The second to last Senior Sunday. This is the final collection of photos from Autumn’s photo shoot. These pictures were separated from the rest because they were either taken with the RXOII or Rodan139.
If you want to go back and look at all the Autumn photos, click on the link below:
One last Senior Sunday!
I have been asked how I did my SELF-PORTRAIT for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Well, here is a quick run down.
For starters, I laid a green screen down on my driveway. Then I took Rodan139 357 meters above sea level and set the camera to take time lapse pictures every 10 seconds.
Then I tried a few poses:
But I ultimately decided on this pose:
Since I had Rodan139 out, I went ahead and took a couple pictures of the nearby water tower:
Then I took Rodan139 up to 397 meters above sea level and took a picture straight down:
Next I opened up both images in Photoshop. I cropped the picture of me, so it was only me and the green screen:
After cropping the images, I went to the select menu and chose “Color Range”. Then using the eyedropper tool, I held the SHIFT key while clicking and dragging around all the green area that I need ed to remove:
Then from the SELECT menu, I chose INVERSE.
Then, while holding the SHIFT key, I chose SELECT AND MASK.
From that menu I played with the SMOOTHNESS slider to make the edges of the selection smoother.
When I was satisfied, I selected OK.
Then from the SELECT menu, I chose INVERSE. Then I pushed BACKSPACE to remove the green screen:
Then I copied the selection over to the new background image.
Then finally, I blurred the new background slightly, to make the image look more realistic. This was the final result:
That is it, easy peasy!
I need to start by wishing everybody a happy Memorial Day!
Today is a unique Memorial Day, as we honor both our military personnel that have died in military service and the over 100,000 Americans that have died during the coronavirus pandemic. Hopefully, we will be in a better place in the world next year.
+++++++
Woooo! 34 straight weeks of double digit submissions. I got a lot of feedback from people saying that a SELF-PORTRAIT wasn’t easy for them like it is for me. They aren’t a combination of a young Brad Pitt and a middle-aged Robert Redford. While, I understand that my good looks can be intimidating, it is the fact that I am interesting looking that makes me so dang photogenic, not the fact that I’m so ruggedly handsome.
One person went so far as to send me the excuse that they can’t do a self-portrait, because they only do portraits with somebody holding their neck back. Ridiculous!
That being said, enough people showed the testicular fortitude to get on the other side of the camera for us to eek out double digits again!
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions!
Kim Barker
Dawn Krause
Andy Sharp
Angie DeWaard
Jen Ensley-Gorshe
Micky Augustin
Jen Ensley-Gorshe
Jesse Howard
Carla Stensland
Cathie Raley
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Christopher D. Bennett
Logan Kahler
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:
FRIENDS! What a great theme! I mean for most of you. Seeing how I have been scientifically documented to be the one True Lone Wolf, the man that is an island, this will be a difficult theme for me. I might have to play creepy photographer and find a couple of FRIENDS hanging out and clandestinely take their picture.
For the rest of you, this should be fairly simple. Grab a picture of a couple of your FRIENDS physically distancing, while remaining social.
I look forward to seeing your interpretations!
+++++++
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.
OR
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.
+++++++
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 friendly Monday!
One of the products of all this home times is that I have started up on THE CANVAS WALL PROJECT again. What started as the accent wall in my living room and then turned into the Friend Wall and then became the 9 Emotions Project wall, was turned into the Canvas Wall about 2 years ago. The ultimate goal is to cover at least 95% of the wall with canvas photos.
I recently added 7 more canvases to the wall. These are all smaller canvases that are meant to fill around the doorway that leads to my hallway.
Here are the 7 canvases that have recently been added:
The pictures that have been selected for THE CANVAS WALL PROJECT are meant to be a combination of every day life pictures and my more artistic pictures.
I’m getting pretty close to the bottom of the wall now. The next collection of pictured added to the wall are definitely obstructed, but that is okay. It matter less that they can be seen, and more that they are there.
+++++++
Time to reveal a second collection pictures from the 2019 Howard Family Photo Shoot:
Still plenty more Howards to go!
On Sunday I took Rodan139 out for its first flight of 2020. It was a pretty quick trip. Mostly just up and down. Rodan139 hadn’t taken to the skies since December and I just wanted to knock the cobwebs off.
Plus I had a limited amount of time between when church concluded and when I had to leave to get to Hilton to watch the Ashley Joens and the gang take on the Red Raiders.
Here are a few of the pictures I took:
Hopefully we get some warm weather again when I have more time and I can take to the skies again, soon.
Today is the last day of 2019. Therefore, I will reveal the November and December images for the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar.
November Image:
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:
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.
+++++++
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!
Today we will reveal the March and April images from the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar.
March image:
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:
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.
+++++++
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:
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:
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.
+++++++
This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is 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!
Today we will reveal the January and February images for the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar.
The January image:
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:
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.
+++++++
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.
Merry Christmas everybody! Today is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus!
I believe that is important on this day to remember who Jesus was and who Jesus wasn’t as the Christian church wrestles for its soul. I recently saw a quote that breaks down who Jesus was and who Jesus wasn’t, very succinctly.
“Jesus WAS a radical nonviolent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks; WAS NOT American and never spoke English; was anti-wealth, anti-death penalty, anti-public prayer; BUT was never anti-gay, never mentioned abortion or birth control. Never called the poor lazy, never justified torture, never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes. Never asked a leper for a co-pay.; and was a long-haired brown-skinned homeless community organizing anti-slut shaming middle eastern Jew.”
-John Fugelsang
Another John Fugelsang quote I love is this:
“I’ve come to view Jesus much the way I view Elvis. I love the guy but the fan clubs really freak me out.”
Some of them freak me out to man and I go to church at least twice a week.
On this, the day that we celebrate the arrival of the Messiah, let us remember who Jesus was and celebrate him.
Christ is Born!
+++++++
At this point, I’ve hopefully distributed almost all of my Photography 139 calendars. I feel it is probably safe to start revealing what pictures I choose to include during a frantic Black Friday design session.
This is the front cover:
The front cover image is a picture of water drops on a mirror. The image was converted to black and white and then processed in Photoshop through a technique I like to think that I invented, so I will make a name for it and call it Double Inverse Solarization. This picture was selected by popular vote to be entered in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest in the Photoshop category. It won that category.
More picture reveals in the following days!
13!! Lucky number 13! 13 straight weeks of double digit submissions. With the holiday season, it might be rough getting to 14 straight weeks and I will be in Kentucky next Monday. However, that doesn’t change the deadline. So plan accordingly, this week is a very easy theme!
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions!
Andy Sharp
Becky Parmelee
Jesse Howard
Jon DeWaard
Monica Henning
Cathie Raley
Carla Stensland
Carla Stensland
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Tamara Peterson
Christopher D. Bennett
Micky Augustin
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:
CANDID PORTRAIT! What a great theme! But what is a CANDID PORTRAIT? A CANDID PORTRAIT is a picture of somebody where they aren’t posing for the picture. Now, they can know that you are taking their picture, but they can’t stop what they are doing and pose for the picture. A perfect Christmas theme where there will be lots of family gatherings of people doing CANDID PORTRAIT type things.
I look forward to seeing your interpretations!
+++++++
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.
OR
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.
+++++++
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 candid Monday!
