Time to share another collection of auxiliary images I took while cruising around Buena Vista and Palo Alto County harvesting their town signs:
Linn Grove
Mallard
Ayrshire
Emmetsburg (I think)
The next time we hit the open road for auxiliary images from a TOWN SIGN PROJECT road trip, we will hit up Jackson County.
Back at the end of last year I cruised around the counties of Buena Vista and Palo Alto counties harvesting their town signs. Here is the first collection of auxiliary images I took on this trip:
I still have one more collection of auxiliary images to share from this trip in the future.
On Day 2 of my trip to Miami Beach for the Computer Mine I had a little bit of free time in the evening to do a little street photography in the blocks around our hotel.
One of the first things I learned was it would take 10 minutes (at least) for my camera to acclimate to the change in humidity between the air conditioned hotel room and the hot humid nights of South Beach.
Here are a few pictures from this short walkabout:
I didn’t actually take my camera out at all on Day 3 and barely on Day 4. I’ll probably combine Day 4 and Day 5 into one post at some point in the future.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is CHILDREN:
CHILDREN! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a CHILDREN picture? Simply put, a CHILDREN picture is any picture that includes a CHILDren or CHILDREN or anything that deals with CHILDREN. This could be a very easy theme for some people. Some people can’t throw a rock in their house with out hitting a CHILD(REN). Which isn’t to say that I endorse throwing rocks at CHILDREN. It is just a saying. Some people might not have such easy access to a CHILD(REN) or even know a CHILD(REN). No worries! That is where the “anything that deals with CHILDREN comes into play. Notice how the theme reveal image doesn’t have any CHILDREN in it, but instead is a picture of a playground, which CHILD(REN) of all ages use.
Happy photo harvesting!
On Tuesday I completed another month of the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. It was month of random prompts and I think for the most part, there is some good work mixed in with mediocre work. The kind of thing you get with a Photo A Day Challenge. This month I took pictures in 3 different states. Iowa, Florida, and Minnesota. I’m not sure how many different towns I took pictures in, but for sure it was Boone, Miami, Miami Beach, Des Moines, Ames, Nevada, Alta Vista, and Minneapolis. A few in rural areas as well.
Here are May’s pictures:
May 2 – Good Morning
May 3 – Free Choice
May 4 – Trees
May 5 – Mirrors
May 6 – Leaf
May 7 – View from Here
May 8 – Love
May 9 – A Seat
May 10 – Where I Stood
May 11 – Something Small
May 12 – In Nature – See the turtle?
May 13 – Green
May 14 – Sunshine
May 15 – Upside Down
May 16 – This Season
May 17 – A Shape
May 18 – A Door
May 19 – Creative
May 20 – I Read This…
May 21 – Waves
May 22 – Flying
May 23 – Stairs
May 24 – A Pair
May 25 – Something Warm
May 26 – Pink
May 27 – Lucky
May 28 – Horizon
May 29 – A Car
May 30 – Sky
May 31 – This is Also Me
The plant that is in the picture for May 6 is also the plant in the picture for May 17.
There is only one prompt for the month of June. That is Grateful. The instructions are simply take a photo each day of something you’re grateful for.
This could be a very difficult month or a very easy one. I have a ton of things in my life to be grateful for, so in theory it should be pretty easy. But on the other hand, it is actually coming in to contact with those things (or more directly people) to get the pictures that I want in my head. I’ll at least try to make it happen. Or maybe my Instagram feed will just be filled with 30 pictures of nonsense. It could break either way.
Remember, you can follow along with this project on the daily at the Instagram account I’ve created just for this project at @fmsbennett.
Here’s hoping June goes well and that you are grateful you get to see those pictures.
This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is FLOWER:
FLOWER! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a FLOWER picture? Simply put, a FLOWER picture is any picture where a FLOWER is a major compositional element of the picture. The FLOWER can be real. The FLOWER can be fake. The FLOWER can be a artistic rendering. There are so many options!
Happy photo harvesting!
Here is the rest of the collection of pictures from my trip harvesting the town signs of Pottawattamie County and Harrison County. All of these were taken in Harrison County.
Mondamin
Magnolia
Logan
Woodbine
There used to be a Dairy Sweet in Boone in my youth. I know they aren’t connected, but I like to pretend they are.
The art scene in Woodbine is greatly underrated. It is a town I would like to go back and photograph in greater depth at some point. Possibly Missouri Valley as well. They have a train ride I’d like to visit someday too.
