Category Archives: Life

Art, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Christianity, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Nature, Ruins, Travel, Vacation

2009-02-18 – Arizona Day 4

June 1, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder called 2009-02-18/Arizona Day 4 are from my work/vacation to Arizona.

Jesse and I spent the night at his brother’s house. We got up in the morning and ate at a local eatery. Then we visited a National Park called the Casa Grande Ruins. I think later that day we actually had to show up for work and the vacation became work.

Here are some pictures from that day:

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

Arizona Day 4

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve even more from my trip to Arizona.

Christianity, Drone, Panorama, Road Trip

Rodan 139 – Small Church

May 29, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

When Jesse and I went on my pre-birthday road trip to Decorah I packed Rodan139 with me at the thought that I’d be able to crack it out someplace along the road trip.

While Decorah and two waterfalls were the ultimate purpose of the road trip, I also thought that if we were super efficient, we might even be able to hit Pike’s Peak before coming home.

No shocker, we weren’t super efficient. We spent a long time at a Civil War reenactment that we stumbled upon. To further complicate things, it rained almost the entire day and Rodan139 doesn’t leave the nest in rain.

On the way home, we stopped at The Small Church near Festina and Rodan139 got to spread its wings for a few minutes.

Here are a few of the pictures I took:

Andy, Angie, Boone FUMC, Candid Portrait, Carla, Drone, Holidays, Jodie Cue, Shannon, Steph, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 193 – BLUE

May 27, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

First things first. Even though Photography 139 doesn’t take days off, it does acknowledge holidays. I hope you have had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, but also take the time to remember why it is you got a 3 day weekend. To honor the people who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Happy Memorial Day!

As is usual when a holiday falls on Monday, participation rates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE dip. While this happened again today, the people who did submit for BLUE were very passionate about BLUE.

There were pictures submitted that were taken in Rome, Philadelphia, Saylorville, and even Fraser!

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

Andy Sharp

Carla Stensland

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Angie DeWaard

Andy Sharp

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Stephanie Kim

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:

GROUP PORTRAIT

GROUP PORTRAIT! What a great theme! But what is a GROUP PORTRAIT? A GROUP PORTRAIT is simply any portrait that features more than one person. It doesn’t have to be a formal posed portrait. A candid portrait works just as well.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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

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

Black & White, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Lowell, Nature, Politics, Self-Portrait, Vacation

2009-02-18 – Arizona Day 3B

May 25, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder called 2009-02-18/Arizona_Day_3B are from the work/vacation to Arizona. The pictures are all from after Jesse and I met up with Lowell and Strabala and went back to the mini-mountain thing in Phoenix.

As it would just so happen, while we were there, Air Force One flew overhead. Looking at those pictures really made me nostalgic for when our country wasn’t the laughingstock of the entire world. Good times. Good times.

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

Arizona Day 3 – Part B

Next week’s walk down memory lane will once again involve this Arizona work/vacation.

Christianity, Drone, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Photo Journal, Road Trip, Self-Portrait

A Photo Journal – Page 104

May 23, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Friday I took a birthday road trip with Jesse. It wasn’t my birthday, but it was the day before my birthday and I knew my actual birthday was going to be filled with working on my Mom’s bedroom ceiling and graduation open houses. So I took Friday off from work and Jesse and I hit the open road.

The ultimate goal of the road trip was to visit and photograph two waterfalls in the Decorah area. I had visited one of them a couple years back and I was never really satisfied with the photographs I took. The other waterfall I had never seen and it sounded very intriguing as it was described as a 1 mile hike to even get to it.

I have tons of photos of these two waterfalls coming in upcoming blog posts. Also pictures of a Civil War re-enactment with some of the “friendliest” folks you ever met in your life, plus a few new entries into THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, pictures of The Little Brown Church, and The Smallest Church.

Plus there is a bunch of video I’m going to edit into a vlog at some point. On this trip I fully intended to take a picture for Page 104 of The Photo Journal. I knew exactly how I wanted to take this picture. I wanted to take it with Rodan139. Unfortunately it rained pretty much all of the day and I wasn’t risking Rodan139 in rain. It isn’t supposed to fly in rain and at this time, I’m not going to push the boundaries.

Luckily, when we were at The Smallest Church, the sky was precipitation free and it fit my definition of the theme for Page 104:

Page 104 – Keep walking until you are lost. Take a photograph the moment you realize you are lost.

Now we weren’t lost, not in the traditional sense. I knew where we were, but I didn’t know the fastest way to get back on the path home without pulling up the GPS. That is as lost as I get. We didn’t walk to The Smallest Church, but seriously, there is zero chance I’m ever going to get lost walking. My sense of direction is just too good.

The Littlest Church is sometimes billed as The World’s Smallest Church, but it isn’t. It isn’t even close. However it is very small. The church seats 8 people and measures 14′ x 20′.

Angie, Animals, Carla, Jesse, Road Trip, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 192 – RURAL

May 20, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

It turns out that RURAL is a startlingly unpopular theme. Sad, since I can think of at least 5 people off-hand that regularly contribute that live RURAL. Even more if you consider that Iowa is almost completely RURAL.

