Category Archives: Friends

Angie, Black & White, Carla, Kim, Pastor Sarah, Still Life, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 35 – GLASS

May 16, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

GLASS did not end up being an extremely popular theme. That being said, there are some solid submissions here. Let’s have a look at the submissions for GLASS.

Kim Barker

Mike Vest

Angie DeWaard

Sarah Karber

Christopher D. Bennett

Carla Stensland

Amy Hahn

But that is the past. Let’s look to the future. After all, the future is where we will spend the rest of our lives! Future events such as these will effect us in the future!

LETTERS AND/OR NUMBERS

I don’t think LETTERS AND/OR NUMBERS requires much of an explanation. You are staring at letters right now. However, there are many forms of letters and numbers, so as always… define the theme as you see fit.

It is a good time to review the rules of the RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:

RULES

1. 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.
2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by noon on the Monday of the challenge. 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.

HOUSEKEEPING

THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

I am pleased to announce that in the last week, we have added 4 new email subscribers to the Photography 139 Empire. Jodie Bennett, Corinna (Logan’s lady friend that I never attained a last name for), Jeff Daniel, and Stephanie Kim all showed off their keen intellect and sophistication for signing up for an email subscription to this here blog. I’d normally go into a lengthy description of each person, but since this entry is already getting off the presses over 7 hours late, I’ll just remind you that if you run into these fine folks on the streets of Brooklyn or wherever, feel free to give them the knowing glance and teach them the super secret Photography 139 handshake.

That is all I got, so if the Lord is willing and the creek don’t rise we’ll see you here again next Monday.

Alexis, Anders, Andree, Baier, Bethany, Birthdays, Brandon, Carla, Dae Hee, Dawn, Derrick, Evie, Geri, Gretchen, Jason, Jeff Daniel, Jeff Kewer, Jen, Jesse, Johnathan, Kelly, Kim, Layla, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Mom, Monica, Nader, Naima, Nora, Sara, Scottie D., Shannon, Shawn Lockner, Steph, Steve, Suzie, Teresa, Tim, Willy, Yin

The Birthday Party of Fate (Roundup)

May 15, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

I’ve thanked all these people in person, but I’d like to publicly thank everybody that helped out in some either small or big way with my birthday party on Saturday.

Big shout out to Scott for making tons of delicious mouth watering chicken and jalapeno cream corn. I only wish I would have had time to help do more than just brine the chicken. If I am so inclined to do this again next year and you are so inclined to help with the food next year, I will have to schedule this so I can be more hands on with the process. I may have been The Master, but Scott was undeniably the Smoker Master. I just can’t overstate how amazing the chicken was people.

Much love to Scott’s (better-other-less high maintenance) half for making the Pick and Pluck. If I would’ve thought of it, I would’ve bought several gallons of ice cold chocolate milk to knock down while setting up shop on that thing.

Thanks to Logan and Corinna for holding down the grill and making an assortment of hot dogs and sausages to compliment the mouth watering chicken. I don’t really have any photos of the event, perhaps next year I can talk him/them into doing some candid photography for the party.

I’m always able to count on Dae Hee when I need some assistance. He came over and helped put up the canopies for the outdoor dining area, the tent for an additional child area, moved all the chairs from the basement to the outdoors, and watched 2 hours of GAME OF THRONES. A pretty solid effort!

Thanks to Jason for loaning me his Cornhole set.

Thanks to Shannon for loaning me her canopies, although I’m still unclear where one gets tailgating tents that don’t have Iowa State colors. Or why a person would even want such a thing.

Thanks to Jesse for laminating the beverage identification signs.

Thanks to Teresa for helping out in various tasks before the party started.

Thanks to my Mom for making a copious amount of side dishes and desserts. Nobody went home hungry. That is for sure.

Finally, thanks to everybody that took time out of their lives to come visit me:

Teresa
Brandon
Logan & Corinna
Aunt Linda
Kio
Steph, Katie, Jeff, & Yin
Carla, Jason, Alexis, and Johnathan
Mom
Scott, Melissa, Austin, and Porter
Steve
Dawn, Kevin, Scott, and Kayelee
Jen, Derrick, Evie, and Layla
Sara, Shawn, and Gretchen
Jesse, Kelly, Kalista, Saydie, and Taylan
Willy
Dan and Angie
Suzie
Monica and Jeff
Bethany, Dae Hee, and Nora
Jason, Will, Ben, and Nader
Andree
Anders & Nicholas
Shannon and Jason
Geri
Michelle, Craig, and Lily
Kim and Kevin

A special thanks to Dae Hee, Bethany, and Nora who came from Minnesota. Aunt Linda who came from Kansas. Stephanie who came all the way from Brooklyn. I guess I’m morally obligated to visit her in October now. Right?

Since I think that this party was a success on some level, I am tentatively planning on doing it again next year. Tentatively thinking about some time on Memorial Day Weekend next year. We’ll see how the cookie crumbles.

