Category Archives: Tamara

Andy, Carla, Logan, Pastor Sarah, Photoshop, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

Weekly Photo Challenge – Week 122 – High Perspective

January 15, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

I usually start this blog post with a statement on how participation rates went this week, but this week I’m going to start the week differently.

A recent subscriber and often contributor to the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE Tamara Peterson’s husband Glenn recently got a tough diagnosis and they have a long fight ahead of them. They are legitimately 2 of the best people I have ever known. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Thoughts are good. Prayers are better.

Also, Jesse’s Dad has been going through some complications with his cancer treatments lately as well. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers as well.

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Looks like HIGH PERSPECTIVE was not a super popular theme, but that is okay because we have a submission from Andy Sharp. His first submission!

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

Sarah Karber

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Andy Sharp

Carla Stensland

Shannon Bardole-Foley

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:

FOOD!

FOOD! What a great theme! I don’t think I need to explain FOOD to you. Hopefully, all of you put enough of it in your mouth every day. If not, I know some people that can help you out.

As always, I’m interested in seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 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

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

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

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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 foodie Monday!

Carla, Kim, Ruins, Steph, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 121 – RUINS

January 8, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There was another slight uptick in participation this rates for RUINS in this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

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

KIM BARKER

TAMARA PETERSON

CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

CARLA STENSLAND

STEPHANIE KIM

HIGH PERSPECTIVE!

HIGH PERSPECTIVE! What a great theme! But what does it mean? A HIGH PERSPECTIVE photo would be the opposite of last week’s LOW PERSPECTIVE. Rather than getting low like one of God’s noblest creatures, the rat, think of getting high like one of God’s lowest creatures, the hawk. But how high is high? It doesn’t have to be way up in the sky. Anything spot where you can look down on your subject is good enough. That might just be standing on a chair. Get creative.

As always, I look forward to your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

I’m pleased to announce that Andy Sharp is the newest person to show taste, class, and sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. He did this despite the fact that his wife checks his email for him and he is very proud of his lack of tech savvy and social media-ness. You may remember Andy from such past adventures like Mission Trip to Martin or Mission Trip to Milwaukee. I’m sure he will be starring in my future adventure called Mission Trip to Houston. If you see Andy out walking the mean streets of Boone, feel free to give him a knowing look and show him the super secret Photography 13 handshake!

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

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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 high Monday!

Art, Flowers, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Alternate

To Keep ‘Em Talking and Acting like Everybody; Gonna Get Up in a Sleep with Your Eyes Open

December 19, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett

The world wasn’t ready for these images on Monday. Not sure the world is ready for these alternate FLOWERS pictures right now. But I can’t hold them back any longer:

I also messed up on this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I forgot to publish these two photos:

Tamara Peterson

I’ll tighten my game back up!

Becky, Cathie, Dawn, Flowers, Frank, Kim, Micky, Nature, Pastor Sarah, Photoshop, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 117 – WATER

December 11, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett

WATER. That was the theme. Here are the submissions:

Becky Parmelee

Dawn Krause

Robyn Augustin

Christopher D. Bennett

Tamara Peterson

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

Sarah Karber

Kim Barker

A solid week of submissions!

FLOWERS

FLOWERS! What a great theme! A tough one to handle in the final days of fall, but not impossible. There are flower shops. Fake flowers. Poinsettias. Heck! If anything, this theme is TOO easy!

As always, I look forward to your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM 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.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Ring the bell! There is a newest member of the ultra exclusive PHOTOGRAPHY 139 EMAIL SUBSCRIBER CLUB! Say hello to Frank Meiners! I’ve known Frank going on 13 years. His server was actually the original host for this here website. The only other thing you need to know about me and Frank is that we are champions. Together.

So if you see Frank walking the mean streets of Ames, feel free to give him a knowing look and teach him the super-secret Photography 139 handshake!

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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!

Angie, Becky, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Candid Portrait, Cathie, Michelle, Mom, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 116 – PORTRAIT

December 4, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The theme PORTRAIT was the least popular theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE in years. A bit surprising because usually I get quite a selection of pictures of children and grandchildren. A little disturbing to me that children have fallen so out of favor with this group of people. But I get it. Children. They are here to replace us. You have to watch them all the time!

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

Angie DeWaard

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

Michelle Haupt

Christopher D. Bennett

Tamara Peterson

A solid week of submissions!

WATER!

