Category Archives: Road Trip

Art, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Nader, Road Trip, Still Life, Street Photography

Dysart Illusion Road Trip – II

December 6, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Here is another collection of images from my road trip with Nader to go check out the Dysart illusions:

Traer

Still one more collection of images from this road trip left to share!

Art, Formal Portrait, Nader, Road Trip, Street Photography

Dysart Illusion Road Trip – I

December 5, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in April I loaded up the car with Nader and we drop over to Dysart because I wanted to check out their collection of illusions. It turns out that many of them aren’t in great shape and I think 2 of them are completely gone. At least we went to where they are supposed to be on the map and there was nothing there.

Despite that disappointment, it was a really good trip.

Here is the first collection of pictures from the trip:

It is tricky to photograph an illusion. Often the illusion doesn’t translate to photography. But I think you get the idea. There are still plenty more pictures to share from this road trip.

Flowers, Formal Portrait, Macro, Nader, Road Trip

Sinners, Saints and Fools

November 30, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Where the winds of change were blowin’
There lived a God-fearing man
He was turning through his Bible
When he came up with a plan
He painted up a sign
And held it high above his head
Waved it proudly in the air, and this is what it read

You can’t break the law
There are reasons for the rules
I keep things safe here for everyone
The sinners, saints, and fools
The poor and huddled masses
Who are hungry and afraid
You gotta do it by the Book and there’ll be
No exceptions made

To the weary, desperate souls
Who washed up on the sand
He said, “We hadn’t seen your paperwork”
And he withdrew his hand
You know he never felt any safer
All the peace he hoped he’d find
And up until the day he died
He never changed his mind

By the time he got to Heaven
It was surrounded by a wall
The pearly gates were locked up tight
The golden chains and all
They said, “We cannot let just anyone
Walk in here anymore
You didn’t do it by the Book, ”
And then they pointed to the floor

You can’t break the law
There are reasons for the rules
I keep things safe here for everyone
You sinners, saints, and fools
The poor and huddled masses
Who are hungry and afraid
You gotta do it by the Book and there’ll be
No exceptions made
-Brandi Carlile

I particularly like Brandi’s answer to what this song was about in that Stereogum interview:

CARLILE: To me, there’s nothing on planet Earth more maddening than the religious right’s rejection of displaced people. It’s just baffling. It could only be from a place of abstract evil, that there would be anything Christian about the concept of rejecting someone who’s had to leave their home, which no one wants to do for any reason, war, hunger, unrest, economic impact. For any reason that a person should become displaced and then systematically rejected is just antithetical to everything… I won’t even use the word “Christian,” but everything Gospel-based.

STEREOGUM: How do you personally stay close to faith, if you will, when there’s such a prevalence of people acting like the “god-fearing man” you describe in this song? The man who thinks he’s living according to scripture, but once he gets to heaven, it’s surrounded by a wall.

CARLILE: Well, because I realize that’s the powerful delusion. I realize that the powerful delusion foretold in scripture will be a complete rejection of love and generosity and enduring patience, tolerance, mercy, that it’s the faith revealing itself in ourselves every day. And it’s renewable. We can fix it. We can change as a species if we want to. It’s not hurtling towards some fiery end. It’s a living, breathing faith.

I was like 19, and I went to Urban Outfitters, and I saw a T-shirt with Jesus on a Harley, and I bought it. It said, “What the fuck is a Christian?” And you realize Jesus did not know what a Christian was. He didn’t know what the Bible was. Jesus is a concept of mercy and enduring love, not love, the feeling, but love, the action. And I subscribe. I follow. Anything you like about me, it’s because of that.

STEREOGUM: That’s pretty deep for Urban Outfitters.

CARLILE: Thanks, Urban Outfitters. You’re more likely to find Jesus in Urban Outfitters right now than you are in church.

Preach!

But Thursdays are for flowers. This flowertography collection came from a trip to the State Center Rose Garden with Nader:

Still more rose pictures left to share from this day!

Art, Black & White, Nader, Railroad, Road Trip, Town Sign Project

Photo Drop-Off Road Trip III

November 29, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the final collection of pictures from the road trip I took with Nader after I dropped off my entries at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon.

This collection starts where the last collection last off. In a park in Manning.

They changed their sign…

It was a great trip. Filled with great food, cool discoveries, and great memories.

