Category Archives: Flowers

Personal Photo Project of the Week #48

I’ve finally distributed almost every last 2011 Photography 139 Calendar. Allow me to explain what images were used and I will include the briefest of notes on the pictures.

This year, the calendar was a little bit more of an adventure than usual. The printer from the last two years baled on me. I couldn’t find the kind of paper that I have used the last couple of years. The paper I used was too thick to duplex. In the end though, it all came together and a perfectly acceptable calendar has been produced.

Here are the pictures:


2011 Calendar - Front Cover
Front Cover

This picture was taken at the Iowa State Fair. I like to photograph one of the flower gardens at the Iowa State Fair every year. I have to confess to being a little disappointed with the garden this year, but I have no doubt it will be back to its full glory in 2011.


2011 Calendar - January
January

This picture was taken in my backyard. It is actually connected to the August picture. I purchased a bouquet of flowers for the August photo. Then I waited for the flowers to die and photographed them for the January picture.


2011 Calendar - February
February

I found this frog in my favorite frog finding spot – Lost Lake in Ledges. He was surprisingly brave for coming from a race of creatures that are notorious cowards.


2011 Calendar - March
March

Sara was with me when I took this picture down in the Papajohn Sculpture Garden. This is the only picture in the calendar that was taken with the aid of a photo assistant.


2011 Calendar - April
April

This lonely farm scene can be found between Boone and Ames on US30. There is a secret to how this picture was produced, but Photoshop isn’t that secret.


2011 Calendar - May
May

Even though I drove to Pella in a rainstorm to photograph their tulips, I found my best tulip picture in my Grandma’s front yard.


2011 Calendar - June
June

On a road trip with Mom and Teresa to State Center, I must have taken at least 300 pictures of roses, but it was this picture of a rose leaf that stood out as the most memorable image of the day.


2011 Calendar - July
July

I visited a couple different wild daisy patches, but the daisy image that made the calendar was found in my Mom’s yard. It was my belief that after “The Solace of Ordinary Humanity”, I couldn’t possibly take a better daisy picture, but I took camera in hand to photograph daisies to figure out a birthday present for Jill.


2011 Calendar - August
August

This is the only image from the Random Weekly Photo Experiment to make the calendar. This picture was taken in the middle of the Winter with a daisy bouquet. This image is hanging in Kelly’s salon – Salon 908.


2011 Calendar - September
September

This picture is meant to be parody. Nobody else in the world will understand that, but believe me, it is meant to be parody. This is also the only picture in the calendar that is manipulated by Photoshop in a meaningful way. This hibiscus grows in my Mom’s yard.


2011 Calendar - October
October

In retrospect, I’m not sure this picture belongs in October, but it is too late now. This picture was taken near the sewage treatment center in Boone. I hope that doesn’t take some of the romance away from it.


2011 Calendar - November
November

I photographed this lily in my Grandma’s flower garden. She planted so many lilies that she wasn’t sure what colors were even going to come up.


2011 Calendar - December
December

This is a picture of my Grandma Bennett’s Bible.

I have only 1 stated goal for the 2012 calendar. There will be a picture of an iris in it. Jen’s favorite flower is the iris and it is the one flower that I can’t figure out how to photograph. I will meet my adversary head on this year and 1 of us will fall.

Proust No. One

In case you don’t remember, the answers to these questions only reflect my experiences in the year 2010.

Proust Quote:

“Love is a reciprocal torture.”

Confessions Question:

Your favourite colour and flower:

Confidences Question:

My favourite colour.

and

The flower that I like.

Proust’s Answers:

The beauty is not in the colours, but in their harmony.

and

Hers/His -and after, all of them.

My 2009 Answer:

Proust Questionnaire Number Three

On this day I don’t have a favorite color. As a child my first favorite color was green.  Then it was blue.  Then it was red.  Then it might have been black. Then I realized having a favorite color was such a silly concept.  All colors have their purpose and favoring one color over another is just madness. As Proust answered, the beauty is not in the colours, but in their harmony. I can’t beat that answer.

I also don’t really have a favorite flower.  I’m partial to the flowers that I grow in my yard.  Marigolds are easy to grow. I take great pride in my patch of moonflowers. I was extremely pleased with my dahlias. My lilies were striking and I hope to create a lily patch behind the garage next year. I was very pleased with my moss rose. I enjoyed by gerber daisies to no end.  I was saddened that my patch of daisies didn’t take off this year, but I have great faith that they will come back with a vengeance in 2011. But I can’t pick a favorite flower.

