Category Archives: Drone

Alexis, Birthdays, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Dad, Drone, Grandma, Jason, Johnathan, Kanoa, Logan, Mom, Nature, Panorama, Still Life, Teresa, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder

Rodan139: Water Alternate

September 25, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start today off by wishing my Mom a happy birthday. Without here, none of this would be possible. Not only would I never exist, she also bought me my first camera. A Minolta Maxxum 450si.

Happy birthday Mom!

It hope is as amazing a birthday as you want it to be!

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I went to Ledges on Sunday morning to take my WATER picture for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I took several pictures. Here are some of the others I took that weren’t ready for the world on Monday.

I hope to take Rodan139 out again this weekend. On Tuesday I came off a self-quarantine from a potential exposure from a previous Sunday. As it turns out, I wasn’t exposed, so good news for the friendly skies!

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This is your reminder that STILL LIFE is this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:

A STILL LIFE image is a picture of an inanimate object. Usually posed.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Becky, Carla, Dad, Drone, Elizabeth, Kim, Kio, Micky, Nature, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 262 – WATER

September 21, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Can you believe it? 51 straight weeks of double digit submission! 1 week short of a full year of double digit submissions! WooHoo!

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

ELIZABETH NORDEEN

ANDY SHARP

CARLA STENSLAND

MICKY AUGUSTIN

TAMARA PETERSON

CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

BECKY PARMELEE

CARLA STENSLAND

KIO DETTMAN

KIM BARKER

CATHIE RALEY

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:

STILL LIFE

STILL LIFE! What a great theme! But what is a STILL LIFE photo? A STILL LIFE photo is any image of an inanimate object. Usually one that you have posed, but not necessarily. From this week, Elizabeth, Kio’s, and Kim’s photos are excellent examples of STILL LIFE.

Here is a look back at the 7 previous times STILL LIFE was a WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme:

RWPE #25 – STILL LIFE

RWPE Y2 #10 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 12 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 61 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 127 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 184 – STILL LIFE

WPC – WEEK 214 – STILL LIFE

A look forward to 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 still Monday!

Drone, Football, Naima, Panorama, WPC - Reminder

Rodan139: Goeppinger Field

September 18, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Friday Andy wanted me to come to the Boone High football game and take a few photos. I wasn’t really ready to be in a crowd that large yet. Then, he suggested I bring the drone out and take a couple of photos. Now strictly speaking, that isn’t 100% legal for a couple of reasons. However, I considered doing that because drone laws make very little sense and I’ve already taken quite a few “illegal” flights.

However, it rained pretty much all day Friday and then poured Friday night. The drone is many things, but waterproof definitely isn’t on the list. In fact, you aren’t really supposed to fly it where it can get wet at all.

I spent Friday glued to my couch watching COBRA KAI. It was the wise decision at the time.

I intended to get up early Saturday morning and go out to the High Trestle Trail Bridge to take a flight, but that never really happened. However, I did take a quick flight over Goeppinger Field to take some photos. Nobody is playing obviously, but it was a good scout flight.

If you look closely at the panoramas, you can see Jesse’s garage and Scottie D.’s house. Other stuff too.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is WATER:

WATER

A reminder that a WATER photo is any photo where WATER is a major element of the composition.

Happy photo harvesting!

Drone, Mom, Nature, Panorama, Railroad, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, Teresa, Vacation

Rodan139: Mines of Spain

September 16, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 11 Comments

I suppose I should report on how I did on my vacation goals from last week:

1. I want to visit 5 state parks I have never visited. Including Mines of Spain and Preparation Canyon.
I DIDN’T EXACTLY HIT 5 STATE PARKS. BUT I DID HIT 3 STATE PARKS AND 2 STATE FORESTS. SO I’M COUNTING THIS IS AS A WIN.

2. I want to add at least 20 new signs to THE TOWN SIGNS PROJECT. A project I’ve mostly ignored this year, despite the fact that this would have been a good year to work on it.
I BELIEVE I GOT 21 OR 22 NEW TOWN SIGNS. SO ANOTHER WIN.

3. I want to finally meet Jen and Derrick’s dog.
I NEVER EVEN CONTACTED THEM. MY FAULT, BUT I’M LEERY TO ENTER THE COVID DRENCHED TOWN THAT IS AMES. PLUS I’M PRETTY SURE THAT DERRICK’S PHONE DOESN’T WORK.

4. I want to finally tackle those POSTCARD PROJECT pictures that I have put off for like 3-4 years now.
I TACKLED ABOUT 5 OF THESE. SO WIN.

5. To play with a new lens I hope to purchase between now and then, but the verdict is still out on what new lens I’m going to purchase.
OH YEAH. DEFINITELY PLAYED WITH THAT LENS. PROBABLY A REPORT ON THAT LATER THIS WEEK.

6. Take some near full moon photography. The next full moon is September 2. Which is a Wednesday. But I figure there will still be plenty of moonlight left on September 4.
ANOTHER FAIL. IT WAS TOO CLOUDY ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY TO TACKLE THIS. AFTER THAT, THERE WASN’T ENOUGH MOON. NEXT FULL MOON IS OCTOBER 1. THAT IS A THURSDAY, WHICH ALL OF A SUDDEN IS SEEMING LIKE A REAL GOOD REASON TO HAVE A 3 DAY WEEKEND.

