Category Archives: Nature

Calendar, Drone, Flowers, Macro, Nature, State Fair

Before it Breaks

December 29, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

It is time to reveal the October image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:

October

The October image was taken with Rodan139. It is Oriole Road shortly before it enters Ledges. This picture was taken for Week 371 of THE RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. The theme was LINES. I placed this picture in October since it was showing some of the fall colors of Ledges. I often put pictures of ruins in October, but not this year.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Hasseblad L1D-20c
DATE: October 21, 2022 – 5:17 PM
LENS: 28mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 28mm
APERTURE: f/4
EXPOSURE: 1/120
ISO: 100
SEA LEVEL: 332m

Tomorrow I will reveal the November image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

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Around here, it’s the hardest time of year
Waking up, the days are even gone
The collar of my coat
Lord help me, cannot help the cold
The raindrops sting my eyes
I keep them closed.

But I’m feelin’ no pain
I’m a little lonely and my quietest friend
Have I the moonlight? Have I let you in?
Say it ain’t so, say I’m happy again

Say it’s over, say I’m dreaming,
Say I’m better than you left me
Say you’re sorry, I can take it
Say you’ll wait, say you won’t
Say you love me, say you don’t
I can make my own mistakes
Let it bend before it breaks
-Brandi Carlile

Thursdays are for flowers and this Thursday is nothing different. This Thursday’s flower images were taken on August 16 at the Iowa State Fair:

2023 is almost here and so many more flower pictures to share in the new year!

Animals, Art, Automobiles, Black & White, Calendar, Christianity, Drone, Flowers, Macro, Nature, Ruins, Street Photography, Teresa

I Know that You Loved Before

December 27, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

It is time to reveal the August image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:

August

This picture is of the only fire watch tower in the state of Iowa. It is located in the Yellow River State Forest in northeast Iowa. It is only accessible via forest road. So if you plan on going to see it, don’t take a sedan. That isn’t to say the road is really rough. It doesn’t require a 4×4, but you definitely want something with some ground clearance. It is also basically a one lane road, so if you meet somebody coming the other way, you do need to make some room.

You can not climb up the fire watch tower. There is a fence around it. If you stand near it and look straight up, there is no floor.

I took this picture with Rodan139. There is not necessarily a strong reason for it to be with August. Teresa was with me when I took the picture and she was born in August. However, she never got out of the vehicle. She might have thought what we were doing was illegal. Which it wasn’t. I will let you know if what we are doing is illegal or questionably legal.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

CAMERA: Hasselblad L1D-20c
DATE: June 25, 2022 – f/2.8
LENS: 28mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 28mm
APERTURE: f/5.6
EXPOSURE: 1/400
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS: -.7
ALTITUDE: 363m Above Sea Level

Tomorrow I will reveal the September image of the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

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Time to share a second collection of the 90 images I rejected for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:

I still have one more collection of rejected calendar images left to share.

Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Calendar, Carla, Cathie, Elizabeth, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Naima, Nature, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 380 – EXPLORE

December 26, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

It is time to reveal the July image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:

July

This picture was taken just west of I-35 on Highway 3. I pulled over on my way home from a TOWN SIGN PROJECT harvesting trip to take tis picture. A sunset in a break in the clouds in the rainstorm. It was too beautiful to not to stop and enjoy it.

There is no particular reason this picture was set for July, other than it had to go somewhere. That was a great story.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

CAMERA: SONY ILCE-7M2
DATE: APRIL 23, 7:33 PM
LENS: TAMRON 28-75 f/2.8
FOCAL LENGHTH: 75mm
APERTURE: f/18
EXPOSURE: 1/80
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS: -.7

Tomorrow I will reveal the August picture for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

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It is the last Monday of the month, so it is a good time revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

The short answer is, “no”. Some people think that there is a limit of one submission per person because I only present one submission a week, personally. I have the other 6 days to post my photography. So one is more than enough image from me.

However, the longer answer is, 3 would be a good guide to limit yourself to submit. Some people refer to this as The Kio Dettman Rule. Even though it isn’t a rule, but much over 3 begins to start to overwhelm the submissions of the others in the community. Also, if you are submitting multiple submissions, think about your submissions. Are they unique? Are they of wholly different subjects? Is each submission saying something unique? The goal is NOT to take as many picture for the theme as possible. The goal is to take the best picture for the theme you can, during the week.

