I’ve finally gotten around to having another Formal Portrait Sunday. I don’t take many formal portraits, so I don’t have many of these. This one though is dedicated to some pictures I took of Elainie and Sabas from a few months back.
Here are some of my favorites:
Still plenty more pictures from this photo shoot to share in the future!
It’s not the end of the world
It’s not even over, but it will be soon
I never learned my lessons, I just changed my tune
And no one seems to notice
But you will, you willIt’s no big deal
But the last thing I think of when I close my eyes
And the first thing on my mind when I arise
It is a day and you’re not really in my lifeYou can try and you won’t find it where you’re looking
You can hold it till it’s putty in your hands
And you can’t break a heart that wasn’t even yours to break
You can never be there for me in the end
And I will do the right thing
I will, I will, I will
I will, I will, I will
Thursdays are for flowers. And this flower collection was taken at the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fair on the same day that Baby Got Rack dominated the barbecue competition.
You know I love flowers. You know I love flowertography. You know I love Brandi Carlile (in fact just paid $230 to go see her in concert with Sara and Shawn). You can probably guess I love the song “I Will”.
However, I can’t publish a post with the title “I Will” without mentioning the “I Will” that is most important to the Cyclone Family.
If you don’t know, the stadium where Iowa State plays football in the only major football stadium in the country named for an African-American. It is named for Jack Trice. Jack Trice was the first African-American to play football for Iowa State.
Trice was an Iowa State student of animal husbandry and a member of the Cyclone football and track and field teams. He suffered severe injuries in his second collegiate football game and died in Ames on Oct. 8, 1923. He was 21.
Before his last game, he wrote the following letter to himself at his hotel:
To whom it may concern:
My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life. The honor of my race, family, and self are at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will! My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about on the field tomorrrow. Every time the ball is snapped will be trying to do more than my part.
On all defensive plays, I must break through the opponents line at (sic) stop the play in their territory. Beware of mass interference, fight low with your eyes open and toward the play. Roll block the interference. Watch out for cross bucks and reverse end runs. Be on your toes every minute if you expect to make good.
~ Jack
His I will! Has become an important rally cry for Iowa State University. 2023 is the 100 year anniversary of Jack’s death. The university is honoring his legacy with an art installation, changing a street name to Jack Trice Way, a lecture series, art exhibition, and the team will wear throwback uniforms at a home game in the upcoming season.
For more information on Jack Trice and how Iowa State is honoring him, visit: https://jacktrice100.com/
Also, you know I have more flower pictures to share!
It is the first day of 2023. I’m not really a “resolutions” person. Pastor Adam was on vacation today so we had a substitute seromizer in church this morning. He gave an impassioned, longwinded sermon on resolve. It took more than a bit of my resolve to stay awake during the longest sermon these ears have heard in quite sometime.
But if I were to take the words on resolve to heart, I would say that I’m not without goals. Last year my main goal was to complete THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. I did that.
My main goal in 2023 is to complete Phase 2 of THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT and put the book together. I should be freeing up sometime to work on that buy dropping a couple of photo projects that I did in 2022.
My second goal in 2023 is to begin work and complete my new photo project. Details are still foggy, but it is to create Boone postcard. Not a bunch of Boone postcards. Not even to print up a bunch of one Boone postcard. But to make one big image of one Boone postcard. While the end goal is one image, it will involve taking at least several hundred (probably thousand) images. It will make more sense when I get going on it.
My third goal in 2023 is to keep the positive momentum that was achieved in 2022 in participation rates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I’m not likely to go out and beat the drums looking for participants, but doesn’t mean you guys can’t. Right?
My fourth goal in 2023 is to consider and maybe take action on visiting and photographing every State Park in Iowa.
That seems more straight forward than it actually is because in addition to State Parks there are State Forests and State Preserves and State Recreation Areas. Boone County contains 3 Minor State Forests alone! We will see where this one goes, but we all know I could use the exercise.
I don’t have any goals related to the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. That type of stuff is a considerable amount of luck. So best not to have goals that are out of one’s hands. Maybe my goal should just be to give my best effort.
Hopefully 2023 is a good year for all of us!
Time to share the December images for the FatMumSlim Photo A Day Challenge. This is also the final collection of images as I will be dropping this pursuit in 2023. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it still eats up a fair amount of time. Hopefully time freed up that I can use to pursue some of those 2023 goals.
Here are the December images:
December 2 – I Bought This!
December 3 – Starts with T
December 4 – I Held This
December 5 – Something Red
December 6 – Peace
December 7 – Tree
December 8 – Looking Up
December 9 – Small
December 10 – Out + About
December 11 – Free Choice
December 12 – Lights
December 13 – Something Green
December 14 – Decoration
December 15 – A Star
December 16 – Candy Cane
December 17 – A Hat
December 18 – I Made This!
