This is my first submission taken outside of Iowa this year. My picture was taken 1,441 miles from my front door. By car.

No new states added this week. Here is the current calendar year list:

+ Arkansas
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Minnesota
+ Nebraska
+ Nevada
+ Missouri
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas
+ Wisconsin

The Outside of the United State map stays at:

+ British Virgin Islands

But I think one of these maps might extend next week. A little birdie tells me somebody is going on a cruise at the end of this week.

There were no big milestones this week. Except all 3 Sara(h)s did contribute. Which I always like to see.

It wasn’t all sunshine and face melting guitar riffs this week. Three streaks did go poof! Scott’s streak ended before it even became a streak. Becky’s 4 week streak is gone. Sabas’ 5 week streak is also gone.

STORE

STORE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE?

But what is a STORE image? It is simply an image of a STORE or taken inside of a STORE. There are all kinds of STORE(s) out there. From department to convenience to junk to antique to book to music to grocery to dollar to a little kids lemonade stand. Of course, there is more than one definition of the word STORE.

While considering possible subject for your STORE submission, meditate on the following quote and you will no doubt come up with a great idea:

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith

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 it. Thems the rules!

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 STORE in this place that is technically a commerce site next Monday.

Andy, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Christianity, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Monica, Nathanial, Nature, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Still Life, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 384 – RED

January 23, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

RED. A great color. I don’t know a person who doesn’t look great in cardinal. However, was RED a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 9, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Nathanial Brown – 1 week
2-Mary Green – 1 week (2)
3-Monica Jennings – 1 week
4-Sara Lockner – 1 week
5-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
6-Mike Vest – 2 weeks
7-Tamara Peterson – 11 weeks
8-Brandon Kahler – 22 weeks
9-Linda Bennett – 25 weeks (2)
10-Sarah Toot – 26 weeks (4)
11-Angie DeWaard – 30 weeks
12-Dawn Krause – 34 weeks
13-Kim Barker – 40 weeks
14-Joe Duff – 41 weeks
15-Logan Kahler – 43 weeks (3)
16-Teresa Kahler – 52 weeks (2)
17-Carla Stensland – 52 weeks
18-Micky Augustin – 54 weeks
19-Andy Sharp – 55 weeks
20-Bill Wentworth – 56 weeks
21-Cathie Morton – 60 weeks
22-Elizabeth Nordeen – 61 weeks
23-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 63 weeks
24-Kio Dettman – 64 weeks

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:

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 31 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 53 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 62 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 55 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 56 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 57 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 42 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 65 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 26 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 44 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Mary Green (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Mary Green (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 64 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 27 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 12 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Missouri) – 2 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Missouri)

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 53 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Cathie Morton (Florida) – 61 weeks

Cathie Morton (Florida)

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 23 weeks

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Becky Parmelee (Arkansas) – 1 week

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 1 week

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 35 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 1 week

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 1 week

Suzie Brannen (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 41 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 3 weeks

29 participants! That is an awesome week! The best so far this year!

We had submissions taken in:
+ Arkansas
+ Florida
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Missouri
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

Florida and Missouri are new additions to the map, Making this year’s list:

+ Arkansas
+ Florida
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Nevada
+ Missouri
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

That is 9 states. We’ve covered almost 20% of the states!

Once again, I did not help. I took my picture in my living room. But Nathanial and Cathie filled in a couple more states for us!

It wasn’t all good news though. Willy’s couldn’t extend his streak to 2 weeks.

SILENCE

SILENCE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But what exactly is a SILENCE image? I mean you can make the case that all pictures are in SILENCE, but for this theme I urge you to really search out a place of SILENCE and capture your image there, while not breaking the SILENCE.

While considering a place of SILENCE for you to photograph, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will capture a great SILENCE image:

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.
-Mother Teresa

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 it. Thems the rules!

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 SILENCE in this place that’s anything but next Monday.

Andy, Angie, Art, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Flowers, Holidays, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Monica, Nathanial, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 383 – REFLECTION

January 16, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is a holiday that celebrates the the great civil rights leader. If you have never had a chance to visit the Civil Rights Museum that is near where he was assassinated in Memphis, I highly recommend it.

I won’t wish you a “Happy” Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but I do hope that you spend some time today learning more about the civil rights struggle in this country. Cause it is very far from over.

