Category Archives: Willy

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Micky, Mindi, Naima, Nathanial, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Shannon, Street Photography, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 411 – LIQUID

July 31, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

LIQUID. You are mostly LIQUID. I’m mostly LIQUID. But did LIQUID get the creative juices of a bunch of people flowing this week? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, July 24, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week
2-Evie Gorshe – 1 week
3-Sara Lockner- 1 week
4-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
5-Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
6-Scott Degeneffe – 3 weeks
7-Mike Vest – 3 weeks
8-Mary Green – 3 weeks
9-Suzie Brannen – 4 weeks
10-Sabas Hernandez – 4 weeks
11-Sheri Fakhouri – 6 weeks (3)
12-Monica Jennings – 7 weeks
13-Logan Kahler – 7 weeks (2)
14-Nathanial Brown – 8 weeks (2)
15-Jesse Howard – 8 weeks
16-Tamara Peterson – 11 weeks
17-Alexis Stensland – 16 weeks (2)
18-Mindi Terrell – 23 weeks (2)
19-Brandon Kahler – 48 weeks
20-Linda Bennett – 52 weeks
21-Sarah Toot – 53 weeks (3)
22-Angie DeWaard – 57 weeks
23-Dawn Krause – 61 weeks
24-Kim Barker – 67 weeks
25-Joe Duff – 68 weeks
26-Teresa Kahler – 79 weeks (2)
27-Carla Stensland – 79 weeks
28-Micky Augustin – 81 weeks
29-Andy Sharp – 82 weeks
30-Bill Wentworth – 83 weeks
31-Cathie Morton – 87 weeks
32-Elizabeth Nordeen – 88 weeks
33-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 90 weeks
34-Kio Dettman – 92 weeks (2)

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 (Boone, Iowa) – 93 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Des Moines, Iowa) – 91 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 89 weeks

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 88 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 84 weeks

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 83 weeks

Micky Augustin (Moscow, Iowa) – 82 weeks

Carla Stensland (Eureka Springs, Arkansas) – 80 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 80 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 69 weeks

Kim Barker (Dallas Center, Iowa) – 68 weeks

Dawn Krause (Boone, Iowa) – 62 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Between Cambridge and Huxley, Iowa) – 58 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 53 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Sarah Toot (Sedgefield Country Club Golf Course – Greensboro, North Carolina) – 54 weeks

Sarah Toot (Sedgefield Country Club Golf Course – Greensboro, North Carolina)

Brandon Kahler (Story City, Iowa) – 49 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Urbandale, Iowa) – 24 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Urbandale, Iowa)

Alexis Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 17 weeks

Alexis Stensland (east Des Moines, Iowa)

Alexis Stensland (Swaledale, Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 12 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Guthrie Center, Iowa) – 9 weeks

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 9 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 8 weeks

Monica Jennings (Des Moines, Iowa) – 8 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 7 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Sabas Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 5 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Near Boone, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Willy McAlpine (Ledges State Park – Iowa) – 3 weeks

Becky Parmelee (Arkansas) – 2 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Madrid, Iowa)

31 participants! That is a pretty significant dip from recent weeks and the 35 of last week, but still a pretty great week of participation! Getting near that 30 participant average!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Kansas
+ Iowa
+ Nebraska
+ North Carolina
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Louisiana
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ North Carolina
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Tennessee
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

32 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 60% of the way there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture about 15 miles from my front door. I continue not to help expand the map.

There were no huge milestones reached this week. But on the other hand there were a ton of streaks snapped. Oh, that is a bad thing. Jen, Evie, and Sara all turned out to be one and done. Mary had 3 week steak go belly up. Oh, the humanity!

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:

SELF-PORTRAIT

SELF-PORTRAIT! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

I know what a few of you are thinking. You hate SELF-PORTRAITS or the cellular phone derivative the selfie. This is either because you don’t know you are a total smoke show and don’t like having your picture taken or you know that you are a total smoke show and don’t like sharing your smoke-showness with the rest of the world. Keep that smoke-showitude to yourself. Or you are in the witness relocation program and are worried that if your smoke-showness gets out in the world the mafia hitmen or whomever will come and extinguish your smoke show forever.

These are the only 3 possible reasons. However, if you are one of these people, I have good news for you! A SELF-PORTAIT doesn’t just have to be the standard selfie, where you are standing next to your friend, dog, or significant other. Where you hold your phone out in front of you and take a snap. That certainly works and I wouldn’t poo poo that one bit.

However, a SELF-PORTRAIT might not include your face at all. It might be a picture of your hands or your ear or whatever body part. It might not even include you at all. You could take a picture of another person taking a SELF-PORTRAIT. Just please don’t take a picture of you in your bathroom mirror with your dirty toilet in the background. Or do, I won’t judge. I might mail you some toilet cleaner, but I won’t judge.

You’ll figure it out.

While considering possible ways to do your SELF-PORTRAIT, meditate on this following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with an interesting image:

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.

You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.

But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line.

It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.

I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us.

Now I know that sorta singles women out, but I think parts of it Ken speak a bit to men who sometimes wonder if they are Kenough. I’m here to tell you brother, you are Kenough.

And for the record, if there are any women out there that have seen the BARBIE movie and need some of the intricacies of it (like the 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY parody opening) mansplained to you, I’ve got your back. I’ve been told I’m pretty good at mansplaining. I think that was a compliment. Don’t tell me if it is not.

Sorry, were you talking? I was just thinking about Matchbox 20 and how they are my jam.

And I’m a little bit angry, well. This ain’t over, no, not here. Not while I still need you around. You don’t owe me, we might change, yeah. Yeah, we just might feel good I wanna push you around. Well, I will, well, I will. I wanna push you down. Well, I will, well, I will. I wanna take you for granted.

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 SELF-PORTAIT in this place that is a millions of lines of code to make one giant selfie next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Birthdays, Boone County Fair, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Contests, Dahlia, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Pufferbilly Days, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Still Life, Street Photography, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 410 – GUILTY PLEASURE

July 24, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is Dahlia’s birthday so I need to wish her a happy birthday. Happy birthday Dahlia!

Enjoy life without spreadsheets and emails and meetings and call centers and bills and jobs as long as you possibly can!

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This is your reminder that if you are interested in entering the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest, the deadline is Friday:

I’ve already heard from a few of you that you are entering and I am excited. Hopefully this is a popular year for the photo contest!

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It is the last collection of submissions 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 7 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 starts 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 you are going to submit more than one picture, I strongly urge you to choose completely different subjects for each submission. If you are submitting multiple pictures of the same subject, make sure that each picture is saying something unique.

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 for 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. But if you let me know where the picture was taken, I will include that.

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

I will take suggestions only and ONLY in the comments sections of the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE posts the last week of October and the 1st week of November.