4 out of 6, I’ll consider that a success. There were a couple other failures out there, that weren’t stated goals. I wanted to go to Pike’s Peak State Park, but I cut my Monday road trip short because Naima hurt her leg the night before, so I felt it was best to get back early to check on her condition. She might have been milking it as she seemed fine by 8 PM Monday night. But probably not.

I also wanted to take Rodan139 out to the High Trestle Trail Bridge again, but it rained about every day of my vacation. So that didn’t happen. It’s all good though.

I did make accomplish my number one goal from the week though. That was visiting Mines of Spain. I was originally going to do this on Tuesday, but I ended up going on Labor Day so that Teresa and my Mom could go. I didn’t want to get stuck in a State Park with a ton of people, plus I wanted to get there with some good soft morning light. This meant leaving at 5 AM. My sister and Mom didn’t seem to understand that I was serious about this, until I showed up at their door at 4:55 AM.

I’ll go into more details about that trip later, but here are some pictures from Mines of Spain taken by Rodan139. Mostly at Horse Shoe Bluff, but also around the Julien Dubuque Monument:

I will definitely need to visit this park again. I considered this a good scouting trip, but now I have more ideas of how to best drone photograph the park.

Drone, Nature, Panorama

Pixel 3 Test Flight

September 9, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Monday, I took Rodan139 out for a quick flight in Ledges to test it with Teresa’s spare phone. I wanted to use her spare phone for a potential road trip I was planning for Labor Day. That way I could save the battery on my old timey Pixel 2 for other road trip fun times. Like the Snapchat or the Instagram or for GPS type stuff.

The spare phone did work masterfully. Here are some pictures from Rodan139’s test flight:

I don’t know if there is anything particularly special in this collection, but some of them are not without merit.

Black & White, Drone, Nature, Panorama

Morning in America

September 2, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday morning I was able to take get up at the crack of dawn and drive down to the High Trestle Trail to take Rodan139 on a flight around the Des Moines River Valley. Well, we didn’t go much around the valley as a I was pretty cautious with flying it there, since it was our first flight in that area.

Here are some of the pictures from the flight:

If anything, I need to leave my house even earlier next time. Although as we quickly approach the fall, sunrise keeps getting later and later. Sunset keeps getting earlier and earlier.

I’m 95% sure one of these pictures will grace the pages of the 2021 Photography 139 Calendar.

Christianity, Drone, Flowers, Panorama, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder

It’s Hard for Me to Weep When I’m Strong

August 28, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

When I went out in the middle of nowhere Boone County to fly the drone around an old country church to take my RELIGION picture for last week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I took several photos. Some of the church. Some of the little park across the road. Some of the windswept fields of the nearby farms.

Here are some of the pictures I took on the drone flight:

It's Hard for me to Weep When I'm Strong

Hopefully I can get Rodan139 out this weekend too.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is FLOWER:

FLOWER

A FLOWER picture is any picture that involves a FLOWER.

Happy photo harvesting!

Carla, Cathie, Drone, Flowers, Jodie Cue, Kio, Macro, Panorama, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 258 – RELIGION

August 24, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

47 STRAIGHT WEEKS! 47 straight weeks of double digit submissions! This week even includes the first, the second, and the third ever submission by local legend Kio Dettman! Glad to have you onboard Kio. Hopefully is just the beginning of great things!

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

Jodie Cue

Christopher D. Bennett

Jodie Cue

Kio Dettman

Jodie Cue

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson

Cathie Raley

Carla Stensland

FLOWER

FLOWER! What a great theme! But what is a FLOWER picture? A FLOWER picture is simply a picture of a FLOWER or anything that is used in the raising of a FLOWER.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 flowery Monday!

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Ruins

Derecho Gamma

August 18, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

On Saturday morning before breakfast I took the drone out to take some pictures of the “Stop Eminent Domain Abuse” semi trailer and the Luther grain bins. It was very peaceful and quiet. I might have to make this a Saturday morning tradition. Gets me off the couch and more active on Saturday mornings. Plus early morning is a good time to take the drone out There aren’t many people. The lighting is usually okay and there isn’t usually much wind. I might have to go out to the High Trestle Trail Bridge this Saturday. Depending on how late of a Friday night I have.

Probably one more post with derecho damage in the future, but we will see. Some of this damage isn’t going away any time soon.

Andy, Bill, Carla, Drone, Kim, Macro, Micky, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 256 – TRANSPORTATION

August 10, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Made it! 45 straight weeks of double digit submissions! Once again, I didn’t even have to send out a single reminder text this morning!

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

Kim Barker

Micky Augustin

Tamara Peterson

Carla Stensland

Bill Wentworth

Christopher D. Bennett

Andy Sharp

Cathie Raley

Shannon Bardole-Foley

MACRO

MACRO! What a great theme! But what is a MACRO photo? A MACRO photo is basically a closeup image of some object. For example, the reveal photo is a picture of a wash cloth. Now there is a technical definition of macro that involves 1:1 on a negative, but you don’t need to worry about that. You just want to be get close to an object as you can with the camera equipment you possess.

I look forward to seeing your submissions!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 close Monday!