+++++++

REFLECTION! A popular photographic technique. But was it a popular WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 9, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week
2-Mike Vest – 1 week
3-Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
4-Sabas Hernandez – 4 weeks
5-Becky Parmelee – 4 weeks
6-Tamara Peterson – 10 weeks
7-Brandon Kahler – 21 weeks
8-Linda Bennett – 24 weeks
9-Sarah Toot – 25 weeks
10-Angie DeWaard – 29 weeks (3)
11-Dawn Krause – 33 weeks
12-Kim Barker – 39 weeks
13-Joe Duff – 40 weeks
14-Logan Kahler – 42 weeks (2)
15-Teresa Kahler – 51 weeks
16-Carla Stensland – 51 weeks (2)
17-Michelle Haupt – 52 weeks
18-Micky Augustin – 53 weeks
19-Andy Sharp – 54 weeks (2)
20-Bill Wentworth – 55 weeks
21-Cathie Morton – 59 weeks
22-Elizabeth Nordeen – 60 weeks
23-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 62 weeks
24-Kio Dettman – 64 weeks

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:

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 65 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 25 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Mary Green (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 1 week

Sarah Toot (Nevada) – 26 weeks

Sarah Toot (Nevada)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 11 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 56 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 52 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa)

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 61 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 30 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 55 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 54 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 41 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 43 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 22 weeks

Willy McAlpine (Iowa) – 1 week

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 60 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 52 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 40 weeks

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 34 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 63 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 1 week

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 2 weeks

25 participants! That is another solid week!

We had submissions taken in:
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Texas
+ Nebraska
+ Nevada

Nevada was a new one for this year. Making this year’s list:

+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Arkansas
+ Texas
+ Pennsylvania
+ Nebraska
+ Nevada

I took my picture in my yard. So once again, I didn’t venture very far.

I’m most excited about a newcomer to THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Nathanial Brown! He made his first ever submission! Nathanial is one of the most talented photographers I know. He was a judge the last two Pufferbilly Days Photo Contests and he got 3 photos in the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon.

Remember, you don’t have to be as talented or a professional like Nathanial to participate. Just a love for photography.

There were two huge milestones reached this week. Both Teresa and Carla reached the 52 Week Streak Club! Is it a coincidence that they are sisters? Is it a coincidence that they are my sisters?

But it wasn’t all great news. Suzie couldn’t extender her participation into a 2 week streak. Jesse’s 2 week streak is gone. Sabas’ 4 week streak is gone. Becky’s 4 week streak is gone. And Michelle’s 52 week streak is nothing more than a distant memory.

RED

RED! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a RED image?

A RED image is simply an image where the subject or a major compositional element of the image is the color RED. That is simple enough!

While considering possible subjects for your RED image, meditate on the following quote and I’m sure you will come up with a great image:

Red is the ultimate cure for sadness.
-Bill Blass

I look forward to seeing your interpretation of RED!

RULES

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

That is it. Thems the rules!

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 RED in this place that’s favorite shade of RED is cardinal next Monday.

Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Blogging, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dad, Derrick, Elizabeth, Evie, Jen, Jesse, Jodie Cue, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Layla, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Pastor Sarah, Postcard, Railroad, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Slice of Life, Steph, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

Weekly Photo Challenge Year 9 Review

January 3, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

Thought I would take a quick look back at Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

Here are a few quick stats:

+ 44 different participants
+ 1811 photos submitted
+ Least popular theme for participation was ROCK with 16 participants
+ Most popular theme for participation was SELF-PORTRAIT with 31 participants
+ Least popular theme for submissions was ROCK with 20 submissions
+ Most popular theme for submission was LINES with 51 submissions
+ The average week had 24.6 participants
+ The average week had 34.8 submissions

If you want to look back at all 1811 images that were submitted this year, click on the link below:

Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9

Michelle once told me that her kids think that THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is a contest and they always ask her if she “won” this week. It isn’t a contest and I’m not really sure art should compete against other art (yes I run and enter photo contests), but I thought I would share my favorite picture from all 44 participants this year:

Robyn Augustin
Weeks Participated: 1 – 2%
Submissions: 1
Current Streak: 0

Tim Cuculic
Weeks Participated: 1 – 2%
Submissions: 1
Current Streak: 0

Jodie Cue
Weeks Participated: 1 – 2%
Submissions: 3
Current Streak: 0

Brooklyn Erb
Weeks Participated: 1 – 2%
Submissions: 1
Current Streak: 0

Derrick Gorshe
Weeks Participated: 1 – 2%
Submissions: 1
Current Streak: 0

Steve Martin
Weeks Participated: 1 – 2%
Submissions: 2
Current Streak: 0

Myriah Sharp
Weeks Participated: 1 – 2%
Submissions: 1
Current Streak: 0

Stephanie Kim
Weeks Participated: 2 – 4%
Submissions: 2
Current Streak: 0

Lori Backous
Weeks Participated: 3 – 6%
Submissions: 3
Current Streak: 0

Gorshe Twins
Weeks Participated: 3 – 6%
Submissions: 3
Current Streak: 0

Layla Gorshe
Weeks Participated: 8 – 15%
Submissions: 8
Current Streak: 0

Sarah Karber
Weeks Participated: 10 weeks 19%
Submissions: 10
Current Streak: 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe
Weeks Participated: 16 weeks – 31%
Submissions: 17
Current Streak: 0

Evie Gorshe
Weeks Participated: 18 weeks – 35%
Submissions: 18
Current Streak: 0

Mike Vest
Weeks Participated: 19 weeks – 37%
Submissions: 19
Current Streak: 0

Willy McAlpine
Weeks Participated: 21 weeks – 40%
Submissions: 23
Current Streak: 7

Sabas Hernandez
Weeks Participated: 23 – 44%
Submissions: 23
Current Streak: 3

Brandon Kahler
Weeks Participated: 24 weeks – 46%
Submissions: 24
Current Streak: 20

Sarah Toot
Weeks Participated: 24 – 46%
Submissions: 37
Current Streak: 24 weeks

Mary Green
Weeks Participated: 26 – 50%
Submissions: 66
Current Streak: 1

Sara Lockner
Weeks Participated: 32 – 62%
Submissions: 43
Current Streak: 1

Becky Parmelee
Weeks Participated: 32 – 62%
Submissions: 36
Current Streak: 3

Suzie Brannen
Weeks Participated: 35 weeks – 67%
Submissions: 38
Current Streak: 0

Angie DeWaard
Weeks Participated: 36 – 69%
Submissions: 44
Current Streak: 28

Jesse Howard
Weeks Participated: 40 – 77%
Submissions: 46
Current Streak: 1

Linda Bennett
Weeks Participated: 42 – 81%
Submissions: 94
Current Streak: 23

Monica Jennings
Weeks Participated: 44 – 85%
Submissions: 60
Current Streak: 1

Kim Barker
Weeks Participated: 48 – 92%
Submissions: 59
Current Streak: 38

Dawn Krause
Weeks Participated: 48 – 92%
Submissions: 70
Current Streak: 32

Joe Duff
Weeks Participated: 49 – 94%
Submissions: 63
Current Streak: 39

Logan Kahler
Weeks Participated: 49 – 94%
Submissions: 102
Current Streak: 41

Tamara Peterson
Weeks Participated: 50 – 96%
Submissions: 55
Current Streak: 9

Michelle Haupt
Weeks Participated: 51 – 98%
Submissions: 51
Current Streak: 51

Teresa Kahler
Weeks Participated: 51 – 98%
Submissions: 106
Current Streak: 50

Carla Stensland
Weeks Participated: 51 – 98%
Submissions: 93
Current Streak: 50

Micky Augustin
Weeks Participated: 52 – 100%
Submissions: 57
Current Streak: 52

Shannon Bardole-Foley
Weeks Participated: 52 – 100%
Submissions: 53
Current Streak: 61

Christopher D. Bennett
Weeks Participated: 52 – 100%
Submissions: 52
Current Streak: 485

Kio Dettman
Weeks Participated: 52 – 100%
Submissions: 156
Current Streak: 63

Cathie Morton
Weeks Participated: 52 – 100%
Submissions: 56
Current Streak: 58

Elizabeth Nordeen
Weeks Participated: 52 – 100%
Submissions: 64
Current Streak: 59

Andy Sharp
Weeks Participated: 52 – 100%
Submissions: 71
Current Streak: 53 weeks

Bill Wentworth
Weeks Participated: 52 – 100%
Submissions: 54
Current Streak: 54

Don’t think I put a ton of effort into picking my favorite images from each person. But I did put some effort in it.

2022 was a great year for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Hopefully 2023 is even better!

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

WPC – WEEK 381 – BODY PART

January 2, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

The last theme of Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! Going into Year 10 I am going to make one change. I am making the Kio Dettman Suggestion the Kio Dettman Rule. In Year 10 there will be a limit of 3 submissions per participant. This could go lower if the number of participants goes up. I considered moving the time of the deadline and the publishing time of this post to later in the day, but for now I’m going to leave everything as it is.