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You are probably wondering if you are every going to get to see this week’s submissions. It is one of my GUILTY PLEASURE(s) to make you wait. But were there a ton of people that were willing to share the shame of their GUILTY PLEASURE with all of us? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, July 17, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
2-Scott Degeneffe – 2 weeks
3-Mary Green – 2 weeks (3)
4-Mike Vest – 2 weeks
5-Suzie Brannen – 3 weeks
6-Sabas Hernandez – 3 weeks
7-Sheri Fakhouri – 5 weeks
8-Monica Jennings – 6 weeks (2)
9-Logan Kahler – 6 weeks (2)
10-Nathanial Brown – 7 weeks
11-Jesse Howard – 7 weeks
12-Tamara Peterson – 10 weeks
13-Alexis Stensland – 15 weeks (3)
14-Mindi Terrell – 22 weeks (3)
15-Brandon Kahler – 47 weeks
16-Linda Bennett – 51 weeks
17-Sarah Toot – 52 weeks (2)
18-Angie DeWaard – 56 weeks
19-Dawn Krause – 60 weeks
20-Kim Barker – 66 weeks
21-Joe Duff – 67 weeks (2)
22-Teresa Kahler – 78 weeks (2)
23-Carla Stensland – 78 weeks (2)
24-Micky Augustin – 80 weeks
25-Andy Sharp – 81 weeks
26-Bill Wentworth – 82 weeks
27-Cathie Morton – 86 weeks
28-Elizabeth Nordeen – 87 weeks
29-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 89 weeks
30-Kio Dettman – 91 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:

WEEK 410 - GUILTY PLEASURE - MICKY AUGUSTIN

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 81 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Sommerset, Iowa) – 90 weeks

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 67 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone County Fair – Boone, Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 52 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Nathanial Brown (J.C. Newman Cigar Company – Tampa, Florida) – 8 weeks

Nathanial Brown (John’s Pass – Treasure Island – Florida)

Scott Degeneffe (Near Boone, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 92 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 57 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 68 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 6 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa)

Evie Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Clive, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 8 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 7 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 48 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 7 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone County Fair – Boone, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 79 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Infamous Ink – Boone, Iowa) – 61 weeks

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Willy McAlpine (Boone, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Cathie Morton (Road to Newton, Iowa) – 87 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 88 weeks

Becky Parmelee (Arkansas) – 1 week

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 11 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 82 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Ames, Iowa) – 16 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Ames, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 79 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 23 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Sarah Toot (Maryland) – 53 weeks

Sarah Toot (Maryland)

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 83 weeks

35 participants!! WooHoo! Another great week! Nearly tying a record currently held by FLOWER. Lots of guilty people out there! Also exciting is that thanks to Sarah Toot’s travelling ways, we’ve added Maryland to the map!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Florida
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Maryland
+ Nebraska
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

32 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 60% of the way there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture about 1 mile from my front door, so I continue not to contribute.

The big milestones this week were Evie had her first submission of the year! WooHoo! Linda joined the 1 Year Streak Club! WooHoo! Another exciting development was that there were no streaks broken this week. WooHoo!

LIQUID – SUGGESTED BY SARAH TOOT

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

But what exactly is a LIQUID image? Simply put it is an image where the subject or a major compositional element is a LIQUID. And there are so many LIQUID(s) out there. From water to Jones Soda to AE Chocolate Milk to Jagermeister to some kinds of soap to lotion. There are just so many possibilities!

While thinking about possible subjects for LIQUID meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a fascinating image:

Time is liquid. One moment is no more important than any other and all moments quickly run away.
-Kurt Vonnegut

I look forward to 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 GUILTY PLEASURE in this place that will hold only a little bit of judgment on your pleasures next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Bill, Birthdays, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Movies, Nathanial, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 409 – A SHAPE

July 17, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Today is Alexis’ birthday… so happy birthday Alexis!

I hope you have an amazing birthday without too much paperwork, unless your really want to do that paperwork, then happy paperwork day!

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A SHAPE! What a great theme. But did it shape up to be a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, July 10, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Scott Degeneffe – 1 week
2-Derrick Gorshe – 1 week
3-Mary Green – 1 week (2)
4-Mike Vest – 1 week
5-Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks
6-Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
7-Sheri Fakhouri – 4 weeks
8-Becky Parmelee – 4 weeks
9-Monica Jennings – 5 weeks
10-Logan Kahler – 5 weeks
11-Nathanial Brown – 6 weeks
12-Jesse Howard – 6 weeks (3)
13-Tamara Peterson – 9 weeks
14-Alexis Stensland – 14 weeks (3)
15-Mindi Terrell – 21 weeks (2)
16-Brandon Kahler – 46 weeks
17-Linda Bennett – 50 weeks
18-Sarah Toot – 51 weeks (2)
19-Angie DeWaard – 55 weeks
20-Dawn Krause – 59 weeks
21-Kim Barker – 65 weeks
22-Joe Duff – 66 weeks (2)
23-Teresa Kahler – 77 weeks (2)
24-Carla Stensland – 77 weeks
25-Micky Augustin – 79 weeks
26-Andy Sharp – 80 weeks
27-Bill Wentworth – 81 weeks
28-Cathie Morton – 85 weeks
29-Elizabeth Nordeen – 86 weeks
30-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 88 weeks
31-Kio Dettman – 90 weeks

Heading into today’s submissions, here is the map of where THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE submissions have been taken:

Map courtesy of visitedplaces.com

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:

Alexis Stensland (Swaledale, Iowa) – 15 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Swaledale, Iowa)

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 81 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa) – 56 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 82 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 47 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ames, Iowa) – 78 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ames, Iowa)

Cathie Morton (Des Moines, Iowa) – 86 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Boone County, Iowa) – 60 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Kamrar, Iowa) – 87 weeks

Jesse Howard (Boone, Iowa) – 7 weeks

Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 67 weeks

Joe Duff (League City, Texas)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 66 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 91 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Iowa) – 51 weeks

Linda Bennett (Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 6 weeks

Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Mary Green (Salt Lake City, Utah) – 2 weeks

Mary Green (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Micky Augustin (Near Colo, Iowa) – 80 weeks

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Urbandale, Iowa) – 22 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Urbandale, Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Des Moines, Iowa) – 6 weeks

Monica Jennings (Des Moines, Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Tampa, Florida) – 7 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Indian Rocks, Florida)

Sabas Hernandez (Ottumwa, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Sarah Toot (New York City, New York) – 52 weeks

Sarah Toot (New York City, New York)

Scott Degeneffe (Near Boone, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Indianola, Iowa) – 89 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Colfax, Iowa) – 78 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Stanhope, Iowa)

Willy McAlpine (Ames, Iowa) – 1 week

31 participants! That is a pretty great week! That is 8 of the last 9 weeks that we’ve had over 30 submissions! That is impressive and if we keep that up, I might lower the maximum submissions to 2. We will see if we can keep going at such a high rate of participation! WooHoo!

There were submissions from several places this week, but no place new.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Florida
+ Iowa
+ Nebraska
+ New York
+ Texas
+ Utah

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Louisiana
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ North Carolina
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Tennessee
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

31 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over 60% of the way there!

If you are wondering, these are the missing states:

+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Hawaii
+ Idaho
+ Indiana
+ Kentucky
+ Maine
+ Maryland
+ Massachusetts
+ Mississippi
+ New Hampshire
+ New Mexico
+ Rhode Island
+ South Carolina
+ Vermont
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

My submission was taken in my basement. I continue to not help grow the map. Maybe one of these days I’ll just get a wild hair and drive to New Mexico. Stranger things have happened.

There were plenty of big accomplishments this week! Tamara joined the Double Digit Streak Club! WooHoo! Sarah joined the 1 Year Streak Club! WooHoo! Carla and Teresa both joined the 18 Month Streak Club! Double WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all lengthy streaks. Derrick couldn’t build on his submission from last week and Becky’s 4 week streak came crashing to a halt.