Art, Birthdays, Black & White, Christianity, Formal Portrait, Nader, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, Street Photography, Suzie

PHOTO DROP-OFF ROAD TRIP II

November 22, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is Suzie’s birthday. So I need to wish her a happy birthday!

Happy birthday Suzie!

Suzie is the short one in the picture, in case you didn’t know! I hope you have an amazing birthday!

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Time to share more pictures from the road trip I took with Nader after I dropped off my pictures for the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. This collection starts where the first collection ended, hanging out with Albert the Bull in Audubon.

Gray

Manning

Still one more collection of images to share from this road trip.

Art, Boone FUMC, Nader, Road Trip, Street Photography

Photo Drop-off Road Trip I

November 17, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

If you or somebody you know is looking for a Thanksgiving Meal, my church is having it’s annual FREE Thanksgiving Meal again this year. Check out the flyer below for information:

I should be there for at least part of it. Hope to see some of you there!

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This is a collection of images from the road trip I took with Nader where I dropped off my pictures for the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. After we left State Center, we went down to Des Moines to drop off the pictures. We had a bit of time to kill before they Cultural Building opened up to take submissions. So we hung out around the Asian Garden in downtown Des Moines. After that we went to Hamelin to have a delicious tenderloin at Darrell’s Place. Then up to Audubon to check out Albert the Bull.

Here are some pictures:

Des Moines

Hamelin

Audubon

Still many more pictures from this little sojourn.

Art, Automobiles, Christianity, Road Trip, Ruins, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa

Davis County Aux. – Vol. 4

November 15, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Here it is. The final collection of auxiliary images I took during THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. Finally being shared almost 14 months after I took them. Closing the book on pictures I took in 2022. To be honest there is one last collection of pictures I took in 2022, but I’m not going to share those. Those I will keep for me.

The final county of town signs I harvested was Davis County. A county I left for last because I wanted to save the Paris, Iowa (there are two unincorporated towns named Paris in Iowa) for the end because I have some family history on my Mom’s side of the family there. Paris is almost a ghost town now. There is a cemetery a couple miles down the road. There are a few houses and there are the remains of a general store. But it was still interesting to visit and I don’t regret leaving it for last, even though it really didn’t have a town sign.

Here is the final collection of images, starting at a general store in Cantril.

I swear Randall’s had this exact same signs when I was a kid.

The artist definitely spend most of their time and effort on the boobs.

Troy

This building housed the Troy Academy. Which was one of the first institutions of higher education west of the Mississippi.

It is also the subject of a painting by Buckley Moss.

Back to Bloomfield

Paris Cemetery

Marshalltown

It is a little sad to close the last page on this photo project. My original plan for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT was to turn it into a book. I have made next to no progress on that. None. I haven’t really made much or no progress on what was going to be my next photo project. I have let you down…

But maybe I will make progress on the book this winter. Stranger things have happened.

I’m not sure what will be posted on Wednesdays going forward. But there isn’t a shortage of RAW images waiting to be edited and shared!

Anela, Birthdays, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Tenderloining

Tenderloining: Prairieburg Field Work

November 12, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is Anela’s birthday, so I have to wish her a happy birthday!

Happy birthday Anela!

I hope you have an amazing birthday!

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Back in August I took an opportunity while I was on vacation to get another stamp on my Tenderloin Trail 2.0 Passport. I went to Prairieburg (Population of 160) to try the tenderloin at PrairieMoon on Main. The winner of the Best Tenderloin in 2020.

Here are some pictures:

Tenderloin Trail 2.0: PrairieMoon on Main

I went with the “fresh portabella fries”.

Coke. Sigh.

It was a very good tenderloin! I would definitely eat it again if I was in the area, but let’s face it, Prairieburg is a bit out there. The reason to go to Prairieburg is for this tenderloin or this restaurant. Prairieburg is about 45 minutes north and east of Cedar Rapids. It is about 2 and half hours from Boone.

I also loved the portabella mushroom fries. I am a well-documented mushroom freak. I probably eat mushrooms 3-4 times a week. If anything, I wish it was less breading and more mushroom, but they were still excellent.

You can find PrairieMoon on Main here:

103 East Main Street
Prairieburg, Iowa

But if you find Prairieburg it is about the only business in the town, so you can’t miss it!

