Category Archives: Calendar

Calendar, Carla, Cathie, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Road Trip, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 275 – COLORFUL

December 21, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

The February image for the Photography 139 2021 Calendar is a macro photo of my favorite flower, the moonflower. It is taken with a flash ring. It was taken on July 28, 2020.

Here are some details on the picture:

DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M2
LENS: FE 50mm f/2.8 Macro
FOCAL LENGTH: 50mm
APERTURE: f/8
EXPOSURE: 1/60
ISO: 160
LATITUDE: 42.05226
LONGITUDE: -93.87074

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COLORFUL is a theme that really spoke to a ton of people. I had double digit submission before I even went to bed last night. That is 64 straight weeks. Also exciting, is there was a first time contributor in Elizabeth’s son Alexander!

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

Elizabeth Nordeen

Alexander Jackson

Elizabeth Nordeen

Robyn Augustin

Micky Augustin

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson

Carla Stensland

Joe Duff

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Michelle Haupt

Cathie Raley

Jesse Howard

Kim Barker

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:

ROAD TRIP

ROAD TRIP! What a great theme! But what is a ROAD TRIP photo? A ROAD TRIP photo is any photo you take while on a ROAD TRIP. Or if you aren’t leaving your house this week, any picture that could be taken while planning for a ROAD TRIP. What qualifies as a ROAD TRIP? To me, it is any time your car leaves your drive way. I mean, my Mom lives 3 blocks from me and I can crush a whole bag of Funyuns in that drive, which makes that journey a ROAD TRIP to me.

Here is a look back at all the times in the past that ROAD TRIP was a theme:

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 51 – ROAD TRIP

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 59 – ROAD TRIP

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 134 – ROAD TRIP

WPC – WEEK 199 – ROAD TRIP

WPC – WEEK 249 – ROAD TRIP

I look forward to seeing your new 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.

I now allow people to text me their submissions. In the past, I had made exceptions for a couple people that aren’t real computer savvy, even though it was an inconvenience for me and required at least 3 extra steps for me. I am now lifting that embargo because I have a streamline way of uploading photos. I’m not giving out my phone number, but if you have it, you can text me.

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 road worthy Monday!

Alexis, Black & White, Calendar, Formal Portrait, Johnathan, Kanoa, Lensbaby, Nature, Photoshop

Kanoa at 1!

December 20, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The January image of the 2021 Photography 139 Calendar was taken in lower Ledges. It was taken on January 4, 2020. It was taken shortly after a recent snow fall. One sad part about the printed version of this picture in the calendar is that the picnic table gets cut off where the pages are bound.

Here are some of the details of the picture:

DETAILS

CAMERA: SONY ILCA-77M2
LENS: DT 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 SAM
FOCAL LENGTH: 20mm (30mm in 35mm)
APERTURE: f/6.3
EXPOSURE: 1/250
ISO: 100
LATITUDE: 41.99793
LONGITUDE: -93.88033

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Back in August at Kanoa’s Birthday Party he also “posed” for some more formal portraits. Here are some of my favorites:

You’d be surprised to know how much Photoshop was used on this picture to remove Johnathan.

If you want to peruse the rest of the Kanoa pictures, click on the link below:

Kanoa – 1 Year Old

Not getting to see Kanoa very much is just one of the many things that suck about this mismanaged pandemic. But hopefully I’ll get to see him more in 2021.

Black & White, Calendar, Candid Portrait, Derrick, Music, Naima, Night, Photoshop, Sara, Still Life

2010-05-30

December 19, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

As I’ve started to distribute the Photography 139 2021 Calendars, it is time to start revealing the pictures that made the cut:

Front Cover

The front cover image is an HDR image of Naima wading into the pond at Dickcissel Park while the sun goes down in the west. It was taken on November 2, 2018. It is the oldest picture in next year’s calendar.