This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is HISTORY:
WARNING: NEXT MONDAY IS MEMORIAL DAY. WHILE THE BANKS AND THE GOVERNMENT MIGHT BE TAKING THE DAY OFF, THERE ARE NO DAYS OFF FOR PHOTOGRAPHY 139. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL! YOU MIGHT BE OUT DOING HOLIDAY TYPE THINGS. THINK ABOUT THIS WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR PLANS TO SEND ME YOUR SUBMISSION. I ALSO MIGHT NOT BE IN POSITION TO SEND OUT ANY REMINDERS. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
HISTORY! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a HISTORY picture? A HISTORY picture is simply any picture that deals with a HISTORI(Y)cal artifact. Could be something found in a museum. It could be something found on the side of the road. It could be an old church or an old building. It could be living history. It doesn’t have to be anything as grand as the spot where a President of the United States spoke. It doesn’t have to be political HISTORY or military HISTORY or religious HISTORY. It could very easily be personal HISTORY or family HISTORY.
Happy photo harvesting!
It is another Formal Portrait Sunday. It is another time to share some pictures from Kyle’s Fall Photo Shoot. Kyle’s open house was yesterday, but unfortunately, I missed it because I was in Miami. Sucks that I missed it because sounds like there was going to be an impressive spread of food there. Also, Kyle’s a good egg. Sounds like he is taking a bunch of scholarship money and going to DMACC to get his general education credits out of the way while he figures out what he wants to concentrate on. Seems like a good plan to me.
Here are some more Kyle pictures:
Next Sunday’s formal portraits will involve Jayton’s Summer Photo Shoot.
Time for another collection of auxiliary images I took while harvesting the town signs of Clinton County and the southern part of Jackson County. All of these pictures were taken in Jackson County.
Miles
Spragueville
There is one more collection of images coming from this road trip.
This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is HAT:
A HAT picture is just a picture that features a hat somewhere in the composition.
Don’t forget that I won’t be in a position to remind people to submit their images on Monday morning. Going to have to be some self-reliance going on here. Hopefully a ton of streaks don’t bite the dust.
Happy photo harvesting!
SLICE OF LIFE got more results than I am expected. You people have impressed me!
As of 12:01 PM on Monday, May 9, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:
+ Linda Bennett – 1 week
+ Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
+ Angie DeWaard – 3 weeks
+ Jesse Howard – 3 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 5 weeks
+ Sara Lockner – 5 weeks
+ Becky Parmelee – 5 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 6 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 6 weeks
+ Suzie Brannen – 7 weeks
+ Monica Henning – 8 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 8 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 16 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 16 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 16 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 17 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 18 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 19 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 20 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 24 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 25 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 27 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 30 weeks
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:
Monica Jennings – 9 weeks
Monica Jennings
Monica Jennings
Elizabeth Nordeen – 26 weeks
Elizabeth Nordeen
Joe Duff – 7 weeks
View from “The Mount” of several harden by Hermann Park in Houston
Joe Duff
“Inside the Octopus”. The main ballroom of the Octopus where countless Christmas parties, summer socials, and special evets were held.
Joe Duff
TPC Group “Octopus”, built 1959. An octagonal building with ballroom and meeting facilities. Built by employees from wood harvested on site.
Kim Barker – 6 weeks
Kim Barker
Micky Augustin – 19 weeks
Mary Green – 1 week
Kio Dettman – 31 weeks
Tamara Peterson – 17 weeks
William McAlpine – 1 week
Bill Wentworth – 21 weeks
Christopher D. Bennett
Shannon Bardole-Foley – 28 weeks
Linda Bennet – 2 weeks
Angie DeWaard – 4 weeks
Cathie Morton – 25 weeks
Michelle Haupt – 18 weeks
Suzie Brannen – 8 weeks
Logan Kahler – 9 weeks
Becky Parmelee – 6 weeks
Jesse Howard – 4 weeks
Andy Sharp – 20 weeks
Carla Stensland – 17 weeks
Sara Lockner – 6 weeks
Sara Lockner
31 submissions from 24 participants! That is a great week! Better than I expected, considering the extra rule for this week. Don’t worry none of the remaining Year 9 themes have a bonus rule.
Also, the following people earned this week’s bonus points by submitting a black & white image:
+ Teresa Kahler
+ Monica Jennings – 1 out of 3 anyways
+ Joe Duff – 1 out of 3 anyways
+ Mary Green
+ Kio Dettman
+ Linda Bennett
+ Angie DeWaard
+ Suzie Brannen
+ Logan Kahler
+ Andy Sharp
Be sure to check your mailbox, those bonus points should be arriving any day now.
This was an exciting week for new participants. Mary Green participating for the first time ever. As did William McAlpine. Willy’s submission came all the way from Portugal!
