Category Archives: Macro

Andy, Animals, Carla, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jodie Cue, Kim, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Naima, Photoshop, Shannon, Tamara

WPC – WEEK 205 – FLOWER

August 19, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Much to the chagrin of floraphobes like Russell Kennerly, FLOWER proved to be an exceedingly popular theme. Possible the most submissions ever for one theme in the 6 year history of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

There is even a first time submission from Elizabeth. At the Computer Mine there is a Photo Bar across from the kitchen. Every year there is something of a “photo contest” to get employee photography up. I think there is 12 or 14 pictures that go up. Elizabeth got 2 pictures selected for display this year. Which shocked me because I didn’t even know that Elizabeth took pictures. A self-described Ansel Adams was right under my nose and I didn’t even know it. This week was her first submission, but I hope that it won’t be the last.

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

Christopher D. Bennett

Jodie Cue

Kim Barker

Michelle Haupt

Jodie Cue

Tamara Peterson

Jodie Cue

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Monica Henning

Andy Sharp

Micky Augustin

Carla Stensland

Monica Henning

Elizabeth Nordeen

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:

RED

RED! What a great theme! But what is RED photo? A RED photo is any photo where the subject is RED or where RED is significant to the photo.

There were no ideas submitted for themes for Year 7 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, so next year you guys will be totally at my mercy. I’ve already selected the 52 themes and randomized them. Hooray me!

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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 red Monday!

Animals, Black & White, Flowers, Macro, State Fair

Iowa State Fair 2018 – More Flowers

August 15, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Here is the balance of my flower pictures from my trips to the Iowa State Fair in 2018:

I have one last collection of 2018 Iowa State Fair backlog pictures coming your way.

Animals, Flowers, Macro, State Fair

Iowa State Fair – 2018 – Flowers

August 14, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

As I continue to try and catchup with my 2018 backlog, this collection is of pictures of flowers I took at the Iowa State Fair in 2018.

At is long established that one of my favorite parts of the Iowa State Fair is the Discovery Garden. That is where most of these pictures were taken.

I have another collection of Iowa State Fair flower pictures on the way!

Animals, Black & White, Boone County Fair, Contests, Flowers, Jesse, Logan, Macro, Michelle, Monica, Shannon, State Fair

Boone County Fair Photography Contest Results

July 21, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Now that the Boone County Fair is winding down and my collection of Boone County Fair Photography Contest entries are bagged up and safely stowed in one of the now TWO trunks that archive my past photo contest entries, I can release the results to the general public that didn’t make it to the Boone County Fair this year. A fair that I can safely say if Family-Friendly Fun & Entertainment, Right here in Central Iowa! I would dare say that this year’s fair was “Picture Perfect”.

Here are my submissions, along with who selected them for entry and the result:

Purple Ribbon – Logan Kahler

Blue Ribbon – Michelle Haupt

Red Ribbon – Monica Henning

Blue Ribbon – Jesse Howard

Purple Ribbon – Shannon Bardole-Foley

A reminder that I do have one picture that will be displayed at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. I don’t know what it is, but I will find out at the Photographer Reception here in a couple weeks. I’ll release that photo at the conclusion of the Iowa State Fair on August 18.

There is still good seats available to join me at the Iowa State Fair on August 18. But they are filling up fast!

As for the last photo contest I enter this year, the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. I will again be selecting my entries by poll. I will be putting that poll together in the next couple of weeks. So stay tuned to this station. Information will be forthcoming!

Flowers, Macro, Photo Journal

A Photo Journal – Page 34

June 27, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

At the same time that I took the photos for Page 35 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, I took the photo for Page 34.

Page 34 is the reddish page of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. This is what it looks like:

When I looked for a color to go with the red page, I decided to go with a more analogous color scheme, rather than a complementary color scheme like I did for Page 35.

Here is the picture that will be on Page 35 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL:

Page 34 – Take a picture that looks beautiful against this colour.

While that picture will be physically adhered into the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL, but I did take more pictures.