It isn’t open that much. The current hours are:

Thursday: 11:30 – 9 PM
Friday: 11:30 – 2 & 4-9 PM
Saturday: 11:30 – 9 PM
Sunday: 11:30 – 5:30 PM

The next time I share a food adventure, it will involve ice cream at a barbecue contest.

Art, Baseball/Softball, Flowers, History, Road Trip, Ruins, Still Life, Teresa

Davis County Aux. – Vol. 3

November 8, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

This is the second to last collection of auxiliary images from trips I made to harvest signs for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. I made this trip with Teresa. This collection starts where the last collection left off. Just outside of Bloomfield.

The Dutchman’s Store is located in Cantril and I would also recommend visiting it if you are ever in the area. Hard to believe there is just one collection of THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT auxiliary images left to share!

9 Emotions Project, Art, Basketball, Birthdays, Black & White, Blogging, Boone County Fair, Boone FUMC, Carla, Drone, Elainie, Evie, Formal Portrait, Fran, Iowa State, Jay, Jesse, Kim, Layla, Logan, Micky, Mom, Naima, Road Trip, Saydie, Shannon, Shawn Lockner, Still Life, Street Photography, Tenderloining, Teresa, Vest

Post 5,005

November 4, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start this milestone post by wishing Elainie a happy birthday!

Happy birthday Elainie!

I hope your birthday is amazing!!

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Today is also Layla’s birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAYLA!

I hope you have an awesome birthday!

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Can you believe that this is the 5,005th entry in the blog known as “An Artist’s Notebook”? Every 250 posts or so I like to take a moment to reflect on where this post has been and post a lot of meaningless stats. I meant to post this post on Sunday night when it would have been Post #5,000, but you know how my week went. Not great.

As always on these posts, I like to start by quoting the very first “An Artist’s Notebook” entry that published on August 9, 2006. That first post that published 6,296 days.

That post that started with these words:

So here is the first journal entry. I felt like having as pretentious sounding name as possible for my journal. I have a few goals about this journal. My main goal is just to actually write in it. My second goal is to be as truthful as possible towards my true thoughts and feelings. I have another journal on another website, but it is really just a collection of sarcastic statements and cheap jabs at open faced sandwiches. This journal is meant to be about what my achievements and failures are in the world of art. What projects I am working on and what I have accomplished and what I have failed to accomplish. What I am photographing and what I am thinking about entering in photo contests. What I am thinking about. It might not always make sense. It might just be things I need to write down because they strike me as poignant or inspirational. This is in a small way an online “idea box”.

Since those words, I have posted 5,005 journal entries. (Normally I would do this little exercise on post #4,750, but I was in Vegas at that time.) This website is still something of an “idea box”. Sometimes I’m just working stuff out here. I don’t know why, sometimes I need to work stuff out in public. But this website is definitely more than just an “idea box”. It is a place where I post a few thoughts and a ton of pictures. I’ve gone through a few photo projects on these pages. From THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT to the 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT to THE SELFIE PROJECT to the POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT to name just a few. This website has also created a community with THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Which is one of my proudest achievements. Even if it sputtered and spit and barely survived in its first few years.

5,005 posts. I can’t even measure the elevation changes my life have taken since then. Major ups. Major downs. Peaks and valleys. 5,005 posts and I vow to keep on chugging along.

On these reflective posts, I like to publish a bunch of statistics that me and Joe Duff find interesting. So I might as well get to it.

Every post in “An Artist’s Notebook” is tagged with at least one Category. It is one of the easiest ways to navigate around the website. They are listed at the top of each post. Here are some statistics about Categories:

THE TOP 10 MOST USED CATEGORIES (RANK IN POST #4757 & INCREASE SINCE THEN)
10. Carla – 582 (#8 – +52)
9. Teresa – 590 (#9 – +65)
8. Road Trip – 611 (#6 – +42)
7. Macro – 627 (#10 – +132)
6. Formal Portrait – 638 (NR)
5. Jesse – 684 (#4 – +54)
4. Art – 744 (#5 – +122)
3. Animals – 790 (#3 – +65)
2. Flowers – 958 (#2 – +77)
1. Black & White – 1,212 (#1 – +220)

Dropping from the from the Top 10 was Shannon, a category that was #7 in Post #4757.

The 5 categories that have the best shot at making the Top 10 in Post #5,250 are Shannon, Nature, WPC-Submissions, and Candid Portrait.

