Category Archives: Photo Journal

The 2019 Howards – Subset Dos

One of the products of all this home times is that I have started up on THE CANVAS WALL PROJECT again. What started as the accent wall in my living room and then turned into the Friend Wall and then became the 9 Emotions Project wall, was turned into the Canvas Wall about 2 years ago. The ultimate goal is to cover at least 95% of the wall with canvas photos.

I recently added 7 more canvases to the wall. These are all smaller canvases that are meant to fill around the doorway that leads to my hallway.

Here are the 7 canvases that have recently been added:


Canvas No. 46

Canvas No. 47

Canvas No. 48

Canvas No. 49

Canvas No. 50

Canvas No. 51

Canvas No. 52

The pictures that have been selected for THE CANVAS WALL PROJECT are meant to be a combination of every day life pictures and my more artistic pictures.

I’m getting pretty close to the bottom of the wall now. The next collection of pictured added to the wall are definitely obstructed, but that is okay. It matter less that they can be seen, and more that they are there.

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Time to reveal a second collection pictures from the 2019 Howard Family Photo Shoot:


Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Howards - 2019

Still plenty more Howards to go!

Birthday Road Trip – Little Brown Church

For starters, happy birthday Anders! We celebrated Anders’ birthday last night at January birthday night with yellow cake, a DOLEMITE double feature, and a root beer tasting.

After all, DOLEMITE is my name and (expletive deleted) up mother (expletive deleted) is my game!

Here are some pictures of a man I consider to be at least the equal of Dolemite!


PHOTO JOURNAL - PAGE 121 ALTERNATE

9 Emotions Project - Anders Runestad


One of my secret (I guess) goals of 2020 is to be more proactive about putting information for Movie Night up on the website. Because if you are reading these words, you are invited to Movie Night.

But be warned, you may never be the same after you attend Movie Night. Exposure to great art tends to change a person. In fact, I think Movie Night broke Willy.

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Enough about Anders’ birthday. Let’s talk about my birthday. Last year Jesse and I took a road trip around my birthday. One of the stops we made was at The Little Brown Church. There were a bunch of LARPers there. Maybe they were time travelers. Either way, they were dressed up like it was the Civil War.

Here are some pictures from that stop:


Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Jesse had never heard of The Little Brown Church, but it is the church from that song. You know the song. The song about the little brown church.

There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood
No lovelier spot in the dale
No place is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale

Our church hosted a filmmaker who made a documentary about it once. It was interesting, but it didn’t feature one time traveler.

A Photo Journal – Page 66 & 67

It has been since September 20 that I published something from THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. For several months, I have been down to just a couple pages and I had the final page done, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger on that last page. Faced with my deadline of being done with this project by the end of the year, so I could pick up another project for 2020.

I finally knocked off this project on Thursday with the help of Vest. These pages call for a celebrity picture of sorts and for the longest time I was concentrating on Tiger Woods, but in the end I decided a person that was less a celebrity, but more of a historical figure.

I’m not going to reveal who this “celebrity” is supposed to be. I hope that people can deduce it from the images, although I know that they might not make sense and you might not be able to figure out what they represent. That is okay, if I can at least get people to think a little bit, that is all I ask.

Page 66 & 67 0 Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).


Photo Journal - Page 66-67

Photo Journal - Page 66-67

Photo Journal - Page 66-67

Photo Journal - Page 66-67

If you think you know what I was trying to say, feel free to leave your guess in the Comments section of this here blog.

This leaves only one page left to reveal:

Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

That picture will be revealed next Friday, along with my new photo project.

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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is LANDSCAPE:


WEEK 223 - LANDSCAPE
LANDSCAPE

A LANDSCAPE image is a picture of an area of land. That is it. You can poke your head out your back door (assuming you live in a house) and take a LANDSCAPE picture.

Happy photo harvesting!

A Photo Journal – Page 28

Elainie and Sabas are home from San Diego which created absolutely the perfect opportunity to knock out Page 28 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.


Photo Journal - Page 28
Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up

Obviously this is based on Alfred Eisenstaedt picture of a sailor kissing a girl on VJ Day. However he wasn’t the only photographer to capture this moment. It was also captured by Navy photo journalist Victor Jorgensen. His pictures was published in “The New York Times” the next day. Eisenstaedt’s picture became famous in LIFE magazine.

Here are a couple other takes on the photo:


Photo Journal - Page 28

Photo Journal - Page 28

Photo Journal - Page 28

Photo Journal - Page 28

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

I only need to take the pictures for PAGES 66-67. I just need a volunteer to be the subject. You know where to find me!

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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is STREET PHOTOGRAPHY:


WEEK 210 - STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Remember that a STREET PHOTOGRAPHY picture needs to be taken in public and needs to be random. Once again, I will suggest to make the picture black & white as an homage to Robert Frank, but it isn’t required.

Happy photo harvesting!

A Photo Journal – Page 106

Page 106 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT was a difficult one for me to process at first. The idea is to send one of your photos to your “photography hero” and ask them what they had about it.

When you really break it down, my photography hero is my Dad. For obvious reasons, I can’t send him one of my pictures. Once you leave the family, most of my favorite photographers are also dead.

From Ansel Adams to Vivian Maier to Henri Cartier-Besson to Robert Frank to Margaret Bourke-White. They are all gone. In fact, Robert Frank just passed away on Tuesday.

So I thought about it and there are a couple of living photographers that I do admire and came up with a couple. Richard Bernabe. He is an amazing nature photographer and outspoken environmentalist. If you are looking for a great photography book, I highly recommend his book “Wildlife Photography”. You can look at my copy next time you make it to the Photography 139 Studio.

However, I chose to go a different direction. I decided to go with Pete Souza. Pete Souza was the White House Photographer for both Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

If the election was held today, Joe Biden would be the next President of the United States. Frankly, the election wouldn’t even be all that close. I don’t think that Joe Biden will end up being the next President, but since he is the overwhelming favorite right now, when Joe Biden came to Boone, I knew instantly that I needed to send a picture to Pete Souza.

Below is the picture I sent to Pete Souza:


Photo Journal - Page 106
Page 106 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.

In the end, I never heard back from Pete Souza. To be honest, I didn’t expect to hear back from him. If I ever do hear from him, I’ll post that here.

Here are a couple other pictures I considered sending Pete Souza:


Photo Journal - Page 106 Alternate

Photo Journal - Page 106 Alternate

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is ARCHITECTURE.


WEEK 209 - ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE

An ARCHITECTURE picture is any picture that involves a building or a structure.

Happy photo harvesting!

A Photo Journal – Page 121

The Union Street Theater Movie Club had our September Movie Night last Saturday. The B Movie was ACTION JACKSON. The Feature was BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. Jay made us ribs. It was a good night.

It was also a good night to knock off Page 121 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Anders gamely volunteered to put himself in danger to be the subject of Page 121.


Photo Journal - Page 121
Page 121 – Show us photograhy is a form of magic.

This type of image was all the rage at Iowa State Fair Photography Salon this year. I expect there will be many copycats next year. I don’t think I will be one of them, even though it is a fun image to take.

I took a couple more images, but the one above is one that will be physically adhered into the physical A PHOTO JOURNAL.


PHOTO JOURNAL - PAGE 121 ALTERNATE

PHOTO JOURNAL - PAGE 121 ALTERNATE

By knocking off Page 121 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, I am down to just the following pages left:

Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 106-107 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

I still have to shoot two of the pages, but hopefully this project will be finished next week!

A Photo Journal – Page 18

Pufferbilly Days is upon us! That means that by the time this entry sees the light of the day the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest should be up for delay. In addition to the 6 photos that all of you helped select, Carla has entered photos. Logan has entered photos. Vest has entered photos. So when you head up to Pufferbilly Days this weekend, you should go check out the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. They are on display in the new KWBG building on the corner of 9th and Keeler. If you don’t know where that is, check the image below:



Follow the Arrow

I’m excited that so many people that regularly contribute to this website have entered the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. I started entering again a couple years back because I was worried that the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest was going to go away, like the barbecue contest or The Amazing Race. It sounds like there will be close to 20 entries just from people I know. It sounds like I could start my own Photography Contest at some point. It would tide over my burning desire to run the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Another reason I’m excited about the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest is that Logan has become the 3rd Generation of Bennetts to enter the Pufferbilly Days Contest. Our Dad used to enter the contest. Carla and I have entered the contest. Now our nephew Logan has entered the contest. Looks like today I put the clock on Kanoa.

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I recently went out in the woods with Micky to complete Page 18 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Page 18 is by far my least favorite page in THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, but completing it was actually pretty fun.


Photo Journal - Page 18
Shoot the other half of the picture by Jason Evans

The picture by Jason Evans is a picture of some cups sideways on top of a geometric pattern. There was no way I was going to reconstruct this cup thing, so I decided to redefine the intended meaning of shoot. I printed out the whole picture (more or less) and then Micky shot it, with arrows.

Only one picture can be physically adhered into the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL, but we did take a few other pictures that I liked:


Photo Journal - Page 18

Photo Journal - Page 18

Photo Journal - Page 18

Photo Journal - Page 18

Photo Journal - Page 18

Photo Journal - Page 18

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
Page 64 – Head out with a fellow photographer and play a game of photography dare.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 106-107 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.
PAGE 121 – Show us that photography is a form of magic.
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

Of the 6 left on the list, I have 3 left to shoot. I have a solid 3 ideas for all 3 of them. 2 of them I still need to find models. The third one, I know the models, but they don’t yet.

If you are interested in modeling for one of the last 2 pages, let me know. In 1, you might get a little wet. In the other, you might have to be placed in a slightly embarrassing situation.

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Here is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SKY:


WEEK 208 - SKY
SKY

A SKY picture is any picture that involves the SKY in some way, shape, or form.

Happy photo harvesting!

A Photo Journal – Page 64

On the last day of the Iowa State Fair I went to the Fair with Nader and Logan met us down there. Logan has recently purchased a new camera and is thinking of coming back to the family and being a Sony man.

Logan was using his new camera to take some street photography pictures. I used this as an opportunity to knock off Page 64 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:


Photo Journal - Page 64
Page 64 – Head out with a fellow photographer and play a game of photography dare.

The point of this page was to be pushed to take a picture that pushes you outside of your comfort zone. I have a pretty big comfort zone when it comes to photography and street photography is something I enjoy for the most part. So I decided to use this as an opportunity to get closer to an unknown subject than I normally do. Thus, this photo of a vendor at the Iowa State Fair.

I actually did take several other pictures on this day, but I don’t like any of them, so you don’t get to see them.

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 18 – Shoot the other half of this picture by Jason Evans. – This is a profoundly stupid page, but I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and do it at some point.
Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 106-107 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.
PAGE 121 – Show us that photography is a form of magic.
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

A Photo Journal – Page 101

I don’t think I’m going to quite reach my goal of finishing of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT off before the first Youth Group of the year. That deadline is next Wednesday, but I don’t think it matters because Youth Group is going to be so dramatically different this year that I don’t think it is going to require anywhere near the level of dedication that I have provided that last few years.

Also, I know that the subjects for what will probably be the last page in THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT won’t be in the Cyclone State until mid-September.

I don’t want to get too political today. My inspiration for Page 101 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT occurred a few weeks back when J.D. Scholten announced that he will be running for U.S Representative for Iowa District 4. I immediately put out my J.D. Scholten sign when I got home from work.


Photo Journal - Page 101
Page 101 – Find an object, close your eyes and compose your shot using touch rather than vision.

I think we all know that Steve King is one of the most vile, disgusting human beings on the planet. He is a disgrace to the office he holds, the state of Iowa, and upright walking humans all over the planet.

In addition to being a virulent white supremacist, he recently gave a passionate defense of rape and incest. Yeah, he’s a great guy.

Steve King is so racist.

How racist is he?

Steve King is so racist that the Republicans stripped him of all of his committee assignments.

Perhaps not my best joke, but even if your totally on board with racism, rape, and incest, he isn’t even in a position to help out his district because he is such an embarrassment he has zero committee assignments.

But let’s be honest, in the nearly two decades he has been farting around in Congress he has only ONE legislative accomplishment. He changed the name of a post office.

When he isn’t doing literally nothing for Iowa, Steve King can be found hanging out in Austria hanging out with literal Nazis!

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 18 – Shoot the other half of this picture by Jason Evans. – This is a profoundly stupid page, but I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and do it at some point.
Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
Page 64 – Head out with a fellow photographer and play a game of photography dare.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
Page 106-107 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.
PAGE 121 – Show us that photography is a form of magic.
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

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


WEEK 207 - TOY
TOY

Remember that next Monday is Labor Day. While most people are taking a holiday that day, Photography 139 doesn’t take holidays. Plan your photo submissions accordingly.

A Photo Journal – Page 117

I recently went over to my Grandma’s house with my Mom to take a picture for Page 117 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. I don’t usually explain what the directions for the page before I unleash the picture on the world, but I’m going to explain the theme first this time.

The directions for Page 117 are “Freeze the frame exactly 57 minutes and 32 seconds into your favorite film. Take a picture inspired by what you see.”

I don’t have a favorite film 100%, but I do have at least a handful that I would say are in the conversation. There A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, KING KONG (1933), PSYCHO (1960), MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, and INHERIT THE WIND.

I actually went through all of these movies before deciding on INHERIT THE WIND. I know INHERIT THE WIND, so l’ll explain a big of it.

INHERIT THE WIND was directed by Stanley Kramer. Stanley Kramer was an underrated director who also directed THE DEFIANT ONES, ON THE BEACH, JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG, IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD, and GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER.

It is a dramatized telling of the Scopes Monkey Trial. The trial in Tennessee in 1925 where John Scopes was put on trial for teaching evolution.

INHERIT THE WIND stars Spencer Tracy as Henry Drummond, a dramatized version of Clarence Darrow, who was probably the greatest legal mind in our history. Darrow was Scopes’ defense attorney. Frederic March plays Matthew Harrison Brady, a dramatized version of William Jennings Bryan, who ran for president 3 times, and assisted the prosecutors. Gene Kelly played E.K. Hornbeck, a dramaitzed version of H.L. Mencken, who was a brilliant journalist that covered the trial.

The scene that happens right before the scene that is unfolding at 57 minute 32 second mark of the movie is a “prayer meeting” in the park where the local Pastor (who is also the father of the defendant’s girlfriend) preaches damnation for the defendant and his defenders. Brown is the pastor. Rachel is his daughter:

BROWN

Do we call down hellfire on the man who has sinned against
the Word?

ALL

(Roaring)

Yes!

BROWN

(Deliberately shattering the rhythm, to go into a frenzied

prayer , hands clasped together and lifted heavenward)

O Lord of the Tempest and the Thunder! O Lord of Right-
eousness and Wrath! We pray that Thou wilt make a sign
unto us! Strike down this sinner, as Thou didst Thine enemies
of old, in the days of the Pharaohs! (All lean forward, almost
expecting the heavens to open with a thunderbolt . rachel is
white. Brady shifts uncomfortably in his chair; this is pretty
strong stuff, even for him) Let him feel the terror of Thy
sword! For all eternity, let his soul writhe in anguish and
damnation—

RACHEL

No! (She rushes to the platform) No, Father. Don’t pray
to destroy Bertl

BROWN

Lord, we call down the same curse on those who ask grace
for this sinner— though they be blood of my blood, and flesh
of my flesh!

Brady stops him from going on and preaches a more forgiving brand of Christianity:

BRADY

(Rising, grasping brown’s arm)

Reverend Brown, I know it is the great zeal of your faith
which makes you utter this prayer! But it is possible to be overzealous, to destroy that which you hope to save— so that
nothing is left but emptiness, (brown turns) Remember the
wisdom of Solomon in the Book of Proverbs— ( Softly ) “He
that troubleth his own house . . . shall inherit the wind.”
(braby leads brown to a chair, then turns to the townspeople)
The Bible also tells us that God forgives His children. And
we, the Children of God, should forgive each other, (rachel
slips off) My good friends, return to your homes. The bless-
ings of the Lord be with you all.

After this scene Brady and Drummond (who are old friends) are sitting on the front porch of the boarding house where they are both staying. They are discussing the prayer meeting. Drummond describes it as gilded. Glossy on the outside and hollow on the inside he compared it to a toy he wanted as a child:

BRADY

There used to be a mutuality
of understanding and…
admiration between us, Henry.
Why is it, my old friend, that you’ve…
you’ve moved so far away from me

DRUMMOND

Well, all motion is relative, Matt.
Maybe it’s you who have
moved away by standing still.

BRADY

Hmm.
If progress means abandoning God
abandoning the faith of our fathers…

DRUMMOND

I saw a demonstration of that faith tonight.
it’s a pretty deadly instrument, I’d say.

BRADY

What you saw was a reflection
of the violence and hate
in the world around them,
Henry… your world
But they’re driven to it
because their faith was challenged.
These are simple people, Henry, poor people.
they work hard
and they need to believe in something…
something beautiful.
They’re seeking for something
more perfect than what they have

DRUMMOND

Window shopping for heaven.

BRADY

why do you want to take it
away from them, Henry
it’s all they have…
like a golden chalice of hope.

DRUMMOND

Ah.
Like my golden dancer.

BRADY

Your what?

DRUMMOND

Golden dancer.
She stood in the big side window
in the general store in Wakeman, Ohio.
I’d stand out on the street
and say to myself,
“if I had golden dancer, I’d have
everything in the world I ever wanted. ”
I was about 7 years old at the time
and a great judge of rocking horses.
Golden dancer had a bright-red mane,
blue eyes,
and she was gold all over with purple spots.
And when the sun hit her stirrups,
She was a dazzling sight to behold.
But she was a week’s wages for my father,
So golden dancer and I
always had a big plate-glass window
between us.
And then…
Let’s see…
It couldn’t have been Christmas.
It must have been my birthday.
I woke in the morning,
and there was golden dancer
at the foot of my bed.
Mom had skimped on the groceries,
and my father had worked nights for a month.
I jumped into the saddle,
and I started to rock…
and it broke.

BRADY

No

DRUMMOND

Split in 2. The wood was rotten.
The whole thing was put together
with spit and sealing wax.
All shine and no substance,
And that’s how I feel about that
demonstration I saw tonight, Matt…
All glitter and glamour.
You say you’re giving the people hope
I think you’re stealing their hope.

BRADY

Oh no, Henry…

DRUMMOND

As long as the prerequisite
for that shining paradise
is ignorance, bigotry, and hate…
I say, “the hell with it. “

It is this scene of two old friends sitting on a front porch that inspired me to take this picture:


Photo Journal - Page 117
Page 117 – Freeze the frame exactly 57 minutes and 32 seconds into your favorite film. Take a picture inspired by what you see.

I did take a few more pictures that I like, but only one can be physically adhered into the physical PHOTO JOURNAL. Here are a few alternates:


Photo Journal - Page 117

Photo Journal - Page 117

Photo Journal - Page 117

This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 18 – Shoot the other half of this picture by Jason Evans. – This is a profoundly stupid page, but I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and do it at some point.
Page 28 – Recreate a famous photograph without looking it up.
Page 64 – Head out with a fellow photographer and play a game of photography dare.
PAGE 66-67 – Make a sequence of four pictures inspired by the rise and fall of Britney Spears (or another celebrity).
PAGE 101 – Find an object, close your eyes and compose your shot using touch rather than vision.
Page 106-107 – Email one of your pictures to your photography hero and ask them what they hate about it.
PAGE 121 – Show us that photography is a form of magic.
Page 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.

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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is RED!


WEEK 206 - RED
RED!

A RED photo is any picture that centers around a subject that is RED.

Happy photo harvesting!