Details
CAMERA: SONY ILCA-77M2
LENS: DT 18-135MM F3.4-5.6 SAM
FOCAL LENGTH: 18MM (27MM IN 35MM)
APERTURE: f/4.5
ISO: 100
FIELD OF VIEW: 67.4 degrees
LATITUDE: 42.03875
LONGITUDE: -93.81687

I will reveal one calendar image every day, for the rest of 2020.

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The pictures from the folder 2010-05-30 are from a series of pictures I took at both Rieman Music and on a bridge over 235 in Des Moines. Derrick was an assistant for the pictures at Rieman Music. Sara was an assistant for the pictures of 235.

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

Euphony

RWPE #21 – HARMONY

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK NO. 25

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will probably involve flowers.

Animals, Boone County Fair, Calendar, Commercial, Contests, Drone, Kio, Macro, Michelle, Nature, State Fair

Dogs with Papers

December 31, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is the last day of 2019. Therefore, I will reveal the November and December images for the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar.

November Image:

November

The November image is a collection of dew drops that were trapped in a spiderweb. The spiderweb was located on a evergreen bush in my front yard. This picture was selected to be entered in the Boone County Fair Photography Contest by Michelle Haupt. It received a Blue Ribbon. This picture was taken July 14, 2018.

Details

Camera: Sony ILCA-77M2
Focal Length: 60mm
Aperture: f/2.2
Exposure: 1/100
ISO: 100

December Image:

December

The December image is of Old Highway 30 crossing through the Des Moines River Valley between Boone and Ogden. The image looks west towards Ogden as the sun begins to set. On the left is the Jay Carlson Wildlife Area. In the distance Seven Oaks can be seen. This picture was entered in the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon, but was not selected for display. This picture was taken March 8, 2019.

Details

Camera: Hasselblad L1D-20C
Focal Length: 10.3mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/400
ISO: 100
Altitude: 343.7 meters above sea level

That concludes the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar images. I hope you enjoyed them and I hope if you got a calendar, you enjoyed it too.

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Before I left for the Mission Trip, I agreed to photograph the graduation of the Boone Area Humane Society’s Dog Obedience Class for Kio. Here are some of my favorite images from the experience:

Guess I’ll see you in 2020. Happy New Year’s Eve if you’re the type that celebrates. I believe I have successfully escaped being invited to a New Year’s Eve Party for like at least the 10th straight year!

Animals, Calendar, Equipment, Flowers, Macro, Naima, Photoshop, Railroad, State Fair, WPC - Reminder

Week 225 Theme Reveal

December 30, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Today I reveal the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar images for September and October.

September

The September image is of the Union Pacific Big Boy. It was taken a few miles east of Boone, near Jordan. It was taken on August 2, 2019. The Big Boy was on a tour to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

Details

Camera: Sony ILCA-77M2
Focal Length: 28mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure: 1/400
ISO: 100

October

The October image was taken in the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fair. The subject is a monarch butterfly on top of a zinnia. The picture was taken on August 19, 2018.

Details

Camera: Sony ILCA-77M2
Focal Length: 200mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/320
ISO: 400

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If things go right, by the time you read these words I will be somewhere in Illinois or Missouri or maybe even Kentucky on my way back from Orlando, still high from a Cyclone victory of Notre Dame.

Therefore, when I get home from Orlando I will publish all the submissions for last week’s theme CANDID PORTRAIT.

However, just because I’m out cruising through the country, doesn’t mean you should be delayed on starting this week’s theme:

HDR!

HDR! What a great theme! Wait a second. What the Hades is an HDR image?

Okay, so this is the one that I was pretty sure would end the double digit submission streak. If the holidays didn’t end it already, but CANDID PORTRAIT is a pretty easy theme especially when, is there a better CANDID PORTRAIT opportunity then little kids opening presents on Christmas morning?