Now to the less than stellar news…

The Photo Booth was a success, but far from perfect. It turns out that the photo booth program I used has a painful little quirk. If the “Finish” button wasn’t pushed at the conclusion of the photo session, the program timed out and didn’t save the photo strip! The good news is that it did save the original images. The bad news is that there will be a night in my future where I’ll be piecing together photo strips from saved images. Yeah me!

For that reason, I did load up all the images into the party gallery. Not just the “finished” photo strips.

To see those images, click on the link below… (You can also download them by clicking on the down arrow icon.)

MANOS & PHOTOBOOTH IMAGES

However, thought I would share a few of them here as well:

But the good news is that I now have a thousand different ways to improve the photo booth for next year. Tentatively.

Angie, Bill, Black & White, Carla, Formal Portrait, Kim, Micky, Mom, Pastor Sarah, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 34 – PORTRAIT

May 9, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

Another solid week of submissions. Here are the submissions for PORTRAIT:

Kim Barker

Bill Wentworth 1

Bill Wentworth 2

Angie DeWaard 1

Angie DeWaard 2

Sarah Karber

Christopher D. Bennett

Mike Vest

Micky Augustin

Carla Stensland 1

Carla Stensland 2

Solid submissions across the board! But why live in the past. Let’s look to the future. After all, that is where we will live the balance of our lives.

This week’s theme…

GLASS!

Those of you with a little bit of elephant in you may be a little like: “Didn’t we just do GLASS?” However, those of you that are more learned will know that more than just windows are made of GLASS. Things like glasses are made of GLASS. The kind you drink out of and the kind you put on your face. (At least they used to be.) Bottles. Also made of glass. (At least they used to be.) Lenses. Made of glass. (At least they used to be.) Lots of wonderful art is made out of GLASS. So go out and explore the wonderful world of GLASS.

HOUSEKEEPING

Nothing new to report. I’ll try to do better next week.

Anders, Jay, Jesse, Jorge, Shannon, Vest

I Further Celebrate Myself Even More Too, Also

May 8, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I realize that not everybody has either the technical ability, the economic wherewithal. or even the cares in them to scan the QR code on the back of the physical Birthday Party Invite.

For that reason, for this one time (and this one time only) I’m publishing a link to the Birthday Party FAQ. Click on the link below:

Birthday Party FAQ

If you go there, there are additional photos of The Master and Torgo. 1 features a special cameo.

I’d also like to take the time to thank everybody that contributed in some small or incredibly large way to the creation of the Birthday Party Invite that confused the world. Or most of the world.

THANK YOU JORGE! You went way beyond as the best Torgo this The Master has ever had. Or has ever had the right to have had. From the rocking those skin tight coveralls to keeping the sweet beard for at least a month after you wanted to shave. Thanks for watching as much of MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE as you could take to get into character for the photo shoot. I have good news for you! You might be off the hook for next year’s Birthday Party Invite. I already have 2 volunteers for next year. #TeamTorgo

THANK YOU SHANNON! Obviously you rocked the The Master costume. Even though it was outside your comfort zone. I will cherish the The Master costume forever. When I officially retire it, I’ll have to figure out a way to frame it and hang it in the guest bedroom. Thanks for going the extra mile and actually watching all of MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE, so that you could get in the mind of The Master and add an extra little bit of authenticity to the The Master’s costume. Also, your idea of dying the stache with mascara was inspired.

THANK YOU VEST! Thanks for being the trigger man on the photo shoot, even though all the direction I ever provided was stand over there and take pictures. Thanks for letting me bounce a hundred Torgo hat ideas off of you. Thanks for helping spray paint the Torgo hat and securing the hemp rope onto the Torgo hat with both thread and glue.

THANK YOU JAY! For your work on the Torgo Hand Staff. I should’ve found a better staff part of the hand staff. Now figure out how to make a ton of bubbles for next year’s photo shoot.

THANK YOU MICHELLE! For the gift of mascara and mascara remover. Also for writing the message on the signs. Speaking of writing signs… I’ll talk to you tomorrow at work.

THANK YOU ANDERS! For being the editor for the Manos part of the Birthday Party Invite text. Glad to hear that you are already hard at work on next year’s birthday party invite.

THANK YOU JESSE! For you cameo and for helping put on a show for the Boone High Golf Team. I’m pretty sure we made their day.

The party is officially less than a week away. I feel I’m prepared because my official party hat has already arrived. See my Instagram. Cleaning the house and moving around furniture should take care of itself, I assume.

One FAQ that isn’t listed in the FAQ is this:

Will there be a screening of MANOS: HANDS OF FATE at the birthday party?

No! If you want to watch MANOS: HANDS OF FATE, you have to schedule a private screening with me in the Union Street Theater. Where you will not be allowed to speak, but will watch the movie in silent reverence.