GUILTY PLEASURE – THEME SUGGESTED BY SARAH TOOT

GUILTY PLEASURE! What a great theme for year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a GUILTY PLEASURE photo? It is simply a photo of something that you enjoy, but you know that it is bad. Either low in quality or bad for you. In the theme reveal image I am watching THE WRAITH. Which is one of the absolute worst movies ever made. Everything about the movie is inept from the acting to the directing to the storyline to the special effects and I love every second of it! Another example of a GUILTY PLEASURE of mine is Funyuns. I know they are terrible for me and leave me with absolutely dreadful breath, but I can still hammer down a bag of them like it is nobody’s business!

So think about what you love, but you know isn’t good or good for you. Could be a band or a show or a food or a person… You’ll figure it out. Maybe your GUILTY PLEASURE is Photography 139. I won’t hate. I’m kind of in the Dave Grohl mindset on GUILTY PLEASURE(s).

While thinking about that thing you love, but sometimes are a little embarrassed to tell other people about, meditate on the following quote:

Isn’t three quarters of life a guilty pleasure?
-Joan Collins

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!

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

WPC – WEEK 406 – ‘SCAPE

June 26, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It is the last collection of submissions 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. But if you let me know where the picture was taken, I will include that.

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

I will take suggestions only and ONLY in the comments sections of the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE posts the last week of October and the 1st week of November.

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NOTE: WHILE NEXT MONDAY ISN’T A HOLIDAY IT IS THE DAY BEFORE A HOLIDAY, I MIGHT BE BUSY ON THAT DAY AND YOU MIGHT BE BUSY THAT DAY, SO MAKE PLANS FOR SUBMITTING ACCORDINGLY.

‘SCAPE! What a great theme! However did ‘SCAPE inspire a large group of people to get out there and take and submit and image? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

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

1-Porter Degeneffe – 1 week
2-Sheri Fakhouri – 1 week (3)
3-Mary Green – 1 week (3)
4-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
5-Nader Parsaei – 1 week
6-Johnathan Stensland – 1 week
7-Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
8-Elainie Hernandez – 2 weeks (3)
9-Monica Jennings – 2 weeks
10-Logan Kahler – 2 weeks (2)
11-Suzie Brannen – 3 weeks (3)
12-Nathanial Brown – 3 weeks (3)
13-Jesse Howard – 3 weeks
14-Sara Lockner – 5 weeks
15-Willy McAlpine – 4 weeks
16-Tamara Peterson – 6 weeks
17-Mike Vest – 8 weeks
18-Alexis Baugher – 11 week (3)
19-Mindi Terrell – 18 weeks (3)
20-Brandon Kahler – 43 weeks
21-Linda Bennett – 47 weeks (2)
22-Sarah Toot – 48 weeks
23-Angie DeWaard – 52 weeks
24-Dawn Krause – 56 weeks (3)
25-Kim Barker – 62 weeks (2)
26-Joe Duff – 63 weeks
27-Teresa Kahler – 74 weeks (3)
28-Carla Stensland – 74 weeks (3)
29-Micky Augustin – 76 weeks
30-Andy Sharp – 77 weeks
31-Bill Wentworth – 78 weeks
32-Cathie Morton – 82 weeks
33-Elizabeth Nordeen – 83 weeks
34-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 85 weeks
35-Kio Dettman – 87 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:

Kio Dettman (Don Williams Golf Course – Boone County, Iowa) – 88 weeks

Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 86 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 84 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 83 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Chalco Park – Omaha, Nebraska) – 79 weeks

Andy Sharp (Gilbert, Iowa) – 78 weeks

Andy Sharp (Gilbert, Iowa)

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 77 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Jordan, Iowa) – 75 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Jordan, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Rural Boone County, northwest of Ogden, Iowa) – 75 weeks

Carla Stensland (Antiques Iowa – Story City, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Ledges State Park – Madrid, Iowa)

Joe Duff (Pasadena, Texas) – 64 weeks

Joe Duff (Pasadena, Texas)

Kim Barker (Nevada, Iowa) – 63 weeks

Dawn Krause (River Bottom Raceway – Carlisle, Iowa) – 57 weeks

Dawn Krause (River Bottom Raceway – Carlisle, Iowa)

Angie DeWaard (Cold Links Golf Course – Ames, Iowa) – 53 weeks

Sarah Toot (New York City, New York) – 49 weeks

Sarah Toot (New York City, New York)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 48 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 44 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 19 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Alexis Baugher (Nevada, Iowa) – 12 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Swaledale, Iowa)

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 9 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 7 weeks

Sara Lockner (Des Moines, Iowa) – 6 weeks

Willy McAlpine (McHose Park – Boone, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Des Moines, Iowa)

Jesse Howard – (Gray’s Lake – Des Moines, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Jesse Howard (High Trestle Trail Bridge – Boone County, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Huntington Beach, California) – 3 weeks

Logan Kahler (Lawson, Colorado)

Monica Jennings (Papajohn Sculpture Park – Des Moines, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Monica Jennings (Papajohn Sculpture Park – Des Moines, Iowa)

Johnathan Stensland (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Mary Green (Michigan) – 2 weeks

Mary Green (Michigan)

Sheri Fakhouri (Ankeny, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Becky Parmelee (Between Cambridge and Nevada – Iowa) – 2 weeks

Amy Peterson (California) – 1 week

Scott Degeneffe (Rural Boone County, Iowa) – 1 week

Christopher D. Bennett (High Trestle Trail Bridge – Boone County, Iowa)

33 participants! That is a great week. Only a slight downturn from FLOWER, which remains King of the World! At the very least, FLOWER isn’t the pay $250,000 dollars to get crushed in a submarine that is controlled by a PS2 knock off video game controller of themes. FLOWER is definitely Jack and Fabrizio at the front of the Titanic of themes. But ‘SCAPE is no pay $250,000 to go in a submarine made out of a substance that everybody told you was a bad idea and get crushed of themes. I’m not sure where to place ‘SCAPE. Maybe ‘SCAPE is the “So, you want to go to a real party?” of themes?

There were submissions taken from a wide variety of places this week, which is cool. But no new states, which is to be expected. Cause we are definitely in a place where it is harder to knock off new states. Mostly down to New England and the Southeast. With a couple western states like Idaho and New Mexico hanging out there. Waiting to be plucked.

I know. I know. There aren’t a ton of reasons to go to Idaho (although I believe they have the best Mormons*) or New Mexico (they murdered Billy the Kid), but maybe somebody will happen across those states at some point.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ California
+ Colorado
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Michigan
+ Nebraska
+ New York
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Louisiana
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

29 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over halfway there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico (General)
+ Isla Mujeres, Mexico
+ Riviera Maya, Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Last week was the first time ever all 5 of my biological nieces and nephews participated in the same week. They weren’t able to back it up a second week as Elainie’s 2 week streak came to end.

Brandon and Elainie weren’t the only peeps to have streaks that Rose wouldn’t move over slightly for them to get up and out of the cold waters of the Atlantic for. Also freezing to death were the streaks of Porter (1) and Nader (1) and Sabas (2) and Suzie (2).

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom and mankind’s arrogance being squished by Nature. Amy had her first submission of the year! That is exciting! WooHoo! Also, Andy reached the Year and Half Streak Club! WooHoo!

RETAIL

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

An astute observer that has a physical Photography 139 Calendar may notice that this week says MUSIC and not RETAIL. That was a typo that wasn’t caught by my proofreader. Mostly because I didn’t have my proofreader look over the calendar. So don’t take a music picture, unless it is at a music store. This theme was suggested by Elizabeth.