WATER! What a great theme! I don’t think I need to define WATER for you. It is literally everywhere. Granted most of it is polluted because one of the ingredients in the recipe to make humans is something like 30% stupidity. Higher in certain parts of the South and Nebraska. However, it is still there. For now!

As always, I look forward to your interpretations.

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

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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 watery Monday!

Candid Portrait, Carla, Cathie, Dae Hee, Kim, Micky, Nature, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 115 – WEATHER

November 27, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett

I wasn’t sure how participation rates would go for WEATHER. Here in central Iowa, the weather couldn’t have been more boring. Which is amazing for this late in November. Plus I’m sure that the holiday didn’t help much either. That being said, it wasn’t a terrible week for participation.

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

Cathie Raley

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Mike Vest

Tamara Peterson

Micky Augustin

Tamara Peterson

Micky Augustin

A solid week of submissions!

PORTRAIT!

PORTRAIT! What a great theme! A PORTRAIT is an image of a person, especialy one depicting only the face or head and shoulders. But that is a formal definition. I would say that a PORTRAIT is an image of a being with a soul. So most humans would qualify. All dogs. No cats. A fair amount of horses. Technically this is supposed to be considered more like a formal PORTRAIT. Remember that the following kind of PORTRAITs are still in the hopper:

FACELESS PORTRAIT
SELF-PORTRAIT
CANDID PORTRAIT

That doesn’t mean that any of those don’t qualify for PORTRAIT, but if you have a great idea for one of those, maybe you want to keep it in your back pocket.

As always, I look forward to your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

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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 portraited Monday!

Alexis, Becca, Bethany, Boone FUMC, Dae Hee, Event, Football, Holidays, Kio, Laura, Mom, Nate, Road Trip, Shorty, Tamara, Teresa, Tim, Youth Group

Relationship Goals

November 26, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

I hope all of you had a marvelous Thanksgiving weekend! I had a particularly great Thanksgiving weekend myself.

On Thursday morning I got up and went down to the church (Boone First United Methodist represent!) to take photos of our annual Thanksgiving. This is the second year in a row I’ve photographed the event. From the initial looks, I’d say that we served more than double what we served the previous year.

After hanging with the church family, I went to my Mom’s house for my family Thanksgiving. As usual, it was great. As usual Mom’s cooking was on point. Teresa’s French Silk Pie was delicious as usual. We watched SING and Alexis put up the Christmas tree.

Friday I got up and did some G33 classified business, but it was lots of fun. Even though the cheating was even more rampant than usual.

At noon I went to the Wal-Mart and rang the bell for the Salvation Army. One of my favorite things to do every year. For the people watching aspect alone.

Friday night I went to Boxholm and had a supper prepared by Becca and Bethany. It was kind of a surreal experience because we had the meal in Shorty and Doris’ home. All their stuff is still there, but now their stuff is accented with Tim’s style. Which isn’t bad, but it is weird. However, Bethany and Becca rocked the meal. Turkey and duck?!? Insane!

Saturday morning Dae Hee and I hit the road for Manhattan to see Nate and Laura, plus watch the Iowa State Cyclones battle the Kansas State Wildcats in football. On the way down there we stopped at a Waffle House in St. Joe’s because we were hungry and I love me some Waffle House. However, the Waffle House experience was marred with tragedy. I was mistaken for an Iowa Hawkeye fan by a group of Nebraska fans. It took me awhile to figure out that they had mistaken me for such a low beast as a Hawkeye fan because I was blatantly dressed like a Cyclone fan. It just put a pall on the entire experience. I couldn’t even properly enjoy the road waffle that Waffle House generously gifted us.

The rest of the trip to Manhattan went without incident. Mostly Dae Hee sleeping and me explaining every song of HAMILTON to a sleeping Dae Hee.

We lunched at a place called Bourbon & Baker. It is a small plate restaurant and I would recommend it. I’d highly recommend their chicken and waffles and that isn’t just my love for waffles speaking. #wafflelife

After lunch Nate and Laura dropped us off at Vampire Stadium. Nate scored us great free seats from some old retired professor dude. We sat on the 40 yard line in actual seats. Other than them being in literally the smallest rows in the history of rows and being surrounded by Purple Kansans, it was a great experience. Until the 4th quarter. When all of a sudden it was as if the Vampire had called up Bill Self and asked to borrow his personal refs.

I’m not blaming the loss on the refs. Iowa State certainly aided Purple Kansas with horrible play calling, but I can say with 100% certainty, I’ve NEVER seen a time where the referees threw 3 flags on one team and picked them all up. Not in an entire season. Not in an entire game. Not in an entire half. Not in an entire quarter. Definitely not in a 5 minute period.

