Category Archives: Animals

Andy, Animals, Kim, Naima, Photoshop, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 152 – FEAR

August 13, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Don’t forget that tomorrow, Baby Got Rack will be competing at the Iowa State Fair Barbecue Competition. We can be found on the grand concourse somewhere. Also, I have 2 pictures on display at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon in the Cultural Building.

Both are worth supporting, at least I think…

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I knew that FEAR was one of the toughest themes in this set of 52 themes and the steep drop in participation this week bore that out. I promise that this week’s theme is much, much easier.

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

Tamara Peterson

Kim Barker

Tamra Peterson

Andy Sharp

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

ANIMAL

ANIMAL! What a great theme! An ANIMAL photo is pretty self-explanatory. An ANIMAL photo is any picture that includes an ANIMAL. Or an ANIMAL byproduct.

For anybody that wants to book an appointment to photograph Naima. She charges $500 and hour and she takes frequent breaks.

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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

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

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

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 animalistic Monday.

Animals, Black & White, Christianity, Event, Flowers, Macro, Photoshop, Railroad

Focus Stack II

August 8, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

There are only a few hours left to cast your vote for what pictures I will be entering in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. If the poll ended this second, this would be the results:

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

This photo would win. It has a 2 vote lead.

This photo….

Is tied with this photo. So tomorrow there would be an emergency runoff election.

This photo would win. It has a 4 vote lead.

This photo would win. It has a one vote lead.

This photo…

Would be tied with this photo. Tomorrow there would be an emergency runoff election.

This photo would win. It has a 2 vote lead.

There still is about 7 hours to vote, if you haven’t voted yet.

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Once again, I’ve been messing around a little bit with focus stacking. Here are 2 images I created with the technique:

I think I’ll continuing playing with these technique more in the future.

Animals, Black & White, Nader, State Fair, Street Photography

Iowa State Fair 2017 – Set 1

August 7, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER

NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN’T VOTED YET, VOTE!!! 4 CATEGORIES ARE SEPARATED BY 1 VOTE. 1 IS SEPARATED BY 2 VOTES. THE LAST CATEGORY IS SEPARATED BY 3 VOTES.

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

I have selected 60 images for you to consider. To simplify things, I have split the 60 photos into 6 sets of 10. If you wish to exercise your enfranchisement, clicking on the link below will take you to Poll #1. Vote for one of those pictures and then move onto the next poll, until you have voted in all six polls.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

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REMINDER!!

1 week today Baby Got Rack will competing at the Iowa State Fair. We will be registered and set up by 8 AM. Probably well before that. We judging is at 10 AM. Awards will be announced at 12 PM. We will be making Baby Got Rack’s award winning pizza.

If you are going to the Iowa State Fair early next Tuesday, stop by and say hi to me and Scottie D.! There will probably be a couple more there as well.

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Hitting that back log. Here are some pictures from my trip to the Iowa State Fair last year!

i got a few more pictures from last year’s trip to the State Fair still to come!

Animals, Automobiles, Black & White, Christianity, Contests, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Gretchen, Railroad, Sara, Shawn Lockner

The Juncks – Vol. 1

August 5, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

REMINDER

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

As of this writing, if the polls closed, there would need to be a run-off election in the categories of Photoshop and Photojournalism.

The other 4 entries would be:

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Hitting that 2016 backlog again. Just a few more Sundays and I’ll have all of the 2016 backlog knocked out. Definitely before 2019!

Here we check in on a portrait session I did with the Juncks. You can tell that it is old because there is no Maven!

You think working with toddlers is hard work… try getting David Junck to look at the camera!!

There is one more collection of pictures from this photo shoot on the way. Don’t worry, there is plenty more of Gretchen being adorable coming your way!

Animals, Becky, Blogging, Commercial, Contests, Derrick, Event, Jaycees, Mom, Music, Shannon, Shorty, Vest

06-14-08

August 4, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

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TRIGGER WARNING!!! TRIGGER WARNING!!! TRIGGER WARNING!!!

If your name is Micky and you are a purpose of a cowardly disposition, be warned, snakes lie ahead!

Normally I don’t like to warn people that there might be something they find scary or offensive ahead. However, I know Micky is particularly scared of snakes. So much so, that he brokered a deal with his wife that she handles any snakes that they come across along the path of their wedded bliss.