All that is nice, but what is a RETAIL image? Let’s start by defining RETAIL:

the sale of goods to the public in relatively small quantities for use or consumption rather than for resale.

A RETAIL image is simply an image that involves the sale of goods to the public. A picture of a store or inside a store or at a market or things that are used purchase things. Simple enough.

While considering possible RETAIL subjects for your submission, meditate on the following quote:

Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.
-Will Rogers

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 ‘SCAPE in this place that hopefully has a least put a little dent in the landscape of photography next Monday.

* Trust me, this is a joke that only one person will get, which is how I like my jokes. Very inside.

Art, Black & White, Commercial, Drone, FNSC, Jesse, Railroad, Ruins, Self-Portrait, Willy

Bottled Bliss

June 24, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Maybe you haven’t heard, but there is a new bar in Boone called Bottled Bliss. It is a wine and crafter beer bar. It was started by a friend of mine (really Nate’s friend, but I’ve borrowed her as my friend) named Kelli.

I’m sure many of you are wondering why I’m writing about a bar when I don’t drink. “Sure… sure…” you are thinking, “I’ll listen to you when you endorse a company like Honey Hollow cause you look like somebody that has eaten your fair share of honey in your day. Probably more than your fair share of honey. I’ll even listen to you when you endorse a company like Little White Lye Soap because you come off clean and are clearly one of the best smelling employees at the Computer Mine. Top 5. Maybe even Top 2. Some days, #1. I’ll even give you the benefit of the doubt when you endorse Salon 908, when you clearly don’t have a great head of hair perched atop your Gulliver. But why should I listen to you… a notorious teetotaler about a place to go get a drink?”

Don’t worry. There is an answer to your question. It all started back on May 5. Cinco de Mayo. I had heard a rumor that my favorite The Colorado Grill employee was hanging it up. Calling it a day at The Colorado Grill. So Jesse, Willy, and I saddled up and took Friday Night Supper Club out to The Colorado Grill for Kelli’s last night.

Once we got out there, Kelli told us that she was leaving the Grill to start her own wine bar. (Incidentally, I haven’t been back to The Colorado Grill since.) I was heartbroken because Kelli is a master of customer service and she always keeps my raspberry ice tea topped off AND she always serves it to me in a giant mug. Not like the glass that the paupers get.

To commemorate Kelli’s last day and what I thought would be last raspberry tea I would ever receive from her we took this picture:

As fate would have it, it wasn’t the last raspberry tea with Kelli in our future. She told me that she would stock raspberry tea for me AND we struck a deal to put some of my photography on the walls of her new business.

Here is where you come in. You should 100% get your friends together and go down to a night of wine tasting or craft beer tasting at Bottled Bliss. My understanding is that Kelli really knows her wine and craft beers. She spent years honing her knowledge by stocking the craft beers at The Colorado Grill and running a monthly wine club. Also, she pours a mean raspberry tea… which is no easy job.

I’ve already heard a couple of “Yes!”es and a few “Sounds really good. I’ll have to do that”s.

But if I haven’t sold you yet, here is some information from her website (bottledbliss.net):

Monthly Cork Membership:
$35.00 Monthly
1 Glass of wine each weak.
$10.000 off Wine Club admission
20% Off bottles of wine.

There are 2 Wine Clubs.

4th Tuesday of the Month

Think of this wine club as a Wine 101. Become the expert wine lover you’ve always wanted to be. Explore new wines and expand your pallet. There’s no shame in enjoying a fantastic glass of moscato BUT there is more to wine than just one varietal. Enjoy new exciting wine in a welcoming and learning environment with great company and small bites.

This wine club will be hosted by wine distributors and Iowa Wineries.

2nd Tuesday of the Month

This wine club is designed for a mature pallet. Experience wines from around the world, build knowledge about unique wine regions surrounded by fellow wine lovers. Deep reds, dry whites, and full bodied wine can be expected at this wine club. Small bites will be offered to help compliment your wine experience.

This wine club will be hosted by wine distributors to help enhance your wine journey.

Wine Club events are $25 per event.

But I want to know more about Kelli other than she pours a mean raspberry tea. Also from the website:

My name is Kelli Casper and I was born and raised in Boone. My husband and I are raising our two beautiful daughters in Ogden surrounded by all the things that I loved growing up. Most people will recognize me from The Colorado Grill. I was just a month shy of celebrating my 19 years with the Gano’s at The Grill. In 2013, I launched a wine club there to learn more about wine. We dedicated one Tuesday every month trying different distributors and wineries all over the world; it was successful every month for 7 years and then Covid hit. Covid ruined so many good things. I’ve always enjoyed exploring wine and craft beer and The Grill was the perfect place to build my knowledge. My interest became a hobby and then a passion. I love talking “shop” with anyone who wants to listen. A wine bar was always my dream and then one day I decided I was tired of dreaming. And BOOM. Enter Bottled Bliss! We have around thirty chairs to offer anyone wanting place to land. A great craft beer selection and wines from around the country and globe. We offer bottle and glass service and we have prosecco ON TAP! For now, our main focus is beverage services but we are looking forward to building a small kitchen where we can offer small bites in the near future.

We will have a monthly wine club (just like old times) and also a Cork membership (think gym membership) with weekly rewards for your monthly members. I am looking forward to partnering with other businesses in Boone to make downtown great and something to be proud of.

See you soon!
Kelli Casper

If you ever want to get together and you have a wine and I’ll have a raspberry tea, let’s go!

Bottled Bliss is located at:

706 Keeler Street
Boone, Iowa 50036

Current Hours:

Mon Closed
Tues wine club
Wed 5 PM – 9 PM
Thu 5 PM – 9 PM
Fri 5 PM – 10 PM
Sat 2 PM – 10 PM
Sun 2 PM – 6 PM

But… you are probably wondering about the deal I struck with Kelli to display my photography.

Currently there are 5 of my photos displayed there. I went a little crazy on the size, so they are 40×30. They are acrylic prints.

After conferring with Kelli, here are the 5 prints that are up (Click on the link below the images to see more information on each image):

More Info

More Info

More Info

More Info

More Info

Kelli wanted pictures of local interest that people would recognize. Her favorite is the picture of the Teddy Roosevelt Statue. She claims she knows who has the thumb in their possession, but is sworn to secrecy. You can talk to her about it when you go in for a drink.

There are going to be about 6 more smaller pictures going up and then maybe they will rotate in and out now and again. But This does remind me that I need to swap out pictures at pictures at Salon 908 at some point.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elainie, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jesse, Joe Duff, Johnathan, Kim, Kio, Lensbaby, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Pufferbilly Days, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Sheri, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 405 – FLOWER

June 19, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

Here is another reminder that we are a little more than a month away from the deadline for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Flyers should start showing up around town this week. I hope at least a few of you enter. Or you get your kids to enter or your grandkids to enter. You don’t have be from Boone or Boone County to enter. You merely have to enjoy photography. Monica made a wonderful flyer this year:

Thanks Monica!

She had a lot of fun with this year’s Pufferbilly Days theme, which is the ’90s. I’ll probably need more volunteers than normal this year, so if that is something that might interest you. Let me know. Many hands make light work. And there might be a meal or two in it for you.

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NOTE: ALMOST EVERYBODY HAD THEIR SUBMISSIONS IN THIS WEEK BY SUNDAY NIGHT. WHILE THAT ISN’T THE DEADLINE, I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE IT. MAKES MY JOB MUCH EASIER! THANKS!

FLOWER! What a great theme! A person would have to have no joy in their heart to not find joy in a beautiful FLOWER. In fact, I’ve even heard some suggest that next year all 52 weeks should be flower themes. One week ROSE. The next week DAISY. The next week SUNFLOWER. I mean that is just crazy talk though. So crazy it just might work. But was this year’s lone FLOWER theme enough to make a bunch of people crazy enough to submit? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out.

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

1-Elainie Hernandez – 1 week
2-Sabas Hernandez – 1 week
3-Monica Jennings – 1 week (3)
4-Logan Kahler – 1 week
5-Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks (3)
6-Nathanial Brown – 2 weeks
7-Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
8-Willy McAlpine – 3 weeks
9-Sara Lockner – 4 weeks (2)
10-Tamara Peterson – 5 weeks
11-Mike Vest – 7 weeks
12-Alexis Baugher – 10 week (2)
13-Mindi Terrell – 17 weeks (3)
14-Brandon Kahler – 42 weeks
15-Linda Bennett – 46 weeks (2)
16-Sarah Toot – 47 weeks (2)
17-Angie DeWaard – 51 weeks
18-Dawn Krause – 55 weeks (2)
19-Kim Barker – 61 weeks
20-Joe Duff – 62 weeks (2)
21-Teresa Kahler – 73 weeks (3)
22-Carla Stensland – 73 weeks (3)
23-Micky Augustin – 75 weeks
24-Andy Sharp – 76 weeks
25-Bill Wentworth – 77 weeks
26-Cathie Morton – 81 weeks (2)
27-Elizabeth Nordeen – 82 weeks (2)
28-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 84 weeks
29-Kio Dettman – 86 weeks

Entering today, this is the map of states where people have submitted pictures from:

Map made at visitedplaces.com

Only 1 new state added since last time I shared the map.

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:

Willy McAlpine (30 Miles East of Ashland, Montana) – 1 week

Kim Barker (New Orleans, Louisiana) – 62 weeks

Kim Barker (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Sabas Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 77 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (Boone, Iowa) – 1 week

Sheri Fakhouri (Boone, Iowa)

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Rural Story County, Iowa) – 76 weeks

Johnathan Stensland (Iowa) – 1 week

Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 74 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa)

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 87 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 47 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Rural Warren County, Iowa) – 85 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 6 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Boone, Iowa) – 11 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Rural Boone County, Iowa)

Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa) – 52 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 78 weeks

Nader Parsaei (State Center, Iowa) – 1 week

Nathanial Brown (Mexico) – 3 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Mexico)

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 83 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone, Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 18 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Mary Green (Iowa) – 1 week

Mary Green (Iowa)

Porter Degeneffe (Rural Boone County, Iowa) – 1 week

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 74 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (South Dakota) – 56 weeks

Dawn Krause (South Dakota)

Elainie Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Elainie Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa)

Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 63 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 48 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 43 weeks

Jesse Howard (Boone, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 82 weeks

Becky Parmelee (Bella Vista, Arkansas) – 1 week

Mike Vest (Noel, Missouri) – 8 weeks

36 participants this week! This is a new record for participation! Making FLOWER the most popular theme in the storied history of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Maybe the idea of 52 themes of FLOWER isn’t crazy after all. Marigolds one week. Pansies the next. Oooh… a week of begonias would be lovely!

36 participants breaks the previous record of 34 held by HAPPY that was set just 4 weeks ago.

36 participants is so many that it is more lines than I have in my Ledger book where I record such things for posterity. Have a look:

I’m not sure how I will record this week, but it is a great problem to have!

Also, if we continue on this trajectory (5 straight weeks of 30+ participants) I might be lowering the cap for submissions from 3 to 2. Just fair warning. Like I say in the FAQ, it isn’t about harshing anybody’s creativity buzz, but about managing workload. Hopefully, we get there!

Thanks to Willy attending a Tuesday Wedding in Montana (all weddings should be on Tuesday or Thursdays) and Kim’s work trip to Louisiana, we added two more states to the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE SUBMISSION MAP!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Louisiana
+ Nebraska
+ Mexico
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

29 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over halfway there!

You might be wondering what states are currently missing. I got you:

+ Alabama
+ Alaska
+ Connecticut
+ Delaware
+ Hawaii
+ Idaho
+ Indiana
+ Kentucky
+ Maryland
+ Massachusetts
+ Mississippi
+ New Hampshire
+ New Mexico
+ North Carolina
+ Rhode Island
+ South Carolina
+ Tennessee
+ Vermont
+ Virginia
+ West Virginia

The Outside of the United States map is currently (I could put more info for Mexico, but nobody told me where they went in Mexico):

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I travelled about 15 steps from front door to take my submission I continue not to contribute to expanding the map.

The big accomplishment this week was Angie reaching the 52 Week Club! That is a fully year of submitting without missing a week. A big time accomplishment! WooHoo!

Bill also joined the Year and a Half Club. He isn’t the first person to join the club, but he is the first person that I have noted to have made the club. Cathie made it 4 weeks ago. Elizabeth made it 5 weeks ago. Shannon 7 weeks ago. Kio 12 weeks ago. Monster achievements for all of them!

Another sweet deal was that there wasn’t a single streak snapped this week.

‘SCAPE

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

But what is a ‘SCAPE picture? The “‘” in the theme name allows you to substitute in a few words. Your submission could be a LANDSCAPE or a WATERSCAPE or a CITYSCAPE.

Well for one thing, it is a great theme for me to remind you that you can include the town your picture was taken in or the county and I will include that with your submission.

Did you know that the first photograph ever taken was of a landscape?

“View from the Window at Le Gras” was captured by Nicéphore Niépce, in 1827. It features a very abstract view from Niépce’s window.

It would be another 12 years before somebody would think to take a “photograph” of a stupid human. I assume the 2nd picture ever taken was of a dog.

With this theme, you are literally touching the absolute deepest root of photography. Wow! That is powerful to think about. But maybe you are still confused about what LANDSCAPE photography is. Here is a definition from the Wiki:

Landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky and waters, at a distance—though some landscapes may involve subjects in a scenic setting nearby, even close-up, and sometimes at night.

Photography of artificial scenery, such as farm fields, orchards, gardens and architecture, may be considered “landscape” photography as well. Even the presence of man-made structures (buildings, roads and bridges, etc.) or art (such as sculpture) may be considered “landscape” if presented in artistic settings or appearing (or photographed) in artistic style.

Further, landscape photography is typically of relatively stationary subjects—arguably a form of “still life.” This tends to simplify the task, as opposed to photography of kinetic or live subjects. However, landscape photography often overlaps the activity of wildlife photography and the two terms are used somewhat interchangeably; both wildlife and landscapes may be elements of the same picture or body of work.

While thinking about a possible subject for your ‘SCAPE theme, meditate on the following quote:

This is the gift of the landscape photograph, that the heart finds a place to stand.
-Emmet Gowin (American Photographer)

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!