Like last year, I can pick my favorite flower pictures from 2010:


WEEK 24 - COLORFUL - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
RWPE #24 Colorful

Inferiority Complex - 2010
Inferiority Complex Alternate


Soul Oxygen

WEEK 4 - PLANTS - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
RWPE #4 – Plants


The Girl in the Blue Skirt Redux Alternate

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2010
The Girl in the Blue Skirt Alternate

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2010
The Girl in the Blue Skirt

The Best Place to Seek God

The Best Place to Seek God

The Best Place to Seek God

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2010
The Girl in the Blue Skirt Alternate

Weekly Photo Challenge Plant Alternates
RWPE #4 Alternate

Where it Got Its Life

The Yard

Well-Shaped Girl
Well-Shaped Girl

Personal Photo Project #23 Alternate - Well-Shaped Girl

Inferiority Complex
Inferiority Complex

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2010

Even Though We Love It
Even Though We Love It

Minnesota Vacation Pics - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

The first person to correctly answer this trivia question (in the comments section of this website) gets to pick the next question of the Proust Questionnaire that I answer.

Trivia Question:

Whenever Christopher D. Bennett goes to a buffet, what does he get to eat with his ice cream?

RWPE #41 – Dry

Here are this week’s submissions for DRY:


WEEK 41 - DRY - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 41 - DRY - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 41 - DRY - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 41 - DRY - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

Dawn’s poetry submission:

Dry

The wind blows through the Sahara of my mind
I’m reaching out but now your love’s gone blind
It took so long to reach my heart’s turning point
Now it lies in your hands not to disappoint

My garden is ready now to grow and bloom
The weeds have died and my heart has made room
Please don’t say your love is withered and dry
Let’s tend our flowers and let our love grow high

So I’ve been to the treehouse where the Random Theme Generator or RTG as his friends call him where he spends his sabbaticals. I put a coin in the slot. Pulled the handle. RTG spit out the following excellent theme for this week:

SHADOWS

I’m very excited for this theme. I think there should be many good exceptions. After all, everybody has a shadow.

RWPE #40 – Odd Camera Angle

Last week’s theme ODD CAMERA ANGLE worked up the creative juices of more people than I was expecting. That makes me even more pumped for next week!


WEEL 40 - SHANNON BARDOLE - ODD CAMERA ANGLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 40 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 40 - JULIE JOHNSON - ODD CAMERA ANGLE
Julie Johnson

WEEK 40 - DAWN KRAUSE - ODD CAMERA ANGLE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 40 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

Dawn’s poetry submission:

Odd Angle

You may say that I’m a cynic
that I should visit a clinic
or maybe that I judge too much
but sadly life has made it such

Maybe I’m a little jaded
Personality has faded
But it’s what’s hidden deep inside
that I can’t continue to hide

Perhaps I’m more aware these days
overly cautious with my ways
To watch a world falling apart
It’s time now for a brand new start

Only 12 weeks left in this humble experiment. Only 12 Themes left. It is probably time to consider whether or not this little project will return for another 52 weeks. Leave your feedback on this quandary in the comments section of this entry.

If you are pro RWPE Year 2, feel free to also leave suggestions for possible Themes for next year.

I’ve been out to the woods where the log cabin that protects the Random Theme Generator is protected from the elements. I adjusted its solar panels. It caught a glimpse of the sunlight, powered on and spit out the following theme for this week:

DRY

An interesting theme. I hope this is a theme that continues to fire the imaginations of those that entered in the past and those that wish to enter for the first time in the future.

State Fair Trip 2 – Collection 2

Here are a few more pictures of my trip to the State Fair.

Last year I had only 1 goal and that was to see The Blue Band. Instead of getting to see The Blue Band I was nearly killed on a midway ride and spent the rest of the night trying not to vomit up my innards. This year I was able to see The Blue Band.


Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010
Nader’s First Turkey Leg

Iowa State Fair - 2010
A Happy State Fair Memory

Iowa State Fair - 2010
The DNR Building – One of my favorite buildings.

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010
I would consider putting a pond in my yard, just so I could have water lilies.

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010
Nader wanted his picture taken with the Story County flag.

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010

Iowa State Fair - 2010