The hype about him being a great outdoorsman might be a little overhyped.

Now that little bit of unpleasantness is out of the way, the images that come from the folder 06-14-08 are mostly from Ames on the Half Shell. However, some involve a snake. Some involve the Ames Party Bus.

Here are the pictures:

The snake was in Shorty and Doris’ flowerbed. The band that was playing Ames on the Half Shell was Burnin’ Sensations. They are still together and still playing. I haven’t seen them in several years, but back in the day, they used to be a real fun band to watch play.

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

Flowerbed Buddy

Burnin’ Sensations

There are more pictures from the Burnin’ Sensations that I didn’t include in this blog, but you can peruse them by clicking on the link below:

AMES THE HALF SHELL – 2008

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve more Ames on the Half Shell, some Little League, and maybe, just maybe some tenderloining.

Animals, Christianity, Contests, Event, Flowers, Macro, Nature, Photoshop, Politics, Railroad, State Fair, WPC - Reminder

Flowers, Always and Always

August 3, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

As of this writing, if there are no votes between now and the end of the voting, these will be the Entries:

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A friendly reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is TREE:

TREE

A TREE picture is any picture that involves a TREE or a TREE byproduct.

Happy photo harvesting!

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I must have flowers, always and always.
-Claude Monet

Monet is one of my favorite painters and his work is definitely an influence on my photography. There was a point that I could argue that my most popular photo was named after Monet’s personal garden. I called the photo “My Giverny”.

I respect Monet’s love of flowers. I like to have a wide variety of flowers in my yard. Of course, I always have to visit the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fair.

These are the balance of pictures from my trip to the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fair last year:

I have more State Fair pictures to share at some point in the future. The near future.

Animals, Black & White, Contests, Flowers, Jay, Macro, Nature, Road Trip, Willy

Maquoketa Caves State Park: Chapter 3

August 2, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

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This is the final collection of photos from my road trip to Maquoketa Caves State Park with Willy and Jay. All the way back in July of 2017.

It was a great road trip and I want to go on another road trip here in the near future. Just need to find a crew. Hmmmm…

Any ways, here are the balance of caves pictures

I can’t endorse Maquoketa Caves State Park enough. Although when you go on a Saturday in the summer, that place is beyond packed!

Animals, Contests, Flowers, Macro, State Fair

In Joy or Sadness

August 1, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

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In joy or sadness flowers are our constant friends.
-Kakuzo Okakura

One of my favorite places at the Iowa State Fair is the Discovery Garden. Many people that have attended the fair with me know that at some point we will part company and I will spend close to an hour there. Sometimes people choose to just wait me out. It is a foolish idea, unless you are in need of rest and have some delicious fair food to put into your belly.

Here are some pictures from last year’s trip to the Iowa State Fair:

I have one more set of Iowa State Fair flower pictures in the hopper. Don’t worry, I’ll feed you baby birds!

Animals, Art, Baby Got Rack, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Contests, Flowers, Logan, Macro, Nature, Photoshop, Pufferbilly Days, Railroad, Ruins, Scottie D., Vacation

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Entry Selection Process

August 1, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

I was told that voting for the Boone County Fair was too complicated. A computer guy even told me it was a tough nut to crack. Therefore, I have made the process as easy as I can conceive this time. I had the QA guy from the Computer Mine Beta Test for me. Thanks Micky!

The winner of each poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

If you want to study up beforehand, keep scrolling down to see the nominees here:

POLL 1 – PHOTOSHOP

#10

POLL 2 – PHOTOJOURNALISM

#5

#6

#10

POLL 3 – NATURE (FLOWERS)

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

POLL 4 – NATURE (ANIMALS)

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

POLL 5 – HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY (GROUP 1)

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

POLL 6 – HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY (GROUP 2)

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

Thank you in advance for your time and your opinions!

Animals, Nature, Road Trip

Union Grove State Park

July 31, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

On the same day that I drove to Decorah to check out their waterfall, I stopped at Union Grave State Park to see their waterfall.

I don’t actually think it counts as a waterfall though. It is a spillway, that some how consistently shows up on the list of Iowa waterfall. Actually if you look at most of the waterfalls on that list, many of them are spillways, which I don’t consider to be waterfalls. Although, I guess you could argue that water does indeed fall at these locations.

It is still pretty, from a distance.

Here are some pictures: