Category Archives: Photoshop

Art, Black & White, Iowa State, Photoshop, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 112

May 10, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday when I decided to go see Bernie Sanders, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to knock off Page 112 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Bernie Sanders was speaking at the Sun Room at the Memorial Union at noon, which gave me the perfect opportunity to get there early and prowl around Iowa State and capture an image that would encompass Page 112 to perfection:

Page 112 – Take a picture inspired by the last thing that jolted you awake.

To explain slightly, I have a recurring dream where I’m still a student at Iowa State University and it is approaching the end of the semester and I haven’t been to class since the first week of the semester. I used to have this dream a few times a year. Now it is probably once a year at the most. However, it is so vivid that I often wake-up in a panic and have thoughts of finding my syllabus and figuring out if it even possible for me to pass any classes. Then I realize, I graduated a long, long, long time ago.

I purposely went with a surreal look to the image to make it coincide with something you might experience in a dream.

Here are a few other pictures I took for Page 112, but won’t be physically adhered in the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL that sits on the coffee table in my humble abode:

Not sure what page we’ll get to in THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT next week, but I definitely have plans for some pages, that I’m just waiting for weather to be just right. The next page could be:

Page 116 – Shoot an advert where the image says it all without need for additional copy.
Page 117 – Show us photography is a form of magic.
Page 109 – Photograph a word to change its meaning.
Page 74-75 – A record of interesting backgrounds.
Page 36 – User shutter speed to capture ANGER!

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

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is photography that involves capturing candid moments on the streets. Chance interactions. They don’t necessarily involve people, although frequently do.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Becca, Boone FUMC, Formal Portrait, Nature, Pastor Sarah, Photoshop, Shawn Karber, Travel, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 90

April 19, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

A couple weekends back up I went to Minnesota to check out the Final Four festivities and check-in with a few people I hadn’t seen for a long time.

On Sunday morning I hit a donut shop with Becca and Shawn. Then I went to Minnehaha Falls to kill sometime before meeting Sarah, Shawn, and Addie at Revival. I figured that this trip was a great time to knock out Page 90 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Even though it was absolutely just pouring down.

I made the walk to from the parking lot to Minnehaha Falls, protecting the camera as best as I could. I took a few pictures and then it really started pouring down. By the time I got to the car every inch of me was completely soaked.

I was so soaked that even after a 30 minute or so wait at Revival and about an hour eating and talking, my shirt only had a few dry spots on it.

Here is the picture that will be physically adhered to Page 90 of the physical PHOTO JOURNAL:

Page 90 – Create ambiguity with a blend of artificial and natural light

Pretty much every camera (even your cell phone) has white balance. This is where you set the kind of light that is dominant in your scene. It is set on Auto White Balance so that you don’t have to think about it. This is the type of thing that in the olden days you had to do with film. Film was balanced for different kinds of light. Pretty much all consumer film was balanced for daylight. Which is why when you took pictures inside, there was often a strange color cast to it.

The same thing happens when you take your color balance off of auto and set it for a type of light that isn’t in your picture. For example, in the picture of Minnehaha Falls, I set the white balance to tungsten. Since the lighting of this picture could be best described as shady, it the camera cast a blue hue on the image, thinking it was seeing tungsten light. Different kinds of lights have different color temperatures. You can make surreal images by setting your white balance against type.

One of the advantages of shooting in RAW is that you can change the white balance to whatever you want it to be. So I changed half the white balance from the image above to shady, so you can see what the image would have conventionally looked like:

Admittedly, I did play up the blue cast of the images a bit in post.

Here are a few other images I took at Minnehaha Falls:

I’m still on goal to knock out one page of the PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT a week. This week I’m looking at knocking out one of these pages:

Page 97 – Photograph a human as though it were an animal.
Page 84 – Photograph a lie.
Page 43 – Take a picture that only works in Black & White.
Page 37 – Use aperture to capture melancholy

You could be featured in just such a picture.

