Category Archives: Photography

Animals, Calendar

2017 Photography 139 Calendar Cover

2 Comments

I spent the last few days designing the 2017 Photography 139 Calendar.

The design of this calendar is different than the last several years in a few different ways.

1. This isn’t a flower photography only calendar. There are flower pictures, but they are the minority.
2. Gone is all the old ways I lined pictures up with certain months in the past.
3. Each picture is lined up with a month that the picture was taken in. For example, the January 2017 image was taken in January of 2016. December’s picture was taken in December of 2015.
4. The number format is the same as 2016, but I’ve added back some of the “holidays” from calendars past.
5. A price for this year’s calendar has yet to be determined. I haven’t quite figured out how much it cost me to make, but it will probably be in that $10 range again this year.
6. I didn’t include a “title” or location of the pictures, despite people requesting that. I didn’t find away to do it that I liked. Maybe in 2018.

So without further adieu, I present the cover of the 2017 Photography 139 Calendar:


2017 Calendar - Cover
Cover

This picture came from a THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE reject for the theme MACRO. I chose this picture because I decided not to include any portraits or animals on the inside of the calendar, I wanted the cover to include a self-portrait. This is my favorite self-portrait from 2016.

I will have ordering information in a future post. I’m sure.

Art, Baier, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Jeff Daniel, Nader, Street Photography, Yin

Nader Day

A few weeks back I took Nader down to Des Moines for his birthday. We bummed around the downtown area and then met Jeff, Yin, and a couple of Baiers for lunch at Mad Meatball. Here are a few pictures from the bumming around phase of the day:


Nader Day

Nader Day

Nader Day

Nader Day

Nader Day

Nader Day

Nader Day

Nader Day

Shadi

Nader Day

Nader Day

We also randomly ran into Shadi in the East Village. It was a good day. Nader messed around and got a triple-double.

Angie, Becky, Candid Portrait, Cathie, Dae Hee, Dawn, Kim, Nora, Shannon, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 63 – LOVE

1 Comment

There wasn’t as much LOVE in the world this week as one would have hoped. I’ll just hope that when we get to HATE, it isn’t a more popular option. But it is the world that we live in.

But you don’t want to listen to me talk all tommyrot about LOVE and HATE. You want to see the LOVE submissions:


WEEK 63 - LOVE - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 63 - LOVE - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 63 - LOVE - BECKY PERKOVICH
Becky Perkovich

WEEK 63 - LOVE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 63 - LOVE - CATHIE RALEY 1
Cathie Raley 1

WEEK 63 - LOVE - CATHIE RALEY 2
Cathie Raley 2

WEEK 63 - LOVE - CATHIE RALEY 3
Cathie Raley 3

WEEK 63 - LOVE - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 63 - LOVE - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

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 64 - TOWN
TOWN!

But what is a TOWN? Here is one definition:

an urban area that has a name, defined boundaries, and local government, and that is generally larger than a village and smaller than a city.

But for our purposes here, a village or a city work perfectly fine. This theme is a slight derivation of last year’s theme of HOMETOWN. This theme is a little more expansive because it doesn’t suggest a picture of a HOMETOWN, but of any town. What is it about that town or city or village that is unique to that town. A picture of any old downtown would do. A cityscape would work. A Christmas parade would work. A town sign would work. Let your imagination go wild! Define the theme any way you see fit.

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.

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 townie Monday.

Animals

Howard the Spider

5 Comments

(Editor’s note: Pretend like I published it on the day I intended.)

It is Black Friday. My least favorite day of the year. The day where my faith in humanity has to be reset as mass-consumerism runs amok. People fight each other. Sometimes kill one another, so they can save 50 cents on socks or get Best Buy deals that will come around again in 2 weeks.

Or as one of my spirit animals* Tyler Durden would say:

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh*t we don’t need.

My Black Friday traditions.

1. Sleeping in.
2. Watching FIGHT CLUB
3. Ring the bell for the Salvation Army, as I see it as the least consumerism thing I can do. It is my 1 man silent protest to the day of the year that brings out the worst in humanity.

When I get all black and dark about the state of humanity, I like to look at pictures of cute and cuddly creatures. I thought I would share one that makes me feel joy on this darkest of days.




You’re welcome America.

PARTICULARS

CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
LENS: 60mm
ISO: 500
APERTURE: f/4
EXPOSURE: 1/160
DATE: 10/02/2016 – 14:50
NO GPS DATA RECORDED
PHOTO EDITING SOUNDTRACK: “Keep On Looking” by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings

*The upcoming generation is really big into spirit animals.

Angie, Bill, Cathie, Dawn, Night, Shannon, Steph, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 62 – NIGHT

Participation rates may have dipped again slightly. The cool night air maybe zapping some motivation. Possibly. It even happened to me a bit this week. I was going to take my photo Saturday night and then fell asleep. Then I was going to do it Sunday night, fell asleep on my couch again. So I had to use a picture from Monday night.

I can sit here and talk all tommyrot about my own struggles, but you just want to see the submissions! Here they are:


WEEK 62 - NIGHT - DAWN KRAUSE 1
Dawn Krause 1

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - DAWN KRAUSE 2
Dawn Krause 2

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - BILL WENTWORTH
Bill Wentworth

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - STEPHANIE KIM
Stephanie Kim

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 62 - NIGHT - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

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 63 - LOVE
LOVE!

LOVE! That is an easy and painful enough concept! Everybody loves something. So there are a couple of ways at looking at this theme. You can get out there and photograph something you love. Or you could get out there and show somebody or something expressing love. Or you can get out there and photograph something that symbolizes love. I know we live in a hateful society in the middle of hateful world. But in this world full of hate, there is still love. So get out there and capture it.

After all, it is Thanksgiving this week. If you don’t see something or somebody you love or expressing love on that day… you’re doing life wrong. Better check the instruction manual again.

I’m looking at you people who have said they will participate some day, but haven’t.

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.

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 lovable Monday.

Animals

Squirrelly

As I was leaving the Junck farm a few months back I spied this guy hanging around by their driveway.




I’m not going to identify the species of this guy because I know there is somebody out there waiting to say, “Well actually it is a 13 lined ground squirrel.” While sipping their morning cup of joe.

PARTICULARS

CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
ISO: 125
FOCAL LENGTH: 300mm
APERTURE: f/5.6
EXPOSURE: 1/500
NO GPS DATA RECORDED
DATE: 07/31/2016 – 14:07
PHOTO ASSISTANT: The Juncks
PHOTO EDITING SOUNDTRACK: “What the Rain Will Bring” by Pokey LaFarge

Alisa, Angie, Art, Bill, Kim, Steph, Still Life, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 61 – STILL LIFE

1 Comment

There weren’t a whole lot of takers for STILL LIFE. Must have been a depression of some kind out there.

But you don’t want to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates, you want to see the submissions. Here they are:


WEEK 61 - STILL LIFE - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 61 - STILL LIFE - BILL WENTWORTH
Bill Wentworth

WEEK 61 - STILL LIFE - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 61 - STILL LIFE - STEPHANIE KIM
Stephanie Kim

WEEK 61 - STILL LIFE - CATHIE RALEY 1
Cathie Raley 1

WEEK 61 - STILL LIFE - CATHIE RALEY 2
Cathie Raley 2

WEEK 61 - STILL LIFE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 61 - STILL LIFE - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

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 62 - NIGHT
NIGHT!

NIGHT is a pretty self-explanatory theme. A NIGHT picture is any picture taken at night. Yes, I’d encourage you to get outside and take a picture with a long exposure or lit by the super full moon that will be out tonight. However, any picture taken at night or suggesting the night will do!

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

Great news! Alisa Baker is the latest person to show taste, class, and sophistication by signing up for a Photogrpahy 139 email subscription. Alisa is one of my favoritest people in the world. She was formerly the Youth Pastor at my church until she left us for a similar full-time position in some river town in THAT part of the state. Which reminds me that I need to go visit her soon since she still owes me dinner and I think you all know how I feel about free food. In addition to serving God as a “profession”, Alisa also is known to spend her free time serving God while doing mission work in Haiti. Alisa also introduced me to one of my current favorite musicians Lecrae. Go check out “Church Clothes” or “Take Me As I Am” or “Gangland” or “Nuthin'”. I’ll wait…… Alisa’s cat also has its own Twitter account. No. Naima isn’t getting her own Twitter account. Instagram account? Maybe. Twitter account… no. So if you see Alisa out walking the mean streets of River City feel free to give her a knowing glance and to teach her the Super-Secret Photography 139 handshake.

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

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 dark Monday.