But none of that answers the question what is an HDR image? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Here is a great explanation from Digital Trends:

HDR stands for “high dynamic range.” For those who aren’t so acquainted with this high-tech shutterbug lingo, dynamic range is basically just the difference between the lightest light and darkest dark you can capture in a photo. Once your subject exceeds the camera’s dynamic range, the highlights tend to wash out to white, or the darks simply become big black blobs. It’s notoriously difficult to snap a photo that captures both ends of this spectrum, but with modern shooting techniques and advanced post-processing software, photographers have devised ways to make it happen. This is basically what HDR is: a specific style of photo with an unusually high dynamic range that couldn’t otherwise be achieved in a single photograph.

The best way to think of it is several pictures taken at different exposure levels, combined to create one image.

How the hades am I going to do that? Well, it isn’t as hard as you think. Pretty much every camera (including your phone camera) has a setting that will do this for you automatically. For example on my Pixel 2:

I can turn off and on HDR. Or even enhanced HDR. Look under you camera settings, you can find it there too.

You can also try to get fancy and take individual pictures yourself and try combining them yourself. You can even use an HDR toning program to create an HDR image from just one image.

As you can see, this isn’t an intimidating theme at all. You can literally take a picture of anything, as long as you change a setting on your camera before you take the picture.

It is almost too easy!

Animals, Boone County Fair, Calendar, Contests, Flowers, Macro, Running, Shannon

July/August Reveal

December 29, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Today we reveal the images that graced the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar for the months of July and August.

Here is the July image:

July

The July image was taken of the Pig Races held at the Boone County Fair in 2018. I took this image for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, Page 77. The theme for Page 77 was “Instill a powerful sense of narrative in your picture.” It was selected to be entered in the Boone County Fair Photo Contest by Shannon Bardole-Foley. It earned a Purple Ribbon. It was taken on July 22, 2018.

Details

Camera: Sony ILCA-77M2
Focal Length: 50mm
Aperture: f/5
Exposure: 1/2000
ISO: 250

The August image:

August

The August image is of a yellow lily that lives in the lily patch that surrounds the old clothesline pole in my backyard. I nominated this picture for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the Nature category, but it did not get enough votes to be entered. It was taken July 14, 2018.

Details

Camera: Sony ILCA-77M2
Focal Length: 60mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/200
ISO: 100

Tomorrow I will reveal the imagees from September and October.

Animals, Black & White, Boone County Fair, Calendar, Candid Portrait, Contests, Event, Geri, Iowa State, Jaycees, Jesse, Music, Nature, Road Trip

2009-08-05

December 28, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Today we reveal the images for May and June from the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar.

The May Image:

May

The May image is of the Dunning Spring waterfall in Decorah, Iowa. Jesse and I took a road trip to check them out and to photograph them as my birthday road trip. I entered this picture in the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon, but it was not selected for display. In fact, the picture that was selected for display is not in the 2020 calendar. It is the September image for the 2019 calendar. This picture was taken on May 17, 2019.

Details

Camera: Sony ILCA-77M2
Focal Length: 20mm
Aperture: f/18
Exposure: 1/2
ISO: 50

The June Image:

June

If you think it was weird that there was a picture from 2013 in the calendar, then this one will really mess with your head. This black and white image of a swan was taken at Lake Laverne on the beautiful campus of Iowa State University. I came across it when during our Saturday walks down memory lane as I restore old entries of “An Artist’s Notebook”. I liked it and I decided to throw it into the collection of nominees for the pictures I would enter in the Boone County Fair Photo Contest. I didn’t expect anybody to pick it, but Logan did. It won a Purple Ribbon. It was taken May 10, 2006.

Details

Camera: Konica Minolta Dynax 5D
Focal Lenght: 300mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/500
ISO: 200

Tomorrow we’ll reveal the images for July and August.

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The pictures in the folder 2009-08-05 are from the last Ames Jaycees event I ever attended. It was at that point just a formality. I had joined the Ames on the Half Shell Committee, therefore I was going to fulfill my duties. The moment that last not of the Ames on the Half Shell season faded from existence, I was Audi 5000.

Now that you have sat through several entries about my ill-fated time with the Ames Jaycees, I think you, loyal reader, deserve an explanation for why it came to an end.

