Category Archives: Road Trip

High Winds

August 11, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 7 Comments

When I woke up and drove to work this morning, the winds and the sky were amazing. I had to stop the car and take a picture.

Unfortunately, because the earliness of the morning and the darkness of the clouds and not having the right equipment, I instead cracked out my easel and painted the scene before hopping back in my car and finishing my daily commute.

I figured I better get this scene recorded, in case nature came back and finished off what it left of Jordan.

PARTICULARS

CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
ISO: 1600
FOCAL LENGTH: 35mm
APERTURE: f/5.6
EXPOSURE: 1/30
DATE: 08/11/2016 – 06:46
LATITUDE: 42.05237°
LONGITUDE: -93.81548°
PHOTO ASSISTANT: Time
PHOTO EDITING SOUNDTRACK: American Dominance

Also, I might have touched this in Photoshop a little bit.

Automobiles, Black & White, Photoshop, Road Trip, Travel

Silver Efex Pro 2 Volume 1

July 22, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

I thought now would be a good time to take another look at a filter from the Nik Plugin Collection. This time, we will look at the default filters in the Silver Efex Pro 2 collection. There are 38 of them, so I’ll split this into 2 posts.

The Silver Efex Pro 2 filter is a quick, easy, and powerful way to convert any image into black & white with a myriad of options.

Here is the first batch.

Original Image

Neutral

Underexposed

Overexposed

High Contrast Harsh

High Contrast Smooth

High Structure Harsh

High Structure Smooth

High Key 1

High Key 2

Low Key 1

Low Key 2

Push Process 1

Push Process 2

Full Dynamic Harsh

Full Dynamic Smooth

Full Spectrum Inverse

Full Spectrum

Grad NV 1

Grad NV 2

Fine Art

It is the same subject, with the same composition, but each filter suggest a slightly different emotion. Will look at the rest of the filters soon.

Baseball/Softball, Bethany, Dae Hee, Jesse, Nora, Pastor Sarah, Road Trip, Shawn Karber

The Twins vs. The Indigenous Persons of Cleveland

July 19, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

Last weekend I took a trip up to Minnesota with Jesse and Nader to visit Bethany, Dae Hee, Nora, Sarah, and Shawn.

Most of the pictures are on my phone, which I won’t publish, but they are on Instagram if you are interested. I did take a few pictures at the Twins game with my point & shoot.

Here are a few of them:

Before the game, we ate chicken at Revival. Big recommend! Then we had ice cream at Milkjam Creamery. Big recommend!

Maybe next year, but sometime soon, Jesse and I are going to take 2 weeks and drive from New York City to San Francisco. I don’t know many people that could survive going on Jesse and I’s adventures, for that long. This trip was Nader’s audition. He will be getting the results in the mail sometime soon.

Flat Earth Joe, Flowers, Macro, Road Trip

Dare to Grasp the Thorn

June 21, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Another rose from the State Center Rose Garden:

Wish I would’ve been able to spend more time with better light there.

PARTICULARS

CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
ISO: 500
FOCAL LENGTH: 60mm
APERTURE: f/4
EXPOSURE: 1/100
DATE: 06/04/2016 – 20:37
LONGITUDE: 42.01488°
LONGITUDE: -93.16005°
PHOTO ASSISTANT: JOE LYNCH
EDITING SOUNDTRACK: “Better Get Hit in Yo’ Soul” by Charles Mingus

Anders, Bill, Jay, Movies, Photoshop, Road Trip, Willy

HDR EFEX PRO 2 BETA

June 16, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Today we take a look at the second half of the “made to order” HDR EFEX PRO 2 filters.

As a refresher, here is the original image:

Here is a look at the filters:

Black & White Artistic

Dramatic

Sinister

Pale & Structured

Granny’s Attic

End of the Road

Indoor 1

Indoor 2

Outdoor 1

Outdoor 2

Soft

Vignetted

Graduated 1

Graduated 2

Then, of course. If you want, you can play with the numerous options and come up with a creation of your own. Like so…

My Concotion

I am, once again, sorry for the disgusting subject of these photos, but like I wrote, tomorrow will be something fuzzy and cuddly.

We will touch base with the Nik Collection again in the near future.

THE CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT TRIVIA QUIZ

QUESTION 19

In youth, my friends and I tried and failed to make 1 horror movie STAYIN’ ALIVE: THE SPORTING twice, an action movie (SWORN TO VENGEANCE), and another horror movie (QUIETUS). However, we did successfully finish a movie starring Jay Janson (as an androgynous ne-er-do-well), Bill Wentworth as his manservant, William McAlpine as a short tempered natural philosopher, Anders Runestad as a hen-pecked husband with a gambling addiction, Corey Faust as an omniscient narrator, and Christopher D. Bennett as a trash talking homophobe, playing a deadly game of RISK. What was the name of this nearly cult classic?

ANSWER: GAMES

BONUS

What was the unfortunate name of the “studio” that produced this film?

