Category Archives: Drone

Animals, Contests, Drone, Nature, State Fair

Iowa State Fair Photography Salon Results

August 18, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The Iowa State Fair is almost over. While this publishes I should be at the Iowa State Fair having recently picked up the photos I entered in this year’s Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. They’ll be nice and packed up. Ready for the trip home. Ready to be placed in the Photo Contest Trunk. Although at this point, there are actually two Photo Contest Trunks.

Since you can no longer wander around the Photography Salon looking for my picture it is time to reveal the pictures I entered and which one got in…

Iowa State Fair Photography Salon Entry - 2019

Not accepted for display.

Honorable Mention

Not selected for display.

So every year is different and you never really know what the judges will like from year to year (this year, they were really into clowns and setting steel wool on fire), which is why it makes it one of the most difficult and most prestigious contests in the country. People from all over the United States enter it. Which is rare. For example, the photo contest at the Minnesota State Fair doesn’t even allow people from outside of Minnesota to enter it.

It is an accomplishment to get one picture in.

3169 pictures were entered.
757 pictures were exhibited.
207 received ribbons.
1714 Adult color pictures were entered.
313 were exhibited.
476 Adult black and white pictures were entered.
154 were exhibited.

This is the first time in years where I didn’t enter a flower or black & white picture. I’ll need to correct that next year.

The hardest category to get a pictured exhibited was Color Plants, Flowers & Trees. Only 13% of entered pictures were exhibited.

Finally there were 15 photographers that entered from Boone County.

I suppose I should start making plans for next year’s contest. Getting caught up on the backlog would probably be a good start.

Drone, Photo Journal, Still Life

A Photo Journal – Page 20

June 25, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

A couple weeks back when I went up to Kamrar to celebrate my birth I brought along Rodan139 because I felt it was the right tool to photograph what I thought would be a perfect subject for Page 20 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.

As it turned out, it worked out just fine.

Page 20 – Make something big look small.

While Rodan139 was prowling the skies of Kamrar, I snapped a few more photos:

I’m gonna get this project finished yet!

Black & White, Drone, Jay, Jesse, Nader, Panorama, Railroad

Rodan139 – Kamrar

June 4, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I recently went to Pickles in Kamrar with Jesse, Jay, and Nader to celebrate my birthday. I packed up my camera and Rodan139 because I intended on knocking out a couple of needed photos on the trip.

#1. I wanted get my GROUP PHOTO image for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.
#2. I wanted to take a picture for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.

Since I forgot to pack a tripod, I ended up taking the GROUP PHOTO with Rodan139. I also was able to knock off my THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT photo as well. However, while Rodan139 was prowling the friendly skies of Kamrar, I took a few pictures that don’t fit into either category.

Have a look:

Earlier in the day I went to see the new GODZILLA movie with Brandon and Nader. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I feel the portrayal of Rodan in the movie was less than flattering. The made him into a bit of an iris. It almost made me regret naming my drone after him. Brandon even suggested that I should rename the drone, but I’m holding out hope that Rodan will rebound and man-up in a future Godzilla movie.

Andy, Angie, Animals, Carla, Drone, Formal Portrait, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Nader, Naima, Self-Portrait, Steph, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 194 – GROUP PORTRAIT

June 3, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

GROUP PORTRAIT turned out to be surprisingly popular. When I woke from my slumbers this morning, about 15 minutes after arriving at the computer mine, I had only received 2 submissions. I thought there was no way we would get to double digits for submissions. But as the morning unfolded, a ton of submissions came flying my way. As it turns out, GROUP PORTRAIT is a very popular theme!

The Photography 139 Empire was all over the place this week. From the Dominican Republic to Grand Central Station to Canada to Colo to Kamrar!

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

Tamara Peterson

Stephanie Kim

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Andy Sharp

Micky Augustin

Michelle Haupt

Angie DeWaard

Mike Vest

Carla Stensland

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

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:

PARK

PARK! What a great theme! But what is a PARK image? Simply enough, it is any picture taken at a PARK. There are all sorts of PARK(s). There are nature preserve PARKS(s). There are playground PARK(s). There are amusement PARK(s). There are even PARK and rides. The word PARK also has more than one meaning. I look forward to your interpretations!

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. 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

Congratulations to Jennifer Schoff! She is the latest person to show taste, class, and sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ve actually known Jennifer’s kids longer than I’ve known her and she is the person that does most of the heavy lifting for me on the mission trip preparation work. If you see Jennifer out and about, give her a knowing glance and feel free to teach her the super, secret Photography 139 handshake.

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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 parked Monday.

Black & White, Drone, Nature, Panorama, Railroad

Rodan139 – Fraser

May 30, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

On Sunday before May Movie Night/Grill-out, I went out by the Fraser Spring to fly Rodan139. My original intention was to take a picture for the aerial photography class of the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. However, I didn’t really love any images I got enough to enter them in the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. I still definitely am entering the aerial photography category, but I’m going to use a different image.

The lighting was harsh on Sunday, the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad wasn’t running the steam engine and there was never quite the image that I wanted. I will be back for the image I want though. Oh yes, I will be back.

However, even though I didn’t get the picture I drew up in my head, I still got quite a few images that I like. Here they are:

That concludes all of the drone picture I currently have. Not sure when Rodan139 will be flying again, but there is a good chance it will be this weekend.

Christianity, Drone, Panorama, Road Trip

Rodan 139 – Small Church

May 29, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

When Jesse and I went on my pre-birthday road trip to Decorah I packed Rodan139 with me at the thought that I’d be able to crack it out someplace along the road trip.

While Decorah and two waterfalls were the ultimate purpose of the road trip, I also thought that if we were super efficient, we might even be able to hit Pike’s Peak before coming home.