The reason for the Kio Dettman Rule isn’t to squash anybody’s creativity. On the contrary, limitations actually fan the flames of creativity. Compare Spielberg’s early movies to the movies where he had an infinite budget. However, the limitation isn’t about encouraging creativity. It is because a ton of submissions by one person overwhelms the submissions of other people. Also, on average it takes me 5 minutes to process every image I receive to get it from where I got it, to store it locally, to rename it, to upload it, to label it, and to code it so it shows up on these posts. So the Kio Dettman Rule is a way of streamlining my workload.

So what happens if somebody submits more than 3 pictures? Will I choose the 3 that I think are best or fit the theme best? No, I will use the first 3 I get. Sorry, but it is a blessing that participation numbers are up so high, but I have to balance the workload too.

One more thing, I’m toying with retconning the first 2 years of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, when it was known as the RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT into the numbering scheme. So if next Monday the week number jumps 104 numbers (technically 105), you weren’t in a coma for two years. You didn’t gets sucked into a wormhole. You didn’t accidentally trigger a time machine. There wasn’t a blip. It was just me retconning like the director of a HALLOWEEN movie*.

So, was BODY PART a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, December 26, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
2-Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks
3-Willy McAlpine – 6 weeks (3)
4-Tamara Peterson – 8 weeks
5-Brandon Kahler – 19 weeks
6-Linda Bennett – 22 weeks
7-Sarah Toot – 23 weeks
8-Angie DeWaard – 27 weeks
9-Dawn Krause – 31 weeks
10-Kim Barker – 37 weeks
11-Joe Duff – 38 weeks (2)
12-Logan Kahler – 40 weeks (3)
13-Teresa Kahler – 49 weeks
14-Carla Stensland – 49 weeks (2)
15-Michelle Haupt – 50 weeks
16-Micky Augustin – 51 weeks
17-Andy Sharp – 52 weeks
18-Bill Wentworth – 53 weeks
19-Cathie Morton – 57 weeks
20-Elizabeth Nordeen – 58 weeks
21-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 60 weeks
22-Kio Dettman – 62 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:

Mary Green – 1 week

Mary Green

Jesse Howard – 1 week

Monica Jennings – 1 week

Sarah Karber – 1 week

Sara Lockner – 1 week

Sabas Hernandez – 3 weeks

Becky Parmelee – 3 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 7 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 9 weeks

Brandon Kahler – 20 weeks

Linda Bennett – 23 weeks

Linda Bennett

Sarah Toot – 24 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 28 weeks

Angie DeWaard

Dawn Krause – 32 weeks

Kim Barker – 38 weeks

Joe Duff – 39 weeks

Logan Kahler – 41 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 50 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Carla Stensland – 50 weeks

Carla Stensland

Michelle Haupt – 51 weeks

Micky Augustin – 52 weeks

Andy Sharp – 53 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 54 weeks

Cathie Morton – 58 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 59 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 61 weeks

Kio Dettman – 63 weeks

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett – 485 weeks

28 participants! That is a pretty great week considering it was coming off a holiday weekend.

I received submissions (assumptions mostly on my part) from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas. Elizabeth’s picture was from Ohio. That is the first submission from Ohio for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

And since the next theme will beginning of Year 10, it will wipe the map clean and we will start again. I do ask you, if you took your picture in a different state than the one you live in, please let me know where the picture was taken. For example, Bill lives in Nebraska, so when I get a picture from Bill I will assume it was taken in Nebraska, unless he tells me that it was taken in say Wyoming.

My picture this week was taken in the middle of my house. Well, not the exact middle.

Tomorrow, hopefully, I will be putting together a post with a bunch of statistics and what not from Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. A bunch of stuff that only me and Joe Duff will probably care about.

The big milestone this week was Micky joined the 1 Year Streak Club! There are some whispers that he was going to throw in the towel after he hit 52 weeks. I guess we will find out next week.

There were no streaks snapped this week! Huzzah!

TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES

TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMIBLES! Oh my! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a TRAINS, PLANES, AND AUTOBOMILES picture? Simply put it is a picture that involves a TRAIN or a PLANE or an AUTOMOBILE. All 3 don’t have to be in the picture. One will suffice. The picture can also be of anything that is tangential to TRAINS, PLANES, AND AUTOMBILES. Roads, bridges, train tracks, terminals, stations, are all fair game.

I made this a theme this year because it will be one of the categories in this years Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. If you submit a photo for this theme, you have a picture you can enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Boone has lots of TRAINS. Plenty of AUTOMOBILES. Technically 3 airports! If Boone has all that, I bet your town does too.

While considering your subject for TRAINS, PLANES, AND AUTOMOBILES meditate on the following quote and you will no doubt create a great image:

You can start by wiping that f****** dumb-ass smile off your rosy f****** cheeks. Then you can give me a f****** automobile. A f****** Datsun. A f****** Toyota. A f****** Mustang. A f****** Buick! Four f****** wheels and a seat!
-Neal

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 it. Thems the rules!

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 PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES in this place that was heavily influenced by a book on trains next Monday.

*Thanks to the maybe two people that will get that joke and quietly guffawed to themselves. Which another 2023 goal is to replace LOL with QG. Quietly guffawed.

Andy, Angie, Animals, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Fisheye, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Naima, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Shawn Lockner, Street Photography, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 377 – ANIMAL

December 5, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Did ANIMAL inspire a lot of people to get out there and photograph their favorite furry or feathered creatures? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, November 28, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week
2-Sabas Hernandez – 1 week
3-Sarah Karber – 2 weeks
4-Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
5-Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
6-Tamara Peterson – 4 weeks
7-Becky Parmelee – 6 weeks
8-Sara Lockner – 10 weeks
9-Suzie Brannen – 14 weeks
10-Brandon Kahler – 15 weeks
11-Linda Bennett – 18 weeks
12-Sarah Toot – 19 weeks
13-Monica Jennings – 20 weeks
14-Angie DeWaard – 23 weeks
15-Dawn Krause – 27 weeks
16-Kim Barker – 33 weeks
17-Joe Duff – 35 weeks
18-Logan Kahler – 36 weeks
19-Teresa Kahler – 45 weeks (2)
20-Carla Stensland – 45 weeks (3)
21-Michelle Haupt – 46 weeks
22-Micky Augustin – 47 weeks
23-Andy Sharp – 48 weeks
24-Bill Wentworth – 49 weeks
25-Cathie Morton – 53 weeks
26-Elizabeth Nordeen – 54 weeks
27-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 56 weeks
28-Kio Dettman – 58 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:

Mary Green – 1 week

Mike Vest – 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks

Jesse Howard – 3 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 3 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 5 weeks

Sara Lockner – 11 weeks (Assisted by Shawn Lockner)

Suzie Brannen – 15 weeks

Brandon Kahler – 16 weeks

Linda Bennett – 19 weeks

Sarah Toot – 20 weeks

Monica Jennings – 21 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 24 weeks

Dawn Krause – 28 weeks

Dawn Krause

Kim Barker – 34 weeks

Kim Barker

Joe Duff – 36 weeks

Joe Duff

Logan Kahler – 37 weeks

Logan Kahler

Teresa Kahler – 46 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Carla Stensland – 46 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 47 weeks

Micky Augustin – 48 weeks

Andy Sharp – 49 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 50 weeks

Cathie Morton – 54 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 55 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 57 weeks

Kio Dettman – 59 weeks

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett – 480 weeks

29 participants! That is a great week!

Had submissions from (assumptions on my part mostly) Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, and St. Thomas of the Virgin Islands.

My picture was taken about 15 steps from my back door, but with this week’s theme I will have to travel farther than that.

There were no big milestones and only two streaks came to an end. Sarah Karber’s 2 week streak came to a halt. Surprising when she is a big dog lover. Becky Parmelee (another big dog lover) had her streak halt at 6 weeks. There could have been more dogs!

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

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

But what is STREET PHOTOGRAPHY? Besides consistently the least popular theme… every single year. This is the most important thing to note: it is NOT a picture of a street. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is photography that is done in a public place. The most popular version would be candid portraits, but it doesn’t have to be a portrait. It can be anything found in public. Like a piece of public art. Anything you find in public that interests you.

And if you think you need some extra inspiration, look into the works of Vivian Maier, Henri Cartier-Besson, Saul Leiter, Robert Frank, and Garry Winogrand. Some of the greatest street photographers of all-time.

Vivian Maier’s history is particularly interesting, and worth a Google search.

While thinking about possible subject, meditate on the following quote:

Street photography is like fishing. Catching the fish is more exciting than eating it.
-Thomas Leuthard

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 STREET PHOTOGRAPHY in this place that learned many a lesson on the streets next Monday.