The three photo suggestion would better be referred to as The Kio Dettman Suggestion or The Kio Dettman Best Practice.

The long answer is, there isn’t a limit, but 3 is a good rule of thumb. If I start to average about 30 participants a week, I will consider putting a limit of 1 per participant, to help manage my workload, but we are a long ways from averaging 30 participants a week. Although we did hit 30 participants last week, so maybe a hard limit of 1 per person is on the horizon.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Meh. Only if I think somebody is clearly confusing this week’s theme with last week or next week’s theme. Otherwise, if the submission makes sense in your head, that is good enough to me. However, I would urge you to not try to fit your favorite subject into the theme. This isn’t a challenge to share a picture every week of your kid or your business or your pet. It is a challenge to take pictures of different things every week. Which isn’t to say subjects can’t be repeated, but you shouldn’t become reliant on the same ones.

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

I go to lunch at 11 AM. I leave my office. I’m not near a computer. At 11 AM I hit “Schedule” and then I go throw food down my throat. 167 hours is more than enough time to send a submission. Okay, 166 hours and 59 minutes. You got me.

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

I won’t turn down submissions that are too small. I will probably ask you for a picture of greater resolution if it is really small. The typical 4 x 6 image posted to my website has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 853 pixels. While a 400 x 300 image might look okay on your phone, it looks like trash on a computer monitor. I prefer images that are at least 1000 pixels at their largest point, but don’t ban smaller pictures at this point.

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

Suggestions are closed for next year’s list. It will be a minute before they open up again for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

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Was EXPLORE a popular theme or did get shot down in flames by the Ghost of Christmas Present? You will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, December 19, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week
2-Sabas Hernandez – 1 week
3-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
4-Mike Vest – 1 week
5-Sarah Karber – 2 weeks
6-Jesse Howard – 5 weeks
7-Willy McAlpine – 5 weeks
8-Tamara Peterson – 7 weeks
9-Sara Lockner – 13 weeks
10-Brandon Kahler – 18 weeks
11-Linda Bennett – 21 weeks
12-Sarah Toot – 22 weeks
13-Monica Jennings – 23 weeks
14-Angie DeWaard – 26 weeks
15-Dawn Krause – 30 weeks (2)
16-Kim Barker – 36 weeks
17-Joe Duff – 37 weeks
18-Logan Kahler – 39 weeks (2)
19-Teresa Kahler – 48 weeks (2)
20-Carla Stensland – 48 weeks (2)
21-Michelle Haupt – 49 weeks
22-Micky Augustin – 50 weeks
23-Andy Sharp – 51 weeks
24-Bill Wentworth – 52 weeks
25-Cathie Morton – 56 weeks
26-Elizabeth Nordeen – 57 weeks
27-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 59 weeks
28-Kio Dettman – 61 weeks (3)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Andy Sharp – 52 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 27 weeks

Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 53 weeks

Brandon Kahler – 19 weeks

Carla Stensland – 49 weeks

Cathie Morton – 57 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Dawn Krause – 31 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 58 weeks

Joe Duff – 38 weeks

Joe Duff

Kim Barker – 37 weeks

Kio Dettman – 62 weeks

Kio Dettman

Linda Bennett – 22 weeks

Logan Kahler – 40 weeks

Logan Kahler

Micky Augustin – 51 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 50 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks

Sarah Toot – 23 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 60 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 8 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 49 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 6 weeks

Willy McAlpine

23 participants. Not a great week, but it is to be expected, considering a somewhat abstract theme and the Christmas holiday.

I received submissions (assumptions on my part) from Pennsylvania, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas.

I took my picture about 5 miles from my front door.

As you can guess it was a streak bloodbath. Suzie and Vest couldn’t extend their streaks to 2. Sarah’s streak went kaput at 2 weeks. Jesse’s streak ended at 5. 13 wasn’t a lucky number for Sara. Worst of all, Monica’s 23 week streak is gone.

But it wasn’t all bad news. Andy joined the 1 Year Streak Club! WooHoo!

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:

BODY PART

BODY PART! What a great final theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a BODY PART image? Simply put, it is a picture where a major compositional element of the image is a BODY PART. Doesn’t have to be your BODY PART. Could be somebody else’s. It could belong to an animal. There are so many BODY PART(s) to choose from! Heads. Shoulders. Knees. Toes. Just to name a few.