December 19 – Joy Is…
December 20 – Begins with S
December 21 – On the Floor
December 22 – A Gift
December 23 – A Tradition
December 24 – Someone I Love
December 25 – My Day
December 26 – This is Delish
December 27 – Colourful
December 28 – A Book
December 29 – Us
December 30 – How I Relax
December 31 – Best Part of 2022
Top 9 Most Popular Images
I did enjoy this project and I’m not walking away from it because I didn’t enjoy it. I “met” numerous other people in this community that I will continue to follow, like @bea.photoaday, @sara.fms.photoaday, @outnbout, @gerkgirl, @pink_koffie, and @lostfate13.
But there were other things I didn’t like. Most people used the challenge to curate images, rather than take new images every day. The person that ran the challenge is Australian. That meant that a lot of the prompts were seasonal for Australia, meaning they weren’t seasonal for Iowa. Prompts repeated an awful lot. Not that they wouldn’t after 365 days, but I felt like they repeated more than necessary.
These minor complaints aside, I would consider doing it again in a future year. Just not this year. I’m sure many of you have minor complaints about how I run THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE as well.
Time to reveal the January image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.
I took this picture while harvesting the town signs of Appanoose County for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. It is the lighthouse at Lake Rathbun. I wish I could come up with a good reason why I picked this image for January. Some images needed to be slotted into months that I don’t have a connection with. I don’t have a real strong connection with January. The main reason this image ended up being in January is because with the clouds it looks cold. January is a cold month. At least in Iowa. This is a cold image. Sometimes in the cold (weather and life) you look for any port in the storm. A lighthouse is such a port.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: May 11, 2022 – 3:09 PM
LENS: Sigma 17-28mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 17mm
APERTURE: f/8
EXPOSURE: 1/500
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS: +.3
FIELD OF VIEW: 93.3 degrees
HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE: 1.20m
Tomorrow I will reveal the February image.
While 13 images make the calendar, I always consider several other pictures. This year, I gave at least a cursory thought to 103 images. I have never shared the pictures that didn’t make the calendar, but I thought, why not?
Here is the first collection of images that were considered, but not included in the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:
I can’t claim that because these images were rejected for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar, that it doesn’t mean one or two of them couldn’t show up in a 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. I still have two more collections of calendar rejects to share.
Back in June I went to the Red Bull Soap Box Derby in Des Moines. Nathanial was competing and I wanted to check out his team, but truth is I probably would have went even if I didn’t know anybody that was competing. It was some kind of scene.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:
I don’t know when or if the Soap Box Derby will come back to Iowa, but I would definitely go again!
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is WATER:
WATER! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a WATER picture? Simply put, a WATER picture is a picture where one of the major compositional elements is WATER or related to WATER. For example, in the them reveal picture is a WATER tower. The picture doesn’t necessarily have to include straight WATER. But can be something that is WATER related. Or a picture of something that contains WATER.
Happy photo harvesting!
In case you hadn’t heard, Iowa State clinched the 2022-23 Cy-Hawk Series last Friday night when the Cyclone Swimming and Diving team beat the Hawks 156-144. Iowa State currently holds a 13-6 lead with 3 events left to go. Iowa State beat Iowa in Soccer, Volleyball, Football, Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Cross Country, and Swimming and Diving.
It’s a CYCLONE State for the 2nd straight year! I mean, it is always a Cyclone State, but for the 2nd straight year, we have scoreboard.
I must have been sleeping, I must have been drinking,
I haven’t been dreaming about you for years. there was a sharp
Turn and a sunburn I was too cool for high school that year.Must have have been new years. no one invited you,
Took things too far but I missed you and your antics.
You were lonesome and blue-eyed and so special to us.You could have taken a long break
Instead of a long drop from a high place.
Ten years I never spoke your name.
Now it feels good to say it. your my friend again.
-Brandi Carlile
Thursdays are for flowers! This collection of flower pictures was taken on August 14 in my yard.
Still more flower pictures left in the hopper. Not a never ending supply, but still plenty more.
Tonight is the night of the big Iowa State/Iowa women’s basketball showdown. This is probably the most anticipated game in the history of the series. Many thought it would be a Top 10 showdown, but Iowa has dropped more games than anticipated. However, Iowa is still #16 in the country. Iowa State is #10. They were #8 the previous week. Played one game. Won by 50 points. Dropped 2 spots.
If you love basketball, you should watch this game. It is one of the few games you can watch this early in the season that will feel like an NCAA Tournament game. At the very least, it should be intense and exciting.
Tip off is at 6 PM. It will be televised on ESPN2.
If you aren’t overly familiar with women’s basketball, you will be overwhelmed how much the announcers will talk about Caitlin Clark, Iowa’s star guard. They will talk about her 90% of the broadcast. At least.