I joined the Ames Jaycees for two reasons. First, a friend asked me to join. This person, we will refer to as “1”, was like 1000% into the Ames Jaycees. Her passion was somewhat contagious. I was also doing her a favor because recruiting a new member made her like a 33rd degree Mason. I don’t know, the inner workings and rankings of the organization were something I never cared about. Even when I was at my peak Jayceeness. Which I’m guessing was about January of 2009. my passion for the Jaycees was about a 5 on a scale of 1-10.

By March of 2009, I knew that that my time with the Jaycees was over, but I also knew, I would finish out the Ames on the Half Shell. I was a quitter, but I always finish out my commitments.

In January of 2009 I joined the Board as a Vice-President in some capacity. VP of Promotions or something like that. All it really meant was that I ran the website and had to go to an extra meeting a month. Which was okay, even though I am a person that to their very core, loathes meetings.

Which brings me to the other reason I joined the Jaycees. I needed an excuse to leave my house now and again. This provided that. I didn’t realize it would put so much undesired drama into my life.

The Board was split into basically two factions. There were 1’s friends, who were also all 1000% into the Jaycees. The other half of the boardroom was dominated by the President and his cronies. The President was apparently buggering one of the vice-presidents, which wasn’t cool because he was married, but not to the vice-president he was buggering. I can’t even recall how this even factored into the story, but it provided me with a chance to use the term buggering.

The President and the VP he was buggering didn’t like one of 1’s friends, we will call her 2. I think it was because 2 knew about the buggering, but I don’t know that to within a degree of certainy. What I do know is that what happened next is that the Buggered VP accused 2 of some creative accounting involving some kind of Halloween drinking outing that involved the Jaycees.

One reason why I was a 5 on the Jaycees at my peak Jayceeness was that they like to talk about drinking. I don’t mean they liked to drink. They liked talking about drinking. You know that thing that high school students and college students do when they drink, they can’t stop talking about it. “Look at me I’m drinking.” Yeah, nobody cares. Shut up and drink your Zima Chad.

This is all hypothetical at this point. I haven’t been around a high school student or college student that is drinking alcohol, since I left the service of the Evil Clown Empire, but I’m sure it hasn’t changed much. Other than, I assume that nobody drinks Zima now. White Claws?

But I digress…

The charges were at least 76% hokum that stemmed from some kind of personal grievance with 2. Plus, there might have been a bit of a power play in there. A chance to show dominance. A chance to show that the Buggered VP wasn’t the President, but she was still running this beach.

I think there was some kind of trial. Not really, it was really just one person’s word and then there was some kind of vote. 2 got sent to Jaycee prison. I think she wasn’t allowed to touch money for a year.

Almost as soon as the sentence was handed down, 1 and all of her friends resigned. Grabbed their Jaycee ball and went to Nevada and Des Moines. That left me alone. Like I said, I was a 5. In January. at this point, I was a 3. Even at a 3, I was willing to stick around and fight for the soul of the Ames Jaycees. When the people who were at a 1000% were like deuces and checked out, I was like make that 3 a -2.

The funny thing is that after everybody else left, 2 stuck around. I’m not sure if I respect that or not. Maybe I’ll have to talk to her about it someday.

I fulfilled my obligations and haven’t been to a Jaycee event since. I sometimes see them at the unofficial reunions and I chalk this up as a life lesson. I don’t leave my house now.

(This is how I remember everything going down, I’m sure some of my details aren’t 100% accurate, but if you are going to complain about that, you can bugger off.)

If you want to look at the pictures from the 2009 Ames on the Half Shell season, you can click on the link below:

Ames on the Half Shell – 2009

Next Saturday’s walk down Memory Lane will involve things I grew in my backyard.

Alexis, Animals, Calendar, Candid Portrait, Drone, Iowa State, Kanoa, Mom, Nature, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Page 123

December 27, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Today we will reveal the March and April images from the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar.

March image:

March

The March image was taken at the Harrier Marsh near Ogden. It was taken of the not best maintained gravel road that splits the marsh into two. It is taken from a drone. This image was taken on April 13, 2019.