While considering possible subjects for your BODY PART picture, meditate on the following quotes:

Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.
-Cindy Crawford

People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder.
-Salma Hayek

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of BODY PART in this place that consists of lots of my parts put to work next Monday.

Art, Automobiles, Black & White, Calendar, Christianity, Flowers, Iowa State, Macro, Nature, Road Trip, Ruins

If I Looked Like the Other Prom Queens

December 20, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to reveal the January image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

January

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.

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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.

Art, Basketball, Iowa State, Nature, Road Trip

Delaware County Aux. – Vol. 1

December 7, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

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.

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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:

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.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Dad, Iowa State, Nature, Photo of the Day, Politics, Railroad, Still Life

Fat Mum Slim – November 2022

December 4, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

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 1 – A Collection

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!

Black & White, Formal Portrait, Lensbaby, Logan, Naima, Nature, Photoshop, WPC - Alternate

I Wore Makeup When We Dated

November 23, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Today I’m going to share a collection of images that I took for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme BLACK & WHITE, but they didn’t make the cut. As you know, BLACK & WHITE is my first love in photography and therefore will always be a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. And with that statement, now you know 1 of the 52 themes for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. The other 51 will remain a mystery for the time being.

In this collection are pictures of Logan that are similar to the image I ultimately chose as my interpretation of the theme. There are also pictures of Naima sitting on our couch and pictures taken in McHose Park. These pictures were taken back in January as BLACK & WHITE was the first theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. There were 29 other submissions for it.

Here are the rejected:

You might look at the last picture of Logan and be thinking, “Hey, wait a second! That picture isn’t black and white! What is with these shenanigans!”

That picture was originally taken in black and white and then I colorized it with a neural filter in Photoshop. Someday I might cover the neural filters in Photoshop. I’d like to get back to some of the “how-to” posts again in the future. Hopefully I’ll get back to that, someday. But even a fool will tell you…

The swirl effect in the last two pictures of Logan are 100% in-camera effect though. No how to post on that coming though.

Art, Black & White, Christianity, History, Nature, Railroad, Road Trip

Buchanan County Aux – Vol. 3

November 16, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

This is the final collection of auxiliary images I took on my road trip to harvest the town signs of Buchanan County. It is pretty county with plenty of interesting things to see. And not even included in this series of pictures is perhaps the greatest tourist attraction of Buchanan County. Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan in Brandon.

Here is the final collection of images:

Aurora

Lamont

Dundee

Masonville

Quasqueton

Rowley

Two things:

#1. I wouldn’t want to use an outhouse after a sasquatch.
#2. The Rowley Fire and Rescue sign doesn’t fill me with much confidence in their abilities.

The next time we hit the open road for auxiliary pictures from THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Delaware County.

Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Drone, Elizabeth, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Nature, Panorama, Railroad, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 374 – STRONG

November 14, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Thanks to the three people that left ideas for themes for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I am very grateful for your suggestions. I will consider all of them, except for Andy’s last one, which was ridiculous.

So was STRONG a strong theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, November 1, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Evie Gorshe – 1 week
2-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
3-Tamara Peterson – 1 week
4-Mike Vest – 1 week
5-Mary Green – 3 weeks (7)
6-Becky Parmelee – 3 weeks
7-Sabas Hernandez – 4 weeks
8-Jesse Howard – 5 weeks
9-Sara Lockner – 7 weeks
10-Suzie Brannen – 11 weeks
11-Brandon Kahler – 12 weeks
12-Linda Bennett – 15 weeks (2)
13-Sarah Toot – 16 weeks (2)
14-Monica Jennings – 16 weeks (2)
15-Angie DeWaard – 20 weeks (2)
16-Dawn Krause – 24 weeks (2)
17-Kim Barker – 30 weeks
18-Joe Duff – 32 weeks
19-Logan Kahler – 33 weeks (3)
20-Teresa Kahler – 42 weeks (4)
21-Carla Stensland – 42 weeks
22-Michelle Haupt – 43 weeks
23-Micky Augustin – 44 weeks
24-Andy Sharp – 44 weeks (2)
25-Bill Wentworth – 46 weeks
26-Cathie Morton – 50 weeks
27-Elizabeth Nordeen – 51 weeks
28-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 53 weeks
29-Kio Dettman – 55 weeks (2)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Kio Dettman – 56 Weeks

Kio Dettman

Mary Green – 4 weeks

Mary Green

Tamara Peterson – 2 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 54 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 47 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Linda Bennett – 16 weeks