Alexis, Angie, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dad, Dawn, Drone, Elainie, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jesse, Kim, Kio, Linda, Macro, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sara, Sarah Toot, Slice of Life, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 404 – SLICE OF LIFE

June 12, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

SLICE OF LIFE. As you know, this is a very special theme for me. My Dad would have turned 80 years old yesterday. My hope was that his photography legacy would inspire many people to submit this week. Did it? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, June 5, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week
2-Nathanial Brown – 1 week
3-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week
4-Layla Gorshe – 1 week
5-Jesse Howard – 1 week (2)
6-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
7-Susanna Funk – 2 weeks (2)
8-Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
9-Scott Degeneffe – 3 weeks (2)
10-Sara Lockner – 3 weeks
11-Tamara Peterson – 4 weeks
12-Mike Vest – 6 weeks
13-Alexis Baugher – 9 weeks (3)
14-Mindi Terrell – 16 weeks (3)
15-Brandon Kahler – 41 weeks
16-Linda Bennett – 45 weeks
17-Sarah Toot – 46 weeks
18-Angie DeWaard – 50 weeks (2)
19-Dawn Krause – 54 weeks (2)
20-Kim Barker – 60 weeks (2
21-Joe Duff – 61 weeks
22-Teresa Kahler – 72 weeks (2)
23-Carla Stensland – 72 weeks (3)
24-Micky Augustin – 74 weeks
25-Andy Sharp – 75 weeks (3)
26-Bill Wentworth – 76 weeks
27-Cathie Morton – 80 weeks
28-Elizabeth Nordeen – 81 weeks
29-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 83 weeks
30-Kio Dettman – 85 weeks (2)

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 (Moingona, Iowa) – 86 weeks
Kate Shelley Museum, Moingona, Iowa. ( Note: In need of refunding, repair and renovation. )

Cathie Morton (Cumming, Iowa) – 81 weeks

Cathie Morton (North of Cumming, Iowa)

Monica Jennings – Front (Monicaville, Iowa) – 1 week

Monica Jennings – Back (This is not my address, so if you go looking for me, this won’t help)

Monica Jennings (Des Moines, Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Rural Warren County, Iowa) – 84 weeks
This is the queen mating yard at Honey Hollow.

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 5 weeks
Nothing better than fresh popped popcorn from the popcorn stand on a June afternoon.

Bill Wentworth (Ashland, Nebraska) – 77 weeks
Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum
Ashland, NE

Angie DeWaard (Portland, Oregon) – 51 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 62 weeks
Second only to the Manhattan Project, the US Synthetic Rubber Program was critical to the success of the Allies in WWII.

Joe Duff (Texas)
Images from the historic files of a chemical plant in Houston, Texas

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 75 weeks

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 61 weeks

Andy Sharp (Albert Lea, Minnesota) – 76 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Ames, Iowa) – 82 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Ames, Iowa)

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Wall Drug, South Dakota) – 55 weeks
Animated T-Rex at Wall Drug, SD

Dawn Krause (Badlands, South Dakota)
Badlands National Park

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 17 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Urbandale, Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Adair, Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Boone, Iowa) – 2 weeks
The murals of Boone County remain mostly untouched and give us a glance of what life was like in yesteryear!

Willy McAlpine (South Dakota) – 3 weeks
Pit Stop

Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa) – 4 weeks

Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Mexico) – 2 weeks

Mike Vest (Noel, Missouri) – 7 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) – 1 week

Sarah Toot (Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) – 47 weeks
The Sherman Theater first debuted on January 7th, 1929; exposing the Stroudsburg area to newfound cultural beginnings on opening night with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

Sarah Toot (Buttzville, New Jersey)
Hot Dog Johnny: New Jersey
SINCE 1944
Hot Dog Johnny’s – With the Pequest River flowing in the background, Hot Dog Johnny’s is a landmark to anyone having traveled Route 46 through Buttzville, New Jersey.

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 42 weeks
I’d send a postcard with dp on it

Elainie Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) – 1 week
National Museum of the American Sailor in Great Lakes, IL

Logan Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Baugher (Swaledale, Iowa) – 10 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Nevada, Iowa)

Linda Toot (Boone, Iowa) – 46 weeks
🌷Since 1983🌷
Van Hemert’s Dutch Oven Bakery
605 Story Street. Boone, Iowa

Linda Bennett (Iowa)
This is a print produced by the owner of the Slice of Life postcard company. It was sent to me in 1983. Perhaps not one to use on a post card to encourage visitors to come to a particular spot but I’ve always liked it.

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 73 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Ames, Iowa) – 73 weeks

Carla Stensland (Ledges State Park, Boone County, Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone County, Iowa)

30 participants! That is a great week. I think the 4th in a row where we’ve broken 30. In this theme that is an homage to my Dad’s photography, there were submission from one of his nieces, his sister (and last living sibling), 4 of 5 grandchildren, one grandson-in-law and all 3 of his children. (I know. I know. You don’t need to bring it up Elizabeth. )

I think that is a great legacy.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Nebraska
+ Mexico
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ New Jersey
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

27 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over halfway there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I travelled about 70 miles or so to take the images for my composite, but never left Boone County. I continue not to contribute to expanding the map.

The big accomplishment this week was Alexis hitting the double digit club! WooHoo!

Also, Elainie submitted for the 1st time ever! WooHoo!

But there was a veritable bloodbath of streaks snapped. Jen, Layla, and Becky couldn’t build on last week’s submissions. Funk’s streak is gone at 2. Scott’s streak is over at 3.

FLOWER

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

But what is a FLOWER picture? Come on! You aren’t new here. You know about Thursdays! A flower picture is simply a picture of a FLOWER. Live, dead, painting, sculpture. Doesn’t matter. Time to get your flowertography on! Or as Micky might say, your flower porn on!

While considering possible flower subjects for your submission, meditate on the following quote, and I have no doubt you will make a great flowertography image!

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”
— Henri Matisse

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 FLOWER in this place that has a rose for a favicon next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dad, Dawn, Elizabeth, Funk, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Layla, Linda, Macro, Micky, Mindi, Nathanial, Nature, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Slice of Life, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 403 – TEXTURE

June 5, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

NOTE: THERE ARE SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS WEEK’S THEME, SO MAKE SURE TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THEM. JUST DON’T SKIM BY THEM. NOT THAT ANYBODY DOES THAT. EVERYBODY HANGS ON MY EVERY WORD.

TEXTURE. It is something you really have to feel. But as a theme, did a bunch of people feel it? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, May 29, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Susanna Funk – 1 week (3)
2-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
3-Melissa Degeneffe – 2 weeks
4-Scott Degeneffe – 2 weeks (2)
5-Mary Green – 2 weeks (3)
6-Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
7-Tamara Peterson – 3 weeks (2)
8-Sabas Hernandez – 5 weeks
9-Mike Vest – 5 weeks
10-Alexis Baugher – 8 weeks (3)
11-Mindi Terrell – 15 weeks (3)
12-Monica Jennings – 20 weeks (2)
13-Brandon Kahler – 40 weeks
14-Linda Bennett – 44 weeks
15-Sarah Toot – 45 weeks (2)
16-Angie DeWaard – 49 weeks
17-Dawn Krause – 53 weeks (3)
18-Kim Barker – 59 weeks
19-Joe Duff – 60 weeks (2)
20-Logan Kahler – 62 weeks (2)
21-Teresa Kahler – 71 weeks (2)
22-Carla Stensland – 71 weeks
23-Micky Augustin – 73 weeks
24-Andy Sharp – 74 weeks (2)
25-Bill Wentworth – 75 weeks
26-Cathie Morton – 79 weeks
27-Elizabeth Nordeen – 80 weeks
28-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 82 weeks
29-Kio Dettman – 84 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:

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 1 week

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 1 week

Nathanial Brown (Iowa)

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Layla Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 1 week

Jesse Howard (Boone, Iowa)

Becky Parmelee (Bella Vista, Arkansas) – 1 week

Susanna Funk (Oregon) – 2 weeks

Susanna Funk (Oregon)

Willy McAlpine (Boone, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Rural Boone County, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa)

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 6 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Iowa) – 9 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 16 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 41 weeks

Linda Bennett (Boone, Iowa) – 45 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 46 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa) – 50 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 54 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Altoona, Iowa) – 60 weeks

Kim Barker (Altoona, Iowa)

Joe Duff (Texas) – 61 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 72 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 72 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 74 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 75 weeks

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa)

Andy Sharp (Iowa)

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 76 weeks

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 80 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 81 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 83 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 85 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Boone, Iowa) – 507 weeks

Before I get into participation rates and all that jazz, I want to reveal something on I saw on Instagram from one of our regular participants yesterday. I came across one of Mindi’s posts and the caption was:

Weekly Photo Challenge has made me excited about photography again.