Details

Camera: Hasselblad L1D-20C
Focal Length: 10.3mm
Aperture: f/7.1
Exposure: 1/800
ISO: 100
Altitude: 284.6 meters above Sea Level

April Image:

April

The April image is a yellow bird (that I have yet to identify) enjoying the cherry blossoms of one of my cherry trees. This image was taken on May 14, 2018.

Details

Camera: Sony ILCA-77M2
Focal Length: 400mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/500
ISO: 320

Tomorrow we will reveal the images for May and June.

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Here it is, the end of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. You didn’t think I’d ever get there, did you. Wherever I am when this publishes (probably in Tennessee is my guess), I will be drinking a steaming hot cup of coffee. Cause coffee is for closers. As of today, I am a closer!

Just kidding. Coffee is gross and I won’t be touching that trash. If there is any silver lining to be taken from man made climate change, it is that coffee is one of the first things that will stop growing. Bye-bye coffee. You won’t be missed.

Back to my Trevor Hoffman moment. This is the last page from THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

Phew! Thanks to everybody that will appear on one of the pages of the physical photo journal that sits on my coffee table:

DaeHee Yoon
Nora Yoon
Kyle Sharp and some random wrestler from Perry
Saydie Howard
Micky Augustin
Naima
Elainie Hernandez
Sabas Hernandez
Willy McAlpine
Logan Kahler
Brandon Kahler
Nader Parsaei
Ernie Redd
Russell Kennerly
Greg Wever
Jason Baier
Andree Jauhari
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Mike Vest
Jesse Howard
Joe Lynch
Johnathan Stensland
Autumn Sharp, Emily Bridges, Kassidy, and Myriah Sharp (I think)
Layla Gorshe
Kalista Howard
Taylan Howard
Tiffany Bloomquist
Doris Paris
Charlotte Bennett
Jay Janson
Anders Runestad
Alexis Stensland
Kanoa Baugher

If you wish to see all 105 pictures taken for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, click on the link below:

THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT

So, what is next? I hinted that I was going to tack a new photo project next year. There is a new project. In 2020 I’m going to tackle a book called “104 Things to Photograph”. There are 52 weeks in a year, there for I plan on taking 2 pictures a week.

The themes in this book are not nearly as ambitious as the themes in THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Here is an example of some of the themes:

Jumping Rope
A Belly Laugh
Peeking
A Neon Sign
Siblings
What’s in your Pocket

I’m sure I’ll be calling on many of the people that appeared in THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT and I’m sure I’ll be calling on many other people as well. Stay tuned.

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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is CANDID PORTRAIT:

CANDID PORTRAIT

A CANDID PORTRAIT is a picture of somebody that isn’t posing for a picture. They can know that you are taking their picture, but they aren’t posing for the picture.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Black & White, Calendar, Contests, Drone, Flowers, Logan, Macro, Naima, Railroad

Sky

December 26, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Today we will reveal the January and February images for the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar.

The January image:

January

The January image was one of the earlier pictures I took with the drone. It was taken for the TRANSPORTATION theme of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. The image is of the original Kate Shelley High Bridge and the less pleasing aesthetically bridge that replaced it. This image was taken February 23, 2019.

Details

Camera: Hasselblad L1D-20C
Focal Length: 28mm
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/160
ISO: 100
Altitude: 420.3 meters above sea level

The February Image:

February

The February image is of a pink hollyhock that grew in my backyard. This photo was elected by popular vote to be entered in the Nature category of the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. It won first place in that category. This picture was taken August 6, 2013.

Details

Camera: Sony SLT-A35
Focal Length: 60mm
Aperture: f/9
Exposure: 1/160
ISO: 400

We will reveal the March and April images tomorrow.