Linda Bennett

Brandon Kahler – 13 weeks

Sara Lockner – 8 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 43 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 21 weeks

Kim Barker – 31 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 5 weeks

Myriah Sharp – 1 week

Andy Sharp – 45 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 52 weeks

Suzie Brannen – 12 weeks

Monica Jennings – 18 weeks

Becky Parmelee – 4 weeks

Micky Augustin – 45 weeks

Carla Stensland – 43 weeks

Carla Stensland

Sarah Toot – 17 weeks

Cathie Morton – 51 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 44 weeks

Joe Duff – 33 weeks

Joe Duff

Dawn Krause – 25 weeks

Dawn Krause

Logan Kahler – 34 weeks

Logan Kahler

26 participants! That is a good week! But a big fall from the 30 from the previous week.

There were submissions this week from (assumptions here) Pennsylvania, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Puerto Rico. My picture was taken about 5 miles from my front door.

There was the first ever submission from Myriah Sharp. Her picture was the one from Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico to be exact.

Elizabeth reached a huge milestone. She is the third person to join the 1 Year Streak Club. WooHoo! Nice work Elizabeth!

But it wasn’t all good times, with good friends, and strong drinks in tropical locations. There was a streak bloodbath. Evie couldn’t extend her streak to 2 weeks. Willy couldn’t either. Vest also, a one week man. Jesse’s streak was snapped at 5 weeks.

COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a COMMUNICATION photo? A COMMUNICATION photo is simply a photo where the subject or a major compositional element shows a form of COMMUNICATION. The theme reveal picture is of a sign that is COMMUNICATIONing that there are rules to using this parking lot. It is for church parking and no overnight parking is allowed. While signs are great at COMMUNICATIONing, there are all sorts of COMMUNICATION. The phone. A letter. A postcard. Talking. Just talking to somebody.

While considering possible subjects for your COMMUNICATION image, meditate on the following quote:

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
-Epicetus

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES
The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of STRONG in this place that is filled with my every day strength next Monday.

*This is not to be seen as any kind of endorsement of astrology, which is complete and utter nonsense.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Christianity, Elizabeth, Flat Earth Joe, Flowers, Iowa State, Logan, Naima, Nature, Photo of the Day, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Still Life

Fat Mum Slim – October 2022

November 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I’m kicking the decision on Formal Portrait Sunday down the road for at least one more week.

I wasn’t necessarily pleased with the overall body of work I put in during September for the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I tried to make October a better month for the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I believe at the aggregate level, I accomplished just that.

Here are the October images:

October 1 – White

October 2 – Black

October 3 – Green

October 4 – Red

October 5 – Orange

October 6 – Blue

October 7 – Yellow

October 8 – Purple

October 9 – Aqua

October 10 – Pink

October 11 – Grey

October 12 – Brown

October 13 – Pop of Colour

October 14 – Stripes

October 15 – Floral

October 16 – One Colour

October 17 – Two Colours

October 18 – Pattern

October 19 – Black and White

October 20 – Rainbow

October 21 – My Fave Colour

October 22 – Matching

October 23 – Natural

October 24 – Dark

October 25 – Light

October 26 – Pastel

October 27 – Bright

October 28 – Gold

October 29 – Fresh

October 30 – Mellow

October 31 – Dots

I should thank Elizabeth, Flat Earth Joe, Scottie D. and Logan for assists on at least one of these pictures for the month. My lack of doing much in October didn’t hurt this project. I will probably have a pretty lazy November as well, but I hope to do some good work this month as well.

Remember you can follow along with this project on the daily by following my Fat Mum Slim Insta:

@fmsbennett

Here are the November themes:

1. A Collection
2. A Book Cover
3. A Shop Front
4. A For Sale Sign
5. A Bridge
6. A Fence
7. I Didn’t Make This
8. Throw It
9. An Unmade Bed
10. Power Lines
11. An Arrow
12. In My Pocket
13. A Closed Sign
14. A Flock of Birds
15. Hand Shadows
16. Running Water
17. Wrinkles
18. An Empty Table
19. Rocks
20. Afternoon Light
21. Half Full
22. Graffiti
23. An Ugly Food
24. A Tall Building
25. A Spider Web
26. A Funny Shape
27. A Splash
28. Something Hidden
29. A List
30. A Family Member

I think there are some interesting themes in there.