Category Archives: Nature

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 117 – WATER

WATER. That was the theme. Here are the submissions:


WEEK 117 - WATER - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 117 - WATER - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 117 - WATER - ROBYN AUGUSTIN
Robyn Augustin

WEEK 117 - WATER - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 117 - WATER - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 117 - WATER - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 117 - WATER - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 117 - WATER - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 117 - WATER - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 117 - WATER - SARAH KARBER
Sarah Karber

WEEK 117 - WATER - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

A solid week of submissions!

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:


WEEK 118 - FLOWERS
FLOWERS

FLOWERS! What a great theme! A tough one to handle in the final days of fall, but not impossible. There are flower shops. Fake flowers. Poinsettias. Heck! If anything, this theme is TOO easy!

As always, I look forward to your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. 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.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge. 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

Ring the bell! There is a newest member of the ultra exclusive PHOTOGRAPHY 139 EMAIL SUBSCRIBER CLUB! Say hello to Frank Meiners! I’ve known Frank going on 13 years. His server was actually the original host for this here website. The only other thing you need to know about me and Frank is that we are champions. Together.

So if you see Frank walking the mean streets of Ames, feel free to give him a knowing look and teach him 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 flowery Monday!

I Ain’t No Hogback Girl!

As me and my friendly neighborhood robocopy scripts make it through the back log, I’ve come across some images from the day I went down to Winterset after some young hooligans burned down one of the famous (or infamous depending on how you feel about “literature”) covered bridges of Madison County.

Here are some of those images:


Statue in Downtown Des Moines

Des Moines Tulip

Des Moines Tulip

Flower

Des Moines Art

Des Moines Art

Des Moines Art

Des Moines Art

Des Moines Art

Shorty's

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Vulture

Vulture

Vulture

Vulture

Vulture

These pictures remind me that I need to get back on that open road some time soon. Very soon!

2018 Photography 139 Calendar

I’m pleased to announce that the 2018 Photography 139 Calendar is now on sale! It will be in stock on December 13th and available for delivery following that date.

The price of the calendar is still $10. A veritable bargain in this climate of rising prices!

I’m sure you are ready to plunk down $10 or $20 or $30 based on the high quality product that has existed in the past. I would gladly take your money, sight unseen, but I would at least like to reveal what pictures are in the 2018 Calendar.

Have a look:


2018 Calendar - Cover
Front Cover

2018 Calendar - January
January

2018 Calendar - February
February

2018 Calendar - March
March

2018 Calendar - April
April

2018 Calendar - May
May

2018 Calendar - June
June

2018 Calendar - July
July

2018 Calendar - August
August

2018 Calendar - September
September

2018 Calendar - October
October

2018 Calendar - November
November

2018 Calendar - December
December

Each picture was aligned with the month it was taken in. Okay maybe a hair of finagling was done at that front… I’ll never tell… Even if the .exif data will.

The calendars are 17 x 11 inches in size when they are open.

If you wish to order a calendar or calendar(s), you may email me at:

bennett@photography139.com

If you live within reasonable driving distance (about 45 minutes from Boone’s Golden Circle) I can hand deliver the calendar free of charge.

If the calendar needs to be mailed, there will be a shipping and handling charge of some kind.

Order fast! Supplies are limited!

Thanks!

Christopher D. Bennett
Photography 139
CDO
Chairman of the Board
President
Vice-President
Director
Superintendent of Invention

Dog Face

I have a considerable backlog of images that I need to edit. Part of the problem is that I edit photos in 2 separate distinct locations and it is often difficult for me to figure out what I have edited in one location, but not the other. I have begun the process of mirroring these images in both locations so that I can actually make real head way on my back log. Plus, it should free up some valuable hard drive real estate in both locations.

Not to bore you with too many details, but the first step in this process involves tons or robocopy scripts AND an external hard drive.

And with that, here are some backlog images of Naima from February.


Bunny Tracks

Naima - February 2017

Naima - February 2017

Naima - February 2017

Naima - February 2017

In addition to trying to get a better organizational grasp on my images that are physically in my possession, I’m also trying to get a better organization to my images that are in the SmugMug Gallery.

While it doesn’t help that effort, it is part of a slight re-design of the website. If you’ve been on the website lately you may have noticed some slight changes.