This is up there with one of my favorite things anybody has ever said about THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. It is up there with when Joe told me that THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE changed the way he sees the world.

To be excited about photography and change the way you see the world. These are two of the very unstated goals of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

Thanks Mindi! I’m very excited that you are a regular participant and I always look forward to seeing your submissions.
However, the answer is still “No” about starting a Facebook group. Maybe a THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE participants “party” could happen though. Probably not though.

31 participants! That is a GREAT week! That is 3 straight weeks with 30+ participants. WooHoo!

Thanks to Funk being a mountain climbing badass, Oregon was added to the map this week.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Iowa
+ Nebraska
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

27 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over halfway there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture about 24 steps from my front door, so I continue to not contribute to expanding the map.

There were no major milestones reached this week. But there are some people closing in on some in the coming weeks. Particularly exciting this week was the 1st submission of the year from Layla! WooHoo!

However, it wasn’t all good news. There was a bloodbath of streaks, including some major streaks biting the dust. Melissa and Mary’s 2 week streaks are no more. Sabas’ 5 week streak is also no more. Monica’s 20 streak is history. Devastating. Just devastating. But perhaps most heartbreaking is that Logan’s 62 week streak is over. The longest streak to ever come to an end.

SLICE OF LIFE

SLICE OF LIFE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a SLICE OF LIFE image? This is where I normally give you kind of a broad definition of the theme, but not this week. For those that don’t know SLICE OF LIFE is the name of the postcard company that my Dad started and ran out of the basement darkroom in our house.

Here is the Trade Name documentation he filed in March of 1984:

He passed away in December of the same year.

He specialized in black & white postcards of local interest. Here is this week’s assignment. It is to take a picture that you could see being used on a postcard. Now back in the day, they used to take pictures of all sorts of things and put them on postcards. So don’t think that there is nothing in your area that would make it on a postcard. It could be a building that is interesting looking or has a historical significance. It could simply be a pretty scene. Back when I was doing THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT, sometimes they took pictures of downtown intersections and put those on postcards.

While I will require your submission to be a postcard like image, meaning don’t try to “interpret” Slice of Life to mean something different, I will only strongly encourage you to submit the picture in black & white and also only slightly encourage you to throw some text on the image, if you have the editing skills or software.

There is one more thing. The is the one and only theme where if you write a SHORT description of your image (like you would see on the backside of a postcard) that I will include it along with your submission.

Here are some examples of my Dad’s postcards that will hopefully inspire you (excuse the low quality of the scans):

I don’t manipulate the order of themes for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I put the 52 themes in a random generate it and then I have it generate the theme the number of times as there are letters in the name of my favorite person at that moment*. EXCEPT for this theme. This theme I put this week specifically. This week is my Dad’s birthday. So it seemed apropos to put the theme that is an homage to him during this week.

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 SLICE OF LIFE in this place that is a continuation in many ways next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Formal Portrait, History, Holidays, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Melissa, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 402 – PARK

May 29, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I should start this entry by hoping everybody had a good Memorial Day!

And You Left Me There Cryin' Wonderin' What I Did Wrong

I know, I shared that exact same picture on Saturday. But I like it and it seems to fit Memorial Day.

I’d like to take this little piece of this website to share the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCare:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This poem inspired the wearing of poppies as a rememberance symbol for those who died in war.

From the History Channel website:

In the spring of 1915, bright red flowers began poking through the battle-ravaged land across northern France and Flanders (northern Belgium). Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who served as a brigade surgeon for an Allied artillery unit, spotted a cluster of the poppies shortly after serving as a brigade surgeon during the bloody Second Battle of Ypres. The sight of the bright red flowers against the dreary backdrop of war inspired McCrae to pen the poem, “In Flanders Field,” in which he gives voice to the soldiers who had been killed in battle and lay buried beneath the poppy-covered grounds. Later that year, a Georgia teacher and volunteer war worker named Moina Michael read the poem in Ladies’ Home Journal and wrote her own poem, “We Shall Keep the Faith” to begin a campaign to make the poppy a symbol of tribute to all who died in war. The poppy remains a symbol of remembrance to this day.

Now you are wondering about Moina Michael’s poem. Here it is:

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.
I hope you have learned a little something today.

+++++++

It is the last collection of submissions 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.

+++++++

PARK! A great place to spend some time. But did many people spend time in a PARK and get a picture for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, May 22, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week (3)
2-Melissa Degeneffe – 1 week (2)
3-Scott Degeneffe – 1 week
4-Mary Green – 1 week (3)
5-Stephanie Kim – 1 week
6-Sara Lockner – 1 week (2)
7-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
8-Nader Parsaei – 1 week
9-Nathanial Brown – 2 weeks (3)
10-Tamara Peterson – 2 weeks
11-Sabas Hernandez – 4 weeks
12-Mike Vest – 4 weeks
13-Alexis Baugher – 7 weeks (3)
14-Jesse Howard – 7 weeks (2)
15-Mindi Terrell – 14 weeks (3)
16-Monica Jennings – 19 weeks
17-Brandon Kahler – 39 weeks
18-Linda Bennett – 43 weeks
19-Sarah Toot – 44 weeks (3)
20-Angie DeWaard – 48 weeks
21-Dawn Krause – 52 weeks (3)
22-Kim Barker – 58 weeks
23-Joe Duff – 58 weeks (2)
24-Logan Kahler – 61 weeks
25-Teresa Kahler – 70 weeks (3)
26-Carla Stensland – 70 weeks
27-Micky Augustin – 72 weeks
28-Andy Sharp – 73 weeks
29-Bill Wentworth – 74 weeks
30-Cathie Morton – 78 weeks
31-Elizabeth Nordeen – 79 weeks (2)
32-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 81 weeks
33-Kio Dettman – 83 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:

Willy McAlpine (McHose Park – Boone, Iowa) – 1 week

Dawn Krause (Boone National Little League Park – Boone, Iowa) – 53 weeks

Dawn Krause (Boone National Little League Park – Boone, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (South Side Park – Slater, Iowa)

Angie DeWaard (Hunziker Park – Ames, Iowa) – 49 weeks

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 59 weeks

Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 74 weeks

Andy Sharp (Jester Park – Polk City, Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 62 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Mindi’s Animal Habitat – Iowa) – 15 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Terra Park – Johnston, Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Neil Smith Trail – Iowa) – 20 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Ada Haydn Park – Ames, Iowa) – 73 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 80 weeks

Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Arnolds Park Green Space – Arnolds Park, Iowa) – 5 weeks

Melissa Degeneffe (Porter’s Badass Campsite – Rural Boone County, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Porter’s Badass Campsite – Rural Boone County, Iowa) – 2 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Dickcissel Park – Boone, Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Jester Park – Polk City, Iowa) – 71 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Jester Park – Polk City, Iowa)

Joe Duff (Donovan Park – Houston, Texas) – 59 weeks

Joe Duff (Donovan Park – Houston, Texas)

Carla Stensland (Arnolds Park – Arnolds Park, Iowa) – 71 weeks

Kio Dettman (Opal Dubois Anderson Park – Boone, Iowa) – 84 weeks

Kio Dettman (Opal Dubois Anderson Park – Boone, Iowa)

Kio Dettman (Memorial Park – Boone, Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 44 weeks

Mary Green (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Mary Green (Iowa)

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 5 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Banner Lakes at Summerset State Park – Rural Warren County) – 82 weeks

Sarah Toot (Municipal Park – Pennsylvania) – 45 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania)

Tamara Peterson (Pattee Park – Perry, Iowa) – 3 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Pattee Park – Perry, Iowa)

Alexis Baugher (Inis Grove Park – Ames, Iowa) – 8 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Inis Grove Park – Ames, Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Ada Haydn Park – Ames, Iowa) – 40 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Chalco Park – Omaha, Nebraska) – 75 weeks

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 79 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Jester Park – Polk City, Iowa)

29 participants! That’s a pretty great week, considering the holiday weekend and all!

There were no new states added to the map this week and at this point, I’m betting new states added will be an increasingly rare thing. Time will tell.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

25 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over halfway there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture about 24 miles from my front door, so I continue to not contribute.

There were no major milestones this week. However, there was a blood bath of streaks being snapped. Suzie, Stephanie, Becky, and Nader couldn’t build on last week’s submission. That wasn’t totally unexpected for Stephanie and Nader. Nathanial’s 2 week streak no more. Most heartbreaking is that Jesse’s 7 week streak is just a memory now.

TEXTURE

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

But what in Wes Wallace is a TEXTURE image? Well, let’s start with the definition of TEXTURE: the structure, feel, and appearance of something (as a fabric) the smooth texture of silk. wood with a rough texture. In photography that means: the visual depiction of variations in the color, shape, and depth of an object’s surface. What you are trying to do here is to convey the feel of the surface of an object through photography.

While considering possible topics for your TEXTURE submissions, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with an amazing image:

I search for realness, the real feeling of a subject, all the texture about it… I always want to see the third dimension of something.. I want to come alive with the object.
-Andrew Wyeth

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 TEXTURE in this place that is a little rough around the edges some next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Lensbaby, Linda, Logan, Macro, Micky, Monica, Nathanial, Road Trip, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 398 – ROAD TRIP

May 1, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

ROAD TRIP! What a great theme and an even better way to spend a day or two. Nothing calls to me like the open road.
But did it call to many other people? Or did people stay firmly entrenched on their couches? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, April 24, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Heather Courtney – 1 week
2-Scott Degeneffe – 3 weeks
3-Jesse Howard – 3 weeks
4-Alexis Baugher – 3 weeks
5-Mindi Terrell – 9 weeks (3)
6-Suzie Brannen – 14 weeks
7-Monica Jennings – 14 weeks
8-Tamara Peterson – 25 weeks (2)
9-Brandon Kahler – 35 weeks
10-Linda Bennett – 39 weeks (2)
11-Sarah Toot – 40 weeks (2)
12-Angie DeWaard – 44 weeks
13-Dawn Krause – 48 weeks
14-Kim Barker – 53 weeks (2)
15-Joe Duff – 55 weeks (2)
16-Logan Kahler – 56 weeks (2)
17-Teresa Kahler – 66 weeks (2)
18-Carla Stensland – 66 weeks
19-Micky Augustin – 67 weeks
20-Andy Sharp – 69 weeks
21-Bill Wentworth – 70 weeks
22-Cathie Morton – 74 weeks
23-Elizabeth Nordeen – 75 weeks
24-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 76 weeks (2)
25-Kio Dettman – 79 weeks (2)

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:

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Willy McAlpine (Iowa) – 1 week

Mike Parmelee (Arkansas) – 1 week

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Baugher (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Iowa)

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 15 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 26 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 36 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 40 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Sarah Toot (New Jersey) – 41 weeks

Sarah Toot (New Jersey)

Angie DeWaard (Mexico) – 45 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Mexico)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 49 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 54 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 56 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 57 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 67 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 67 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Carla Stensland

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 68 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 70 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 71 weeks

Cathie Morton (Illinois) – 75 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 76 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 77 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 80 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa) – 502 weeks

31 participants! That is a great week! I believe it ties the high for this calendar year. Strange that more people love the open road than love their friends, but maybe it isn’t so strange.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Mexico
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ North Dakota
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

24 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Thanks to Angie’s vacation, Mexico has been added to the list of international places!

I took my picture 87 miles from my front door. So Angie isn’t the only world traveler.

The big accomplishments this week… Mindi joined the Double Digits Club! WooHoo! Tamara joined the Half Year Club! WooHoo! Mike Parmelee had his first submission of the year! WooHoo! I finally got Alexis’ last name right! WooHoo !

But it wasn’t all unicorns and double rainbows. Heather wasn’t able to build her submission from last week into a streak. And most tragically, Suzie’s 14 week streak is a goner. ROAD TRIPs are her Waterloo.

SCHOOL

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

Let me tell you about IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY!

Iowa State University (ISU) is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1858 as Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, and it became the first land-grant institution in the United States in 1862, thanks to the Morrill Act.

Today, ISU is a comprehensive university with more than 35,000 students and offers over 100 undergraduate majors, 112 master’s degree programs, and 83 doctoral degree programs. The university is organized into eight colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business, Design, Engineering, Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and Graduate.

ISU is known for its strong programs in agriculture, engineering, and science, and it has a reputation for being one of the top public universities in the United States. The university is home to several research centers and institutes, including the Bioeconomy Institute, the Ames Laboratory, and the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC).

The university’s mascot is Cy the Cardinal, and the school colors are cardinal and gold. The Cyclones, ISU’s athletic teams, compete in the Big 12 Conference and they completely dominated the Cy-Hawk Series with Iowa Hawkeyes this year.

Overall, Iowa State University is a well-respected and prestigious institution of higher education, offering a wide range of programs and opportunities for students to excel both academically and professionally.

Wait. Wait. Sorry. I’ve just been told that there are more SCHOOL(s) in the world than just Iowa State. I’m not entirely sure why. But I guess you can take a picture of some other stupid school nobody cares about.

SCHOOL! So what in the Terrence Allen is a SCHOOL picture? Simply put it is any image that involves SCHOOL. From a building to a playground to schoolbooks (before they all get banned) to report cards to teachers to really anything related to a SCHOOL. There are all types of different SCHOOL(s). Pre, secondary, high, middle, junior, dance, Sunday, vocational, technical, and even sometimes I take people to SCHOOL on the basketball court. It does NOT have to be Iowa State, but I mean, why would you take a picture of some lesser school? But you do you bro.

While considering how you are going to incorporate Iowa State into your SCHOOL picture, mediate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great picture:

Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.
– Malala Yousafzai

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 SCHOOL in this place that I like to think has a bit of educational value next Monday.