The streak of double digit submissions sadly has come to an end. Hopefully a new streak starts up next week.

That being said, this week the Photography 139 Empire extended as far east as Italy and as far west as west of Boone. I’m guessing on the west part here.

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

Angie DeWaard

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Jesse Howard

BLUE

BLUE! What a great theme! But what is a BLUE image? A BLUE image is any picture that involves the color BLUE. However, don’t forget that the term BLUE has multiple definitions.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

Don’t forget that next Monday is Memorial Day. While the government might take a holiday and your bank probably takes a holiday, Photography 139 doesn’t take holidays. The struggle is real! If you are going to be busy memorializing or barbecuing or taking your yacht to the lake, plan on getting your submission in early.

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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

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

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

Baseball/Softball, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Jesse, Lowell, Nature, Travel, Vacation

2009-02-18 – Arizona Day 3

May 19, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

My photo organization for early 2019 is a complete mess. I’m trying to reorganize it a bit on the fly. Today’s collection of images come from the folder 2009-02-18/Arizona_Day_3.

These pictures were taken in Arizona as the vacation part of the trip was starting to wind down and the business part of the trip was getting ready to start up. Lowell and Eric came into town and we met up with them and checked out some more Spring Training.

Here are some pictures:

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

Arizona Day 3 – Part A

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve more from the trip to Arizona.

Boone County Fair, Candid Portrait, Street Photography

Like Fireworks, Only More Boring

May 9, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

For the first time, in something like 15-20 years I went to the Boone County Fair Parade. The original idea was that these pictures would be for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. They were going to be for the page that was something-like “Take a picture that is outside of your comfort zone.”

I decided, at the time, that while I find parades extremely boring, they aren’t exactly outside of my comfort zone. There are few things where enjoyment varies more from engaging and activity to watching an activity. Fireworks is one. Baseball is another example. But parades might be the most extreme example. Being in a parade is a blast. Watching a parade is aigo;nngb[uion jk kakb aejkn…

Sorry, even typing the words caused me to nod off and faceplant into my keyboard.

Here are some pictures from the parade:

The picture that ultimately was taken for that page was a picture at a wrestling tournament. While I might find parades boring, I’m completely out of my element at a wrestling meet. I’m still not sure what happened there.

Candid Portrait, Jesse, Travel, Vacation

2009-02-15

May 4, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The photos in the folder 2009-02-15 are from a trip I took to Arizona with Jesse. 50% of the trip was for pleasure. 50% of the trip was for the Computer Mine.

These pictures are from Day 1 of the trip. Most of that day was spent in the air or in airports. It ended with Jesse and I supping with his brothers at a pizza place that had an organ and dancing puppets. It was one of the most unique places I’ve ever eaten.

Here are some pictures:

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

Arizona Day 1

Next Saturday’s trip down memory lane will involve a lot more Arizona.

Art, Black & White, Road Trip, Ruins

Birthday Road Trip

April 30, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

Last year on my birthday I took a short road trip. I cruised down to Winterset to have try an award winning tenderloin. Along the way I stopped at several towns to take pictures for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. However, I also took other pictures here and there. I reached into the backlog to publish those today:

I want to try this restaurant sometime soon.

I always get a kick out of the weird civic pride that small towns in Iowa take from the accomplishments of high school students. It is the strangest sort of immortality.

I’ve never heard of this Nile Kinnick fellow, but Bob Feller was a baller.

The more I learn about John Wayne, the more I think that he thought that he actually was the guy he played in the movies. Remember that while many leading men in Hollywood chose to serve in WWII, like Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart, Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Clark Gable… John Wayne got a temporary 3-A deferrment since he was a father of four, that he somehow managed to turn into a permanent deferment, even though he started having an extramarital affair with Marlene Dietrich. John Ford, the director that made John Wayne a star by casting him in STAGECOACH berated Wayne by telling him that he was growing rich as other men died. John Wayne would go on to be a right wing tool for the House Un-American Activities Committee. One of the absolute blackest of black eyes in our history. Even though Wayne was a draft dodger, he was vicious on his attacks of Vietnam Protesters. John Wayne easily slid into that world of fake patriotism. Like notorious draft dodgers Dick Cheney and Cadet Bone Spurs. They could play a patriot on television (i.e. masturbating to the flag at political rallies), but ducked out when their number was called (i.e. raising taxes on Gold Star Families). It is a strange choice for a Freedom Rock. That being said, he made some great movies.

“Suck it towns that don’t love their children.” – Van Meter, Iowa

My birthday this year is on a Saturday. I won’t take a birthday road trip on my birthday though. So far I have been invited to two Graduation Open Houses on that day. However, I took the Friday before my birthday off and believe I’ll probably hitting the open road that day. Not sure yet, but maybe heading up to the Decorah area.

I might be filming for my first ever (and probably last ever) vlog on that day. If you want to go, I can save you a seat in the Sir Pixalotmobile.