*The base color remains purple. It will always be purple. However, I got rid of some gold and green accent colors and replaced those with a silver and a light blue.
*I completely replaced the old headers with new headers.
*On the homepage, gone is the slide show of recent pictures added to the SmugMug Gallery. It has been replaced with a slide show of images submitted for The Weekly Photo Challenge.

There are some more changes coming, eventually. I’m looking to re-design every page from the About page to the Products page. I might even add a services page where I quote my prices. Like $75,000 to do a wedding on a Saturday that is an Iowa State home game. I hope you don’t think that prices me out of the market.

Here are a look at the current rotating headers on the website:


Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

Header - 2017

In the end, I hope to add about 15 more rotating headers to the slight website redesign.

Any Photog that Say that they Runnin’ the Game I’mma Come in they Session and Cut Off They Legs, Woo!

The world wasn’t ready for these pictures on Monday, but I can’t hold them back any longer. Here are the alternates for WEATHER:


WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

WEATHER - ALTERNATE

2 of the pictures were taken on Manhattan Hill in Manhattan, Kansas. 1 was taken on Old 30 east of Boone. The rest were taken down by the Des Moines River.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 115 – WEATHER

I wasn’t sure how participation rates would go for WEATHER. Here in central Iowa, the weather couldn’t have been more boring. Which is amazing for this late in November. Plus I’m sure that the holiday didn’t help much either. That being said, it wasn’t a terrible week for participation.

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


WEEK 115 - WEATHER - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 115 - WEATHER - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

A solid week of submissions!

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:


WEEK 116 - PORTRAIT
PORTRAIT!

PORTRAIT! What a great theme! A PORTRAIT is an image of a person, especialy one depicting only the face or head and shoulders. But that is a formal definition. I would say that a PORTRAIT is an image of a being with a soul. So most humans would qualify. All dogs. No cats. A fair amount of horses. Technically this is supposed to be considered more like a formal PORTRAIT. Remember that the following kind of PORTRAITs are still in the hopper:

FACELESS PORTRAIT
SELF-PORTRAIT
CANDID PORTRAIT

That doesn’t mean that any of those don’t qualify for PORTRAIT, but if you have a great idea for one of those, maybe you want to keep it in your back pocket.

As always, I look forward to your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. 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.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge. 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

Nothing new to report. I’ll try to do better next week.

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

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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 portraited Monday!

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE REMINDER – TRANSPORTATION

This is your weekly reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE THEME is TRANSPORTATION!


WEEK 114 - TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORTATION!

TRANSPORTATION! An easy enough theme. Examples of TRANSPORTATION include a car. A train. A boat. A plane. Your feet. Roads. Railroad tracks. These are just the most literal examples.

Here are some examples of TRANSPORTATION photos:


LOSER - TRANSPORTATION

Canvas No. 6

LOSER - TRANSPORTATION

WEEK 67 - TRANSPORTATION - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 67 - TRANSPORTATION - ANGIE DEWAARD 2
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 67 - TRANSPORTATION - BILL WENTWORTH
Bill Wentworth

WEEK 42 - TRANSPORTATION - STEPHANIE KIM 2
Stephanie Kim

WEEK 42 - TRANSPORTATION - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 67 - TRANSPORTATION - KIM BARKER 1
Kim Barker

WEEK 42 - TRANSPORTATION - MONICA KEWER
Monica Kewer

WEEK 42 - TRANSPORTATION - CHRISTOPHER D .BENNETT

Happy photo harvesting!

12-30-07

The pictures from the album called 12-30-07 are more experiments with projection. I might need to get back into that in the near future. It is a good thing to play with when it is -7 out and the sun goes down at 4:05 PM.


12-30-07

12-30-07

12-30-07

12-30-07

12-30-07

12-30-07

12-30-07

12-30-07

12-30-07

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Smugmug Gallery I was able to restore the following blog to original greatness:

YEAR IN REVIEW?

In next Saturday’s waltz down Memory Lane we will make our first dip into 2008 folders. Even though most of the pictures in it were taken in 2007. The pictures will include some Christmasy stuff, a throwback to a sadly dead tradition, and photos of one of the worst humans on earth (yes, almost a worse person than Rudy Giulani).