So here are a few things to know, that the ESPN broadcast won’t cover:
+ Iowa State is the higher ranked team.
+ Iowa State made it farther in the NCAA Tournament last year.
+ Iowa State beat Iowa last year.
+ Ashley Joens is an also an All-American.
+ Ashley Joens is also her conference’s pre-season Player of the Year.
+ Caitlin Clark will at some point hit about a 35 foot 3 pointer. It will be impressive. She shoots less than 33% from 3 point range. That is less than impressive. She also averages 5 turnovers a game for her career.
+ Emily Ryan is also an all-conference point guard.
+ Lexi Donarski is also an all-conference player and the Defensive Player of the Year in her conference.
+ Stephanie Soares was the NAIA Player of the Year the last two seasons.
I’m not bagging on Caitlin Clark. She is a great player. She singlehandedly beat Iowa State 2 years ago. She could do it again this year. Just don’t let the ESPN coverage blind you to the fact that she isn’t the only great player on the court.
Several months back I tooled around Delaware County harvesting their town signs. This is the first collection of images from that trip and they were all taken in Manchester:
While in the Manchester Water Park, I looked down and saw that I was pretty close to standing on a snake. It was one of two time that this happened while I was working on THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. This time, it did freak me out a little bit since water snakes are actually pretty aggressive. But it didn’t want a piece of this. It just slithered into the river and swam away.
There are plenty more pictures from Delaware County left to share.
Taking a Formal Portrait Sunday off to share November’s Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge images. Only one month left for this challenge as I’m not going to continue it into 2023. I think I’ve kind of run my course with it.
Here are the November images:
November 2 – A Book Cover
November 3 – A Shop Front
November 4 – A For Sale Sign
November 5 – A Bridge
November 6 – A Fence
November 7 – I Didn’t Make This
November 8
November 9 – An Unmade Bed
November 10 – Power Lines
November 11 – An Arrow
November 12 – In My Pocket
November 13 – A Closed Sign
November 14 – A Flock of Birds
November 15 – Hand Shadow
November 16 – Running Water
November 17 – Wrinkles
November 18 – An Empty Table
November 19 – Rocks
November 20 – Afternoon Light
November 21 – Half Full
November 22 – Graffiti
November 23 – An Ugly Food
November 24
November 25 – A Spiderweb
November 26 – A Funny Shape
November 27 – A Splash
November 28 – Something Hidden
November 29 – A List
November 30 – A Family Member
Here is the list of the December themes:
December 1 – I Love This!
December 2 – I Bought This!
December 3 – Starts with T
December 4 – I Held This
December 5 – Something Red
December 6 – Peace
December 7 – tree
December 8 – Looking Up
December 9 – Small
December 10 – Out + About
December 11 – Free Choice
December 12 – Lights
December 13 – Something Green
December 14 – Decoration
December 15 – A Star
December 16 – Candy Cane
December 17 – A Hat
December 18 – I Made This!
December 19 – Joy Is…
December 20 – Begins with S
December 21 – On the Floor
December 22 – A Gift
December 23 – A Tradition
December 24 – Someone I Love
December 25 – My Day
December 26 – This is Delish!
December 27 – Colourful
December 28 – A Book
December 29 – Us
December 30 – How I Relax
December 31 – Best Part of 2022
Seems like a pretty good list. I think I’ve already done some good work this month!
I don’t know that November was a particularly active month for me. It is getting to the hardest part of the year to do this project. The sun isn’t up when I go to work. It is barely up when I get off work. That being said, I think I took a few decent picture in November for THE SELFIE PROJECT:
November 3
November 4
November 5
November 6
November 8
November 9
November 10
November 11
November 12
November 13
November 15
November 17
November 19
November 20
November 21
November 22
November 23
November 24
November 25
November 27
November 28
November 29
I don’t know that I’ll be that active in December either. But I’ll try.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ANIMAL:
ANIMAL! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is an ANIMAL picture? Simply put it is a picture of an ANIMAL. It can be a wild ANIMAL or it can be a pet or it can be a stuffed ANIMAL or it can be a statue of an ANIMAL. It can be a dog or a bird or a squirrel or a fish or a lizard or a dog or a deer or a possum or a dog or a hamster or a rat or a dog or a bear or an alligator or a dog.
Happy photo harvesting!
On the 6th day of the Iowa State Fair I spent the morning competing with the award winning barbecue team Baby Got Rack. After we finished the competition and collecting the spoils of victory, they went home and I hung around the Iowa State Fair for a few more hours with Monica and Graham.
Here are some pictures from the afternoon:
I also went to the Iowa State Fair on the last day of the fair. A collection of pictures from that day are still forthcoming.