What particularly hurt is when Kansas State blatantly interfered with Iowa State’s all-world receiver Allen Lazard. The refs threw the flag, because it was pretty blatant. Then got together. Picked up the flag and then tried to pretend that they were decent human beings, which they obviously are not. If they make the correct call there, the game is over and Iowa State leaves Manhattan with a victory and all is right in the world.

But I think this tweet by Lazard really puts a comedic spin on the deal:

What made the loss almost worse is the fact that Purple Kansans are so incredibly nice. At least 15 of them came up to me or Dae Hee to thank us for coming to their stadium. To tell us that we have a great team. It was a great game. In my state of mind at the time, I almost would’ve preferred an obnoxious Hawkeye or Husker or Jayhawk fan.

I’m pissed. Don’t be nice to me.

After the wave of Purple Kansas Nice finally finished washing over us, Nate and Laura picked us up and Road Rage Laura took us to dinner at the Taphouse. Another Manhattan eatery I would recommend. Their Korean Wings are delicious. Their house brewed root beer was good, but not great. Very strangely they served it on ice. Must be a Purple Kansas thing.

Then the final twist of the knife came when I got a snap from somebody that was eating pizza from The Adobe. I’ve been badly hankering for some pizza from The Adobe for quite some time now. I guess that is my own fault for not just going myself.

After dinner I cashed in my chips and called it a night. I was physically and emotionally drained.

Nate got a text in the morning from Bethany that Nora was sick. We decided to skip breakfast and hit the road.

On the way out of town we stopped at Manhattan Hill. 8 AM. The only people there were Cyclone fans. It was universally agreed upon that we were all still pissed. We hopped in the car and headed home. That little Manhattan Hill therapy session definitely helped my mood a bit.

But I really brought you here to share some photos from church’s Thanksgiving meal:

The church server 521 meals on Thanksgiving! What an incredible blessing!

Angie, Becky, Cathie, Kim, Night, Sara, Steph, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 114 – TRANSPORTATION

November 20, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett

A pretty decent week of submissions. TRANSPORTATION really motivated a few people to get out there with there camera!

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

Becky Parmelee

Cathie Raley

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Stephanie Kim

Sara Lockner

Tamara Peterson

Angie DeWaard

A solid week of submissions!

WEATHER!

WEATHER! What a great theme! I don’t think that WEATHER needs an explanation, but I have noticed in recent months the surprising amount of people who don’t know the difference between climate and WEATHER. Therefore, here is a definition of WEATHER:

the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.

What is a WEATHER picture? A picture that shows the temperature. Or precipitation. Is is sunny or is it cloudy? What about wind? Convey those things into a photographic image and that my friends will be gold.

I would remiss if I didn’t point out that thee are other definitions of WEATHER. Therefore, feel free to interpret the theme in any way you see fit.

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

**************************************

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 weathered Monday!

Black & White, Dawn, Kim, Nader, Portrait, Sara, Shannon, Steph, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 113 – PARTY

November 13, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I’m going to cut this short this week because I’m short on time. My department at day job is down to about 3 good hips, 1 good set of lungs, and 1 good neck.

Therefore, insert GONE WITH THE WIND reference here.

PARTY:

Shannon Bardole

Kim Barker

Sara Lockner

Stephanie Kim

Tamara Peterson

Dawn Krause

Christopher D. Bennett

Insert reference to PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE here.

New theme is:

TRANSPORTATION!

TRANSPORTATION! Insert a definition of TRANSPORTATION here. Pretty sure everybody knows what TRANSPORTATION is. If not, rent PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES.

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

**************************************

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 transported Monday!

Angie, Becky, Black & White, Carla, Cathie, Formal Portrait, Sara, Shannon, Steph, Tamara, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 112 – FRAMED

November 6, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 7 Comments

A bit of a rebound in submissions this week for FRAMED. Let’s keep the positive momentum going!

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

Cathie Raley

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Tamara Peterson

Carla Stensland

Angie DeWaard

Becky Parmelee

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Mike Vest

Stephanie Kim

A solid week of submissions!

PARTY! (Submitted by Sara Lockner)

PARTY! What a great theme! You don’t need to be going to a PARTY to take a picture of the PARTY theme. PARTY supplies. PARTY invitations. PARTY preparations. PARTY aftermath. They all count. Or you can hang out with me. Cause wherever I’m at, there is a party going down.

Interpret the theme however you see fit and I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

**************************************

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 partied out Monday!