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Back in March Logan got a dog. A dog named Sky. He brought it over to my house so Sky could meet Naima. Here are a few pictures of Sky:

I don’t know that I have seen Sky since this day. It would seem that Logan should correct that.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Calendar, Christianity, Flowers, Macro, Nature, Night, Photoshop, Road Trip, Ruins, State Fair, Willy

2019 Photography 139 Calendar

January 2, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Yes Virginia, there was a Photography 139 Calendar this year. However, I didn’t sell them this year. I just made a small run and gave them out to a very few small group of select people.

Here are the pictures from the 2019 Photography 139 Calendar:

The front cover is a picture of William McAlpine peering through the hole in a brick. It was taken in the backyard of the Photography 139 Studio. It was taken for the FRAMED theme of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

This photo was entered into the 2018 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. It was accepted for display.

Willy is the first person to appear in a Photography 139 Calendar since the 2012 Calendar featured a final rendition of THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT that included images of AmyJunck-Wallendal, William McAlpine, Derrick Gorshe, Shannon Bardole, Jesse Howard, Jennifer Gorshe, Sara Junck, Jill Gorshe, and Jay Janson.

The January image was taken on a very foggy Christmas Eve morning. It was taken facing northeast from the road in upper Ledges State Park.

This image was entered in the 2018 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. It was selected for display.

The February image of a red hibiscus was taken in the Photography 139 Flower Garden in 2017.

Unfortunately, the hibiscus did not survive the winter and did not return to the Photography 139 Flower Garden in 2018.

The March image is of a lily is located in the Photography 139 Flower Garden. It is located in a designated lily patch near the birdbath.

While this macro photo might appear to be one image, it is actually the product of a technique called focus stacking. This image is actually 7 images with different focus ranges stacked one on top of the other.

This photo was nominated for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest, but it lost the popular vote and was not entered.

The April image was taken at The Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa. It was taken on a road trip with my Office Buddy Joe Lynch. It was taken with the in-camera black & white HDR setting.

This image was taken for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. The theme of the image was to go some place “touristy” and take a “non-touristy” picture.

The picture of Mary holding a crucified Jesus was selected for April to coincide with the celebration of Easter.

This image was entered in the Photoshop category of the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. It won 1st Place.

The May image is of the sculputre Skallagrim by Peter Lundberg. Skallagrim is located in the Franconia Sculpture Park near Shafer, Minnesota.

I took this photo on a trip there with Bethany, Dae Hee, and Nora.

The image is HDR toned and is used as the base image for a Small World image.

The June image was taken on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. It was taken on the Liberty Bowl Road Trip I took with Russell Kennerly and Jesse Howard to watch the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Memphis Tigers.

The image was originally taken in color and was transformed into black and white in post production.

The July image is of a hollyhock from the Photography 139 Studio Flowerbed. This pink hollyhock grew in the dedicated hollyhock patch along the north fenceline.

This macro image was taken while experimenting with a new set of extension tubes.

This image was nominated for the flower category for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest, but was not entered.

The August image was taken in the midway of the Iowa State Fair. It was taken for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. The theme of the picture was to take a picture of something that is “nondescript during the day.”

The image was taken when I was able to sneak away during a break in the action of Baby Got Rack’s competitive barbecue competition.

The image was HDR toned in post-production.

The September image was taken of a grasshopper at Big Creek State Park near Polk City, Iowa. The image was taken for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. The theme for this image was to create a playlist and listen to it while taking pictures. The playlist I selected was the BABY DRIVER SOUNDTRACK. I was listening to the song “Bongolia” by Incredible Bongo Band when I took this image.

The October image of a ram lounging was taken in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The image I was taken on the way home on a road trip I took with my Mom to Mount Rushmore.

This image was voted to be entered in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the Nature Category.

The November image was taken at the Iowa State Fair in the Discovery Garden. It was originally taken in color and converted to black and white in post-production.

It was nominated for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the Nature Category, but it was not entered.

The December image of an abandoned dump truck was taken in Boone, Iowa near the south terminus of Division Street.

The image was color processed through the Color Efex Pro 4 plugin during post production.

The image was nominated for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the Hidden Treasures of Boone County category, but was not entered.

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There are a few calendars to handout, but for the most part delivery has finished. Almost on time this year.