Category Archives: Monica

Andy, Angie, Carla, Cathie, Drone, Elizabeth, Kim, Micky, Monica, Railroad, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 208 – SKY

September 9, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

SKY wasn’t a super popular theme, but it was still popular enough to hit double digits and keep the streak alive!

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

Andy Sharp

Elizabeth Nordeen

Monica Henning

Kim Barker

Micky Augustin

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Angie DeWaard

Christopher D. Bennett

Cathie Raley

Carla Stensland

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:

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE! What a great theme! But what is an ARCHITECTURE photo? Basically it is a photo of a building or similar structure. That is it!

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

This is the first week in the next 52, which means I am starting a new Smugmug gallery.

If you want to review all the images from the last 52 weeks, click on the link below:

Year 6 WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

There were 548 submissions for 52 themes! Solid work!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

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

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

It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very achitectural Monday!

Animals, Baier, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Derrick, Ernie, Event, Faust, House, James, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Jill, Logan, Monica, Russell, Sara, Scottie D., Shannon, Steve, Teresa

2009-05-29

September 1, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

There are a wide variety of pictures in the folder 2009-05-29. They range from pictures of socks that Shannon made to Ernie trimming trees to baby worst birds to invites to my housewarming party to pictures Sara took at my housewarming party.

The guy in the picture with me and Jesse was my neighbor across the street from me. He would sometimes drop by at all hours of the night. He was a good guy, but his struggles overcame him and he passed away a couple years after this picture was taken.

However, looking at these pictures, it does inspire me to bring back the birthday party in 2020. I’m about 95% sure that I will.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

The Fruit of the Mystery Trees
Mr. Bunyan
Memorial Day Backyard
Shindy
Housewarming Invites

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flowers.

Andy, Cathie, Elizabeth, Jen, Jodie Cue, Kim, Logan, Micky, Monica, Photoshop, Shannon, Steph, Still Life, Tamara, Travel, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 206 – RED

August 26, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

RED was another extremely popular theme. In fact, I daresay that these last few weeks have been the most successful weeks in the history of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

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

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Andy Sharp

Jodie Cue

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Jodie Cue

Christopher D. Bennett

Stephanie Kim

Micky Augustin

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Elizabeth Nordeen

Cathie Raley

Logan Kahler

Monica Henning

Mike Vest

TOY

TOY! What a great theme! But what is a TOY photo? A TOY photo is any image that involves a TOY. Or is taken by a TOY camera or with the TOY setting on a camera. The definition of a TOY can vary widely. One person’s tool is another person’s TOY.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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

It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very childish Monday!

Andy, Animals, Carla, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jodie Cue, Kim, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Naima, Photoshop, Shannon, Tamara

WPC – WEEK 205 – FLOWER

August 19, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Much to the chagrin of floraphobes like Russell Kennerly, FLOWER proved to be an exceedingly popular theme. Possible the most submissions ever for one theme in the 6 year history of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

There is even a first time submission from Elizabeth. At the Computer Mine there is a Photo Bar across from the kitchen. Every year there is something of a “photo contest” to get employee photography up. I think there is 12 or 14 pictures that go up. Elizabeth got 2 pictures selected for display this year. Which shocked me because I didn’t even know that Elizabeth took pictures. A self-described Ansel Adams was right under my nose and I didn’t even know it. This week was her first submission, but I hope that it won’t be the last.

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

Christopher D. Bennett

Jodie Cue

Kim Barker

Michelle Haupt

Jodie Cue

Tamara Peterson

Jodie Cue

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Monica Henning

Andy Sharp

Micky Augustin

Carla Stensland

Monica Henning

Elizabeth Nordeen

RED

RED! What a great theme! But what is RED photo? A RED photo is any photo where the subject is RED or where RED is significant to the photo.

There were no ideas submitted for themes for Year 7 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, so next year you guys will be totally at my mercy. I’ve already selected the 52 themes and randomized them. Hooray me!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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

It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very red Monday!

Andy, Candid Portrait, Carla, Cathie, Contests, Flowers, Kim, Micky, Monica, Music, Pufferbilly Days, Shannon, Steph, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 204 – MUSIC

August 12, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

There is 1 day left to vote in the polls that will determine what pictures I enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

If voting in all 6 polls at once is too much for you, you can at least cast a ballot in the last poll. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

Hidden Treasures of Boone County – Set 2

TS Poll - Loading poll ...

If you are ready to vote in all 6 polls, click on the link below:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Poll

Thanks for voting!

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It looks like there are lots of people that have MUSIC in their lives as MUSIC was a theme that once again hit double digits in submissions. This is, I believe, the 6th week in a row where a theme reached double digits in submissions.

There are only 4 weeks left in this cycle of themes. If you have any ideas or suggestions for themes for the next 4 weeks, leave them in the Comments section of this here post.

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

Andy Sharp

Monica Henning

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Stephanie Kim

Tamara Peterson

Cathie Raley

Christopher D. Bennett

Micky Augustin

Mike Vest

Carla Stensland

FLOWER

FLOWER! What a great theme! As luck would have it, this time the FLOWER theme popped up during a time of year where almost all of us can just walk into our backyard and take a picture of a FLOWER. Or we can go to a park and take a picture of a FLOWER. This might be the best time of year for wildFLOWERs.

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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

It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very flowery Monday!

Andy, Black & White, Carla, Formal Portrait, Jodie Cue, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Shannon, Steph, Tamara, Taylan, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 202 – BLACK & WHITE

July 29, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

My favorite theme was a very popular theme. BLACK & WHITE had a plethora of submissions from such exotic places as New York City to Indianola to Mount Pleasant to Roland to Woodward to near Adel. I was expecting a submission from Canada, but I’m guessing that that person just couldn’t get a signal up there in the rugged north.

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

Andy Sharp

Tamara Peterson

Jodie Cue

Christopher D. Bennett

Jodie Cue

Monica Henning

Jodie Cue

Monica Henning

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Michelle Haupt

Stephanie Kim

Tamara Peterson

Logan Kahler

Mike Vest

Carla Stensland

Micky Augustin

LETTERS OR NUMBERS

LETTERS OR NUMBERS! What a great theme! But what is a LETTERS OR NUMBERS photo. Simply enough, it is any picture that involves LETTERS OR NUMBERS. They don’t have to spell out a word or make up an equation. Random LETTERS OR NUMBERS work just fine.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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

It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

+++++++

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very numbered Monday!

Andy, Animals, Baby Got Rack, Black & White, Boone County Fair, Formal Portrait, Kim, Micky, Monica, Scottie D., Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 201 – ANGER

July 22, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I thought for sure that this week would not be a double digit week, but it was! The 4th straight week! That makes me happy that so many of you found your ANGER, which I consider to be one of the hardest them of this set of 52.

A note, if you have an idea for a theme for the next set of 52, leave it in the Comments section of this here blog.

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

Andy Sharp

Monica Henning

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Micky Augustin

Michelle Haupt

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Stephanie Kim

Tamara Peterson

BLACK & WHITE

BLACK & WHITE! What a great theme! This is the closest you get to a wild card theme. You can literally take a picture of anything, and as long as that picture is in BLACK & WHITE, it qualifies for this theme.

You may have to do some editing after you take the picture, but a lot of digital cameras have a BLACK & WHITE setting.

This is my favorite theme, so I definitely look forward to your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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

It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very monochrome Monday!

Animals, Black & White, Boone County Fair, Contests, Flowers, Jesse, Logan, Macro, Michelle, Monica, Shannon, State Fair

Boone County Fair Photography Contest Results

July 21, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Now that the Boone County Fair is winding down and my collection of Boone County Fair Photography Contest entries are bagged up and safely stowed in one of the now TWO trunks that archive my past photo contest entries, I can release the results to the general public that didn’t make it to the Boone County Fair this year. A fair that I can safely say if Family-Friendly Fun & Entertainment, Right here in Central Iowa! I would dare say that this year’s fair was “Picture Perfect”.

Here are my submissions, along with who selected them for entry and the result:

Purple Ribbon – Logan Kahler

Blue Ribbon – Michelle Haupt

Red Ribbon – Monica Henning

Blue Ribbon – Jesse Howard

Purple Ribbon – Shannon Bardole-Foley

A reminder that I do have one picture that will be displayed at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. I don’t know what it is, but I will find out at the Photographer Reception here in a couple weeks. I’ll release that photo at the conclusion of the Iowa State Fair on August 18.

There is still good seats available to join me at the Iowa State Fair on August 18. But they are filling up fast!

As for the last photo contest I enter this year, the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. I will again be selecting my entries by poll. I will be putting that poll together in the next couple of weeks. So stay tuned to this station. Information will be forthcoming!

Baby Got Rack, Boone County Fair, Contests, Jesse, Jodie Cue, Logan, Michelle, Monica, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Shannon, Steph, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Page 16

July 19, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER that starting tomorrow, my 5 entries for the Boone County Fair should be on display. They usually put them out about noon. They will be displayed in the Community Building.

Thanks to:

Logan Kahler
Jesse Howard
Michelle Haupt
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Monica Henning

For selecting the 5 entries.

Special thanks to Stephanie Kim who volunteered to pick a photo, but I think took it too seriously and ran out of time.

Plus thanks to Jodie Cue who volunteered to be an alternate.

Soon I’ll begin the process of selecting photos for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Keep your eyes peeled to this website for details!

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Last Friday I took off work early to go down to Van Meter to the military cemetery to join the Howards for Larry Howard’s graveside service. It isn’t the type of event where I take a camera or ever think about taking pictures. I’m not altogether comfortable taking pictures at a funeral, but this is, strangely, the second time that I’ve done such a thing.

However, after I arrived I was asked to take some pictures, so I did. I don’t know that I’ll share those, but we’ll see. After the service was over I wandered around the cemetery looking around. It was there that I stumbled across the perfect subject for Page 16 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.

Page 16 – Photograph the last thing that made you laugh.

With Page 16 put to rest, here are the following pages that I still need to photograph:

Page 18 – Shoot the other half of this picture by Jason by Jason Evans. – This is profoundly stupid page, but I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and do it at some point.
PAGE 27- Create drama around the edge of your frame.
Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
PAGE 31 – Tell a joke with two pictures.
Page 64 – Head out with a fellow photographer and play a game of photography dare.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 73 – Turn form into rhythm.
PAGE 101 – Find an object, close your eyes and compse your shot using touch rather than vision.
Page 106-107 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.
PAGE 116 – Shoot an advert where the image says it all without need for any additional copy.
Page 117 – Freeze the frame exactly 57 minutes and 32 seconds in to your favourite film. Take a picture inspired by what you see.
PAGE 121 – Show us that photography is a form of magic.
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

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The Boone County Fair is going down right now, which means tomorrow is the annual barbecue/grill-out competition. Baby Got Rack will once again be there competing!

BABY GOT RACK!

If you are around the fair, go ahead and stop by and say hello. It is going to be a brutally hot one so you might want to check to see if we are still conscious.

We are taking a completely different set of recipes than we normally do, so we’ll see how it turns out. Baby Got Rack is nothing, but risk takers!

Hopefully it pays off and we qualify for the Iowa State Fair, but if it doesn’t, we will have no regrets!

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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ANGER.

An ANGER photo is any photo of somebody thit is ANGERy or something that makes you ANGERy.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Automobiles, Basketball, Candid Portrait, Commercial, Formal Portrait, Iowa State, Jeff Daniel, Monica, Night, Ruins, Schmidt, Self-Portrait, Shannon, Still Life, Yin

12December2008

April 6, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

Sometime in late 2008 my organizational process of my photos went all FUBAR. The result is that it appears that I have actually lost several images from late 2008 and early 2009.

None of the lost pictures are of much consequence, but it is annoying nonetheless.

Part of this breakdown in the system was that it seems that rather than breaking images into folders by date, I just dumped a ton of pictures into the December folder.

Fortunately for you, I don’t usually take a ton of pictures in December. However, this still potentially might be one long journal entry.

There are pictures from Iowa State at night, Toys for Tots, an American Legion event in Roland, Iowa State basketball, Shannon dressed nice for once, a night with the Daniels, and crayfish that took home from a Chinese buffet.

Here we go:

Looking at those pictures something that struck me is that I had forgotten how badly Greg McDermott had destroyed Iowa State’s basketball program. Thank you Creighton for taking him off of our hands! It is a debt that can never be repaid!

All those pictures added to the Photography 139 Gallery enabled me to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” journal entries to their original glory:

Thelma and Louise

Boone Taxi Driver

Saturday Night

Toys for Tots

Burying the Lead

Muskrat Carcass

Beavers

Plus Five

Roland, Iowa

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve hanging around the ACTORS Studio.