It should be noted that some of these increases are caused by my working on the categories on some older posts.

THE TOP 10 NON-HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Photoshop – 432 (#10 – +43)
9. Candid Portrait – 475 (NR)
8. Nature – 538 (+101 – #8)
7. Road Trip – 611 (#5 – +42)
6. Macro – 627 (#6 – +132)
5. Formal Portrait – 638 (#8 – +191)
4. Art – 744 (#5 – +122)
3. Animals – 790 (#3 – +65)
2. Flowers – 958 (#2 – +77)
1. Black & White – 1,212 (#1 – +220)

WPC-Submission fell out of the Top 10. It was ranked #7 in Post #4757.

The categories that are just right outside of the Top 10 are Still Life, Naima, History, and Self-Portrait and Christianity.

THE TOP 10 HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Vest – 350 (NR)
9. Jay – 353 (#6 – +5)
8. Micky – 359 (NR)
7. Logan – 380 (#9 – +61)
6. Kim – 395 (#7 – +53)
5. Mom – 464 (#5 – +6)
4. Shannon – 576 (#2 – +37)
3. Carla – 582 (#3 – +52)
2. Teresa – 590 (#4 – +65)
1. Jesse – 684 (#1 – +54)

Dropping from the rankings was Willy and Derrick.

The categories that have the best shot at cracking the next Top 10 are Willy, Derrick, Jen, Andy, and Sara.

If you are wondering what is your best way to improve your Photography 139 Score and crack the Top 10, it is simply to be active in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE or go on trips with me or participate in various other photo projects or be related to me. Now these aren’t necessarily the 10 people that have influenced my photography the most, but these are the 10 people that have made the largest imprint on this website.

I can tell you the people that have influenced my photography the most, but that is a tale for another time. But I’m pretty sure you can guess who.

If you have spent any time on the Photography 139 website, you know that on the left sidebar, the “Top 100 Categories” are listed. I thought I would give a little bit of coverage to the Bottom 10 of the Top 100. There are currently 203 categories used on the website. I could cover the Bottom 10, but they are mostly people that either very recently came into the life of this website by birth (Jonah Kahler) or another way (Nathanial, Mindi, Fran). Or people that I thought would be a bigger part of my life and then weren’t. No need to cover those people. The Category that is #203 probably needs to be purged.

THE BOTTOM 10 OF THE TOP 100
#10. Andree – 77
#10. Flat Earth Joe – 77
#10. Self-Portrait Project – 77
#9. Photo Journal – 79
#8. Commercial – 83
#7. Sabas – 84
#6. Becca – 89
#3. Pufferbilly Days – 91
#3. Pastor Sarah – 91
#3. House – 91
#1. Faust – 92
#1. Writing – 92

The following categories have either fallen out of the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 or climbed out of it:
Kelly, Lowell, and Suzie.

The following categories have the best shot at dropping back into the Bottom 10 of the Top 10:
Sarah Toot, Lowell, Suzie, Russell, and Nate

The following categories have the best shot at climbing up into the Bottom 10 of the Top 10:
Layla, Kelly, Vacation, Saydie, and Kalista

“An Artist’s Notebook” is part of Photography 139. The 139 comes from Psalm 139:1-12. The Photography part comes from the fact this website is supposed to be filled with photography. So, what are the most popular photo galleries on the Photography 139 website? Glad you asked:

TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHY 139 PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERIES (LAST 365 DAYS)

To View the Gallery, Click on its Representative Image

10. Naima – 64,796 views

9. Tenderloining – 75,558 views

8. 9 Emotions Project – 81,405 views

7. Selfie-Project – 2022 – 88,632 views

6. Drone – 99,708 views

5. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9 – 108,852 views

4. Town Sign Project – 118,563 views

3. Las Vegas 2023 – 169,257 views

2. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images – 219,546 views

1. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 10 – 323,781 views

Galleries that fell out of the Top 10 are:
Christopher D. Bennett, Miami Beach, Jayton Poole, and Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020

Galleries that fell just outside of the Top 10 are:
Sleeping Angels – 2023, Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 6, Photo Journal Rejects, Iowa State Cyclones Football – 2008, and Christopher D. Bennett.

But what are the most popular single images of the last 365 days? Don’t worry, I’m gonna feed you baby birds.