Also you may have noticed a couple name changes from a couple of the participants. I wonder what that means? Congratulations is what is means!
But it wasn’t all good news. 2 streaks did bite the dust. Jen’s two week streak. Gone. Dawn’s 6 week streak. Poof. I have no doubt they will be back with great submissions again in the future!
Here are the current top streaks:
9. Teresa Kahler – 17 weeks
9. Tamara Peterson – 17 weeks
9. Carla Stensland – 17 weeks
8. Michelle Haupt – 18 weeks
7. Micky Augustin – 19 weeks
6. Andy Sharp – 20 weeks
5. Bill Wentworth – 21 weeks
4. Cathie Morton – 25 weeks
3. Elizabeth Nordeen – 26 weeks
2. Shannon Bardole-Foley – 28 weeks
1. Kio Dettman – 31 weeks
Congratulations to Elizabeth as her submissions (all the way from Florida) made her the third person to have a streak extend for half of a year! WooHoo!
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:
HAT! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what exactly is a HAT photo? It is very simple. Just any picture that features a HAT in the image works. There are all sorts of hats out there ranging from fedoras to beanies to fedoras to bucket hats to fedoras to baseball caps to fedoras. Did I mention fedoras?
There is a warning on this theme though:
NEXT MONDAY I WILL NOT BE IN ANY POSITION TO SEND OUT ANY KIND OF REMINDERS. YOU ARE DEFINITELY ON YOUR OWN ON THIS ONE.
While considering subjects for your HAT image, mediate on the following quote:
Live your life, do your work, then take your hat.
-Henry David Thoureau
I look forward to seeing your interpretations.
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.
You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.
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 HAT in this place where I hang many of my hats next Monday.
I promised you more information about the Great Pyramids of Iowa. Here is information from a Des Moines Register article titled: “Pyramids? Haunted angels? These are 6 of Iowa’s oddest graveyards to visit before you die.:
Three small Egyptian-style pyramids at the back of Hickory Grove Cemetery near Avery are the lone remnant of one man’s unrealized dream to be entombed inside one.
According to local records, their construction was commissioned in 1939 by newspaper publisher Axel Peterson, when he was 70 years old. Peterson’s plan was that, when he died, he and his friend, Anton Heymooler, would be placed inside, seated and facing each other with his printing press between them.
The pyramids were built, but neither Peterson nor Heymooler were buried inside. Peterson died at age 78 and was instead buried in nearby Cuba Cemetery. But the pyramids remain at Hickory Grove to this day.
Here are the rest of the pictures from this trip:
Lovilia
Cedar
Rose Hill
Keomah Village
Albia
The next time we hit the open road to look at auxiliary images from THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will hit Clinton County.
Time for another collection of auxiliary images from a road trip I took with Teresa to harvest the town signs of Monroe and Mahaska County. Almost all these pictures are taken in Albia or near Albia. The near Albia pictures are taken at what I think is the coolest veteran memorial I have ever seen in Iowa.
Great Pyramids of Iowa
I will get more into the history of the Great Pyramids of Iowa when I share the rest of these images tomorrow night.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SLICE OF LIFE:
SLICE OF LIFE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a SLICE OF LIFE photo? It might not be what you think. Hence this week’s special rule. SLICE OF LIFE is a reference to the photo postcard company that my Dad created. That is why (and here is the special rule) this week, the theme is NOT up for interpretation. This week’s theme is to take a picture that you could see used as a postcard. That is the only interpretation available to you.
Some of you might not live in a tourist hotbed like Boone, Iowa (no seriously, Boone has lots of tourist attractions from Pufferbilly Days to the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Birthplace to Ledge State Park to the Boone Speedway to name a few) but there is certainly something in your town that you could see put on a postcard. For those of you that are under the age of 40 you may have to ask an elder what a postcard is, but I’m sure they will be happy to tell you all about it. And also other amazing things that happened in the 80s or 70s or before.
To give you another few examples of postcards. Here are a few postcards that my Dad made that I hastily scanned this morning:
When you look at these postcards, remember that these were made in a darkroom. With film! Quite a bit harder than dragging and dumping layers in Photoshop.
So remember, it has to be the kind of image you would see on a postcard. Not a picture of your pet or your kid and then saying, this is a “slice of my life”. That doesn’t qualify this week.
Do I expect this to possibly be a streak killer for many people? Maybe.
BONUS: If you want to go the extra mile, this isn’t a requirement, you can take your image in black & white as my Dad’s postcards were black & white.
DOUBLE BONUS: For this theme and this theme only, if you include some kind of description of your postcard scene, I will include it in the “An Artist’s Notebook” post on Monday.
Happy photo harvesting!