Faust, Jay, Jesse, Road Trip

03-11-07

May 7, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

I would explain to you what is going on in this series of pictures from the folder 03-11-07, but you wouldn’t believe me.

I’ll probably combine a bunch of folders for next Saturday’s walk down memory lane, but I bet there will be a picture of a Gra Lab timer in there. I know! I’m excited too!

Anders, Black & White, Nature, Travel

And?

May 5, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The subject of this here entry is what I’m guessing most people will think or even feel when they look at the photo that makes up the entirety of this here entry. Possible exception, Anders Runestad.

At least I enjoy it. Possibly Anders as well.

PARTICULARS

CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
ISO: 100
FOCAL LENGTH: 18mm
APERTURE: f/8
EXPOSURE: 1/320
DATE: 04/23/16 – 07:35
NO GPS DATA RECORDED
NO PHOTO ASSISTANT

Carla, Geri, Kim, Micky, Nora, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 33 – WINDOWS

May 2, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

A slight dip in submissions this week, but that was to be expected with a bit harder of a theme. It wasn’t too much of a challenger for first time contributor Geri Derner though! Here are the submissions for WINDOWS:

Kim Barker 1

Kim Barker 2

Kim Barker 3

Kim Barker 4

Micky Augustin

Mike Vest

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Geri Derner.

What is this week’s theme? Keep scrolling!

PORTRAIT!

This is a nice and easy theme. The only person I would expect to struggle with this theme would be a true Lone Wolf. For the sake of this theme, a PORTRAIT would be considered a posed photo of somebody. That somebody could be a person, an animal, or a stuffed animal. Interpret away! As always, I can’t wait to see the submissions.

No HOUSEKEEPING today. I’ll try to do better next week.

Angie, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Kim, Micky, Nature, Shannon, Vest

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 32 – COUNTRY

April 25, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Going to be a quick write up today, but excited that there were a plethora of submissions this week. Including a submission from first time submitter Jodie Bennett. Which is pretty sweet!

Here are the submissions for COUNTRY:

Becky Perkovich

Bill Wentworth

Jodie Bennett

Kim Barker 1

Kim Barker 2

Shannon Bardole

Christopher D. Bennett

Angie DeWaard 1

Angie DeWaard 2

Mike Vest

Micky Augustin

A fine selection of submissions!

But what is the theme for this week?

WINDOWS!

WINDOWS is not as easily accessible of a theme as COUNTRY, but everybody has access to WINDOWS. Of course there are many ways to interpret WINDOWS. Some would say that the eyes are the WINDOWS to the soul. If you are serious about running your business, WINDOWS is the OS for you. Of course, there are WINDOW(S) displays for WINDOW(S) shopping. Even cars have WINDOWS. Translate the theme however you see fit.

No HOUSEKEEPING today. I’ll try to do better next week.

Alisa, Art, Mission Trip, Youth Group

J.B. McHose House

April 21, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

This Sunday the Youth Group from my church is having a fundraiser for our Mission Trip to Milwaukee. It is a two tiered fundraising effort.

When: Sunday 2-4 PM
Where: The Historic J.B. McHose House – 921 5th Street – Boone, IA

But what is it?

I’ll just steal Alisa’s description from Facebook:

Come take a tour of the beautiful, historic McHose House. While there check out and purchase some beautiful youth-made art. We will be selling cute mugs for a flat rate and having a silent auction for our canvases.

This is will be our last fundraiser before the Boone FUMC youth group heads off to Milwaukee, Wisconsin this summer on a week long mission.

This is an free-will offereing, open house event so feel free to come and go but I can’t promise the cookies will still be there at 4pm.

So you can tour the historic McHose House and pick up some high quality hand-crafted local art. On a canvas or on a mug. Win! Win!

Here are some of the canvases that could potentially be for sale:

Hopefully I’ll see a few or many of you there!

Angie, Bill, Kim, Pastor Sarah, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 31 – OLD

April 18, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 8 Comments

So I made a rookie mistake and left my camera battery at work over the weekend. Good thing that I had already taken a plethora of pictures of old things on Wednesday.

This week’s submissions for OLD:

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole

Bill Wentworth

Sarah Karber

Christopher D. Bennett

Angie DeWaard

A pretty good selection of submissions methinks.

So what is this week’s theme…

COUNTRY!

So what is COUNTRY? When I wrote this theme down and put it on a Post-It note, my basic concept of country was anything that isn’t within a city limits. Anything rural would qualify. However, you can take the theme any way you want it. Want to saunter down to your local honky tonk and grab a picture of a pretend cowboy. That would qualify. Have a cherry collection of old Tom T. Hall 8 tracks? Take a picture of that. If you want to take a picture of a map and say “look, it’s a country!” Do that. Express the theme however you see fit.

No HOUSEKEEPING today. I’ll try to do better next week.

If the Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll see you next Monday. With a sweet collection of COUNTRY pictures, I have no doubts.