ANSWER: CHEESEDICK FILMS

Anders, Jesse, Photoshop, Road Trip

HDR EFEX PRO 2 ALPHA

June 15, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

A month or so ago I wrote about a free Photoshop Plugin from Google called the Nik Plugin Collection. Today I’m going to share some of their default filters.

This post is going to concentrate on the the HDR EFEX PRO 2 tool, which creates HDR (High Dynamic Range) images.

This Plugin can work in two ways. It can either create an HDR Image by merging multiple images or it can do HDR Tone Mapping from a single image and make sort of a faux HDR Image.

Because there are 28 different “ready to go” filters I am splitting this post into 2 different days.

I apologize for the disgusting nature of the base image, but I considered it a good example. I’ll make up for it on Friday by publishing something cute and furry.

Here are the first examples from the HDR EFEX PRO 2:

The Original Image

Default Filter

Balanced

Deep 1

Deep 2

Details 1

Details 2

Bright

Dark

Black and White Realistic

Structurized 1

Structurized 2

Soft Colors

Tinted Structure

Late Summer

I know. Coca-Cola. Disgusting. On the positive, it is a rusted out, old abandoned Coca-Cola machine. Just like all Coke machines should be.

For the record, I found this one in Strong City, Kansas.

The rest of the filters will be unveiled on the morrow.

THE CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT TRIVIA QUIZ

QUESTION 18

What movie was the theme of the birthday party invite for my 30th birthday?

ANSWER: LOGAN’S RUN

BONUS

What two other people were featured in these invites?

ANSWER: ANDERS RUNESTAD & JESSE HOWARD

Flat Earth Joe, Flowers, Macro, Road Trip

It is the Time Wasted

June 10, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

I had a recent trip to Marshalltown to try some pizza with some friends, co-workers, and co-working friends. On the way back Joe begged me to stop at the State Center Rose Garden. I obliged him.

It is one of my favorite places to visit every year and I can almost always have it to myself. Like Lone Wolf(s) like it!

PARTICULARS

CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
ISO: 400
FOCAL LENGTH: 60mm
APERTURE: f/4
EXPOSURE: 1/100
DATE: 06/04/2016 – 20:31
LATITUDE: 42.01533°
LONGITUDE: -93.16016°
PHOTO ASSISTANT: Joe Lynch
PHOTO EDITING SOUNDTRACK: “Bakai” by John Coltrane – COLTRANE (Track 1)

THE CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT TRIVIA QUIZ

QUESTION 15

I was hardcore even as a child. As a youngster, what band was the first rock concert I ever attended?

ANSWER: REO SPEEDWAGON

BONUS

I saw my current favorite band in concert at First Ave. Who are they?

ANSWER: THE SWELL SEASON

Animals, Art, Black & White, Flowers, Naima, Road Trip, WPC - Alternate

Don’t Believe Everything that You Breathe

June 9, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

Here lieth a few PERSPECTIVE attempts that weren’t quite up to snuff.

Such a sad and pathetic bunch.

THE CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT TRIVIA QUIZ

QUESTION 14

This year I will be going on my 5th Mission Trip with my church’s Youth Group. Name the 4 places I have already gone: (Hint: 1 place twice)

ANSWER: KANSAS CITY, MINNEAPOLIS, KANSAS CITY, MARTIN (SOUTH DAKOTA)

BONUS

Where is the Mission Trip going this year?

ANSWER: MILWAUKEE

Automobiles, Black & White, Lowell, Nate, Road Trip, Ruins, Travel

Rust Bucket – Strong City Kansas

June 7, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett

Another automobile I found fascinating in the car graveyard that is Strong City, Kansas.

I have maybe a couple more pictures left to share from beautiful (cough, cough) to me Strong City, Kansas.

Added a new category in PARTICULARS since I love minutia.

PARTICULARS

CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
ISO: 100
FOCAL LENGTH: 18mm
APERTURE: f/6.3
EXPOSURE: 1/160
DATE: 04/03/2016 – 10:46
LATITUDE: 38.39543°
LONGITUDE: -96.53934°
PHOTO ASSISTANT: Nate Miller
PHOTO EDITING SOUNDTRACK: “Straight, No Chaser” – Thelonious Monk from the album STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

THE CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT TRIVIA QUIZ

QUESTION 13

I was born with limited musical skills. What instrument did I play poorly in the Boone High School Band?

ANSWER: TROMBONE

BONUS

Who was my high school locker partner?

ANSWER: Lowell Davis

Automobiles, Nate, Road Trip, Ruins, Travel

Hey Baby…

May 17, 2016 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

“You look like you could be from Kansas.”

After seeing the remains of this truck and its license plate, I legitimately think that might be a legit pickup line.

Now that I’m through the party, I’ll try to get caught back up with my postings.

PARTICULARS

CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
ISO: 100
FOCAL LENGTH: 30mm
APERTURE: f/9
EXPOSURE: 1/400
DATE: 04/03/2016 – 10:49
LATITUDE: 38.39563°
LONGITUDE: -96.53952°
PHOTO ASSISTANT: Nate Miller