Another page down! Quite a few still to go…

Flowers, Macro, Photo Journal

A Photo Journal – Page 35

June 26, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

A few weeks back I spent quite a long time reading about complementary color theories. Basically trying to figure out what colors are supposed to look good with other colors (almost in the context of framing) and my research almost made me think that really all colors go together. No matter what the fashion mags might tell you.

For example colors that are complementary look good together. Those are colors that are the exact opposite on color wheels. Colors that are analogous go together. Those are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. The next theory is the triad. The triad says that colors that are evenly spaced on the color wheel go together. Then there is split-complementary. This theory says that in addition to the color that is opposite the color on the color wheel, the 2 colors adjacent to the opposite color also complement the color. I’ll just leave rectangle and square alone for now, since you are probably pretty confused by now.

In this respect, I decided to shoot for at least complementary colors when I decided to tackle Page 35 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Page 34 and 35 actually. These pages are the only pictures in THE PHOTO JOURNAL that aren’t white. They are colored and the assignment is to “Take a picture that looks beautiful against this color”.

That means nothing to you without seeing the pages for yourself, so rather than coming to The Photography 139 Studio and seeing the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL, I’ll publish a picture below:

Here is the picture that will be physically adhered in the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL:

Page 35 – And this.

I took a few other pictures that I think work with the blue page:

I think I might be able to finish this project up by the end of July, but there are a couple of pages left that I know I’m going to have to secure a model or two to complete. I might just come hit you up on that.

Animals, Flowers, Macro, Naima

Talking About Them Hocks

June 18, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

More from that 2018 backlog. More flower pictures from my backyard.

Last year I had a resurgence of hollyhocks. I hadn’t had any for a couple years, but in 2018 they came back with a fury. In 2019 I’m going to have a few hollyhocks, but nothing like 2018.

Also a few lily pictures in this collection:

All of this week, will probably be 2018 backlog.

Flowers, Macro, Nature, WPC - Reminder

Misc. Flora

June 14, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Hitting the 2018 backlog. Here are some pictures of flowers, all from my yard that I took on June 10.

The roses are just starting to bloom now, but I didn’t have any daisies this year. Daisies seem to be an unreliable flower, but the weather has also been crazy this year.

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

TREE

A TREE picture is any picture that involves a TREE or a TREE byproduct.

Happy photo harvesting!

Black & White, Boone FUMC, Candid Portrait, Jodie Cue, Macro, Photo Journal, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Page 21

May 31, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

This week I knocked out Page 21 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. I took one of the rubber dinosaurs I seem to have in every room of the house.

Page 21 – Make something small look big.

While only one picture can be adhered into the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL, however I took a couple other rubber dinosaur pictures that I like:

There are 20 pages left in the Photo Journal Project left to photograph. Gonna keep hammering away!

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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is GROUP PORTRAIT:

GROUP PORTRAIT

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Candid Portrait, Flowers, Macro, Naima

Happy International Workers’ Day

May 1, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Happy International Workers’ Day! Also, sometimes known as May Day and one of the few holidays I haven’t heard some humbug grouse about how it is a fabricated holiday forced upon us by the greeting card cartels.

On this International Workers’ Day, remember the old parable about how the world works:

A billionaire, a worker and an immigrant are sitting at a table with 1000 cookies. The billionaire takes 999 cookies and says to the worker, “watch out, that immigrant is going to take your cookie.”

On this day, I wish to share a few pictures from the 2018 backlog that I took when I was experimenting with focus stacking. Here are a few leftover images that weren’t involved in focus stacking:

Look at that face!

Don’t think I don’t know that Naima is spoiled. But the record will show that I am by far, not the only person to spoil her.

I also realize that Naima poses better for pictures with other people that she does with me. I might start an Instagram account for Naima where she is getting pictures taken with people other than me.

An idea that was recently born when she posed perfectly for a selfie with Brandon’s lady friend KJ. Something she will next to never do with me.