No shocker, we weren’t super efficient. We spent a long time at a Civil War reenactment that we stumbled upon. To further complicate things, it rained almost the entire day and Rodan139 doesn’t leave the nest in rain.

On the way home, we stopped at The Small Church near Festina and Rodan139 got to spread its wings for a few minutes.

Here are a few of the pictures I took:

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Small World

Rodan 139 – Don Williams

May 28, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

A month or so ago I took Rodan139 out to Don Williams to do a little drone photography. There was no crash or anything that was anything that even remotely resembled a crash, but there was a weird issue where my phone kept disconnecting from the drone.

It wasn’t an issue because the controller never came disconnected, but it was a cause for some concern. However, after going through everything having taken Rodan139 from several flights since then, I have figured out it was a phone issue and I have since corrected it.

Here are some pictures I took on my weird trip to Don Williams:

More pictures from more flights still in the hopper!

Andy, Angie, Boone FUMC, Candid Portrait, Carla, Drone, Holidays, Jodie Cue, Shannon, Steph, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 193 – BLUE

May 27, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

First things first. Even though Photography 139 doesn’t take days off, it does acknowledge holidays. I hope you have had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, but also take the time to remember why it is you got a 3 day weekend. To honor the people who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Happy Memorial Day!

As is usual when a holiday falls on Monday, participation rates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE dip. While this happened again today, the people who did submit for BLUE were very passionate about BLUE.

There were pictures submitted that were taken in Rome, Philadelphia, Saylorville, and even Fraser!

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

Andy Sharp

Carla Stensland

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Angie DeWaard

Andy Sharp

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Stephanie Kim

GROUP PORTRAIT

GROUP PORTRAIT! What a great theme! But what is a GROUP PORTRAIT? A GROUP PORTRAIT is simply any portrait that features more than one person. It doesn’t have to be a formal posed portrait. A candid portrait works just as well.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 grouped Monday.

Christianity, Drone, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Photo Journal, Road Trip, Self-Portrait

A Photo Journal – Page 104

May 23, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Friday I took a birthday road trip with Jesse. It wasn’t my birthday, but it was the day before my birthday and I knew my actual birthday was going to be filled with working on my Mom’s bedroom ceiling and graduation open houses. So I took Friday off from work and Jesse and I hit the open road.

The ultimate goal of the road trip was to visit and photograph two waterfalls in the Decorah area. I had visited one of them a couple years back and I was never really satisfied with the photographs I took. The other waterfall I had never seen and it sounded very intriguing as it was described as a 1 mile hike to even get to it.

I have tons of photos of these two waterfalls coming in upcoming blog posts. Also pictures of a Civil War re-enactment with some of the “friendliest” folks you ever met in your life, plus a few new entries into THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, pictures of The Little Brown Church, and The Smallest Church.

Plus there is a bunch of video I’m going to edit into a vlog at some point. On this trip I fully intended to take a picture for Page 104 of The Photo Journal. I knew exactly how I wanted to take this picture. I wanted to take it with Rodan139. Unfortunately it rained pretty much all of the day and I wasn’t risking Rodan139 in rain. It isn’t supposed to fly in rain and at this time, I’m not going to push the boundaries.

Luckily, when we were at The Smallest Church, the sky was precipitation free and it fit my definition of the theme for Page 104:

Page 104 – Keep walking until you are lost. Take a photograph the moment you realize you are lost.

Now we weren’t lost, not in the traditional sense. I knew where we were, but I didn’t know the fastest way to get back on the path home without pulling up the GPS. That is as lost as I get. We didn’t walk to The Smallest Church, but seriously, there is zero chance I’m ever going to get lost walking. My sense of direction is just too good.

The Littlest Church is sometimes billed as The World’s Smallest Church, but it isn’t. It isn’t even close. However it is very small. The church seats 8 people and measures 14′ x 20′.

Animals, Bethany, Black & White, Drone, Equipment, Flat Earth Joe, Naima, Nature, Video

Naima Takes Dickcissel

May 8, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Dipping into the backlog again. This post finishes off all of the backlog from May of 2018! WooHoo!

It once again draws on a consistent theme. Me taking pictures of Naima at Dickcissel Park.

You might be wondering why I took so many of these pictures last year. The reason is because I spent a considerable part of 2018 trying to get the perfect picture of Naima running at the camera. Ears in the air. Tongue sticking out of her mouth. Silly dog smile on her mug.

I also had an obsession with getting a picture of her in the water. From underwater. But that is a project that will continue into 2019, I do believe.

Here are some more Naima pictures:

Gotta keep hammering away at that backlog!

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Also, since the purchase of the drone, I’ve decided to start actually adding some content to my YouTube channel. In the past, the YouTube channel has only really existed so I could like other YouTube videos. Over it’s 10+ year existence, I’ve only uploaded like 30 videos.

That will hopefully change in the coming months. ‘

I recently put up my first “test” video. It was mostly a test of if I could figure out how to do it. I’m not particularly good at video editing and it shows in this video. What also shows is how terrible I am at sound recording.

I hope my video editing skills improve. We’ll see about the sound recording skills. Actually I have no choice but to improve on sound recording. You’ll see when you watch the video.

So below, checkout this YouTube video I made on DJI Mavic 2 Pro Quickshots with Bethany as the guinea pig:

If you don’t subscribe to my YouTube channel, please do because when I hit 100 subscribers, I can customize my channel’s URL. In the future, there will be more drone videos and I have plans for more videos revolving around the birthday present I’m giving to myself.

Also, a big shoutout to Joe who is helping me with video editing. The video is edited with an open source video editing program called OpenShot.