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Reminder that the theme for this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is RELIGION:

RELIGION

A RELIGION picture is any picture that involves the practice of a RELIGION. From a picture of a religious building, to a religious symbol, to a religious book, to a religious service.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Angie, Animals, Boone FUMC, Carla, Formal Portrait, Jen, Jodie Cue, Kim, Logan, Micky, Naima, Photoshop, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 187 – FAVORITE COLOR

April 15, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

The weather last week was all over the place in Central Iowa. Beautiful one day. Windy enough to blow down one side of the Burger King garbage corral the next. Then beautiful again. Then a few snow flurries the next. Then beautiful again. While the weather was all over the place, it didn’t dampen participation rates for FAVORITE COLOR at all.

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

Jodie Cue

Kim Barker

Jodie Cue

Logan Kahler

Micky Augustin

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

Christopher D. Bennett

Andy Sharp

Carla Stensland

Jodie Cue

Angie DeWaard

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:

RELIGION

RELIGION! What a great theme! I can feel what you’re thinking. I can feel it from here. I see through you. All the way to your back button. You are thinking that it sure is super convenient that RELIGION is the theme the same week as Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter and Passover for that matter.

You’re thinking that I rigged it so that RELIGION would be the theme the same week that all the chreasters will be going to church.

There are two things you need to know:

#1. I don’t use the term chreaster. I don’t look down on chreasters. They obviously feel there is at least some need in their life for church, otherwise they wouldn’t show up twice a year. If they are only coming twice a year, the church needs to do a better job of making them want to come the other 52 weeks of the year.

There is a story for why they only show up twice. It could be that they tried to get active in the church and had a bad experience with an overbearing volunteer supervisor. It might be that they sat in somebody else’s pew and were told to move. It can be that they were made to feel unwelcome because of the way they dressed, wore their hair, their personal hygiene, or whatever. Maybe the time they came, the reverend’s sermon made them feel like they weren’t rich enough to belong because he mocked people that buy suits from JC Penney.

Time would be better spent figuring out why some people only show up twice a year rather than pointing out that they don’t reach your gold standard for church attendance

I don’t know their story. I don’t judge their story. Everybody is walking their faith journey and I won’t judge people for where they are on it. I hope people won’t judge me for where I am on mine.

#2. Themes are assigned randomly. I have no control over it.

But, what is a RELIGION photo? A RELIGION photo is any photo that deals with RELIGION. It doesn’t have to be Christianity. It could be Islam. It could be Judaism. There are 12 major religions. Christianity is the largest with 2.04 billion followers. The smallest is Judaism which as 14.5 million followers. Which is a startling number when you recall that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

That is the 12 major religions. Overall there are over 4,300 religions practiced worldwide. That is a tremendous amount of RELIGION photo opportunities.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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. 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

Jen Ensley-Gorshe is the latest person to show taste, class, and sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. Jen, in fact was the first person to sign up using the tools on the website to sign herself up. You may not have heard that this was a possibility because I haven’t actually made them public knowledge yet, so I was super impressed with her diligence. Jen is married to longtime subscriber Derrick Gorshe. They have 4 amazing kids and recently moved to a new house. I have known Jen since we were wage slaves to the Evil Clown Empire. Both of us are now fabulously wealthy and only show up for work because we want to.

If you see Jen out and about, feel free to give her a knowing glance and teach her 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 religious Monday.

Flat Earth Joe, Formal Portrait, Photo Journal, Photoshop, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 82

April 5, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday I continued on my goal to try to finish THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT as Joe agreed to pose for Page 82.

Before you ask, yes, Joe legitimately think the world is flat. Not only does he believe that the world is flat, he is an evangelical for the theory. He spends hours upon hours posting on Facebook and YouTube about his belief that the earth is flat.

He sells flat earth shirts. He orders books about the earth being flat. He intended to go to the Flat Earth Convention last year. He plans on going this year. He says he can not date a girl that isn’t open to the earth being flat.

It isn’t a joke to Joe. It is a core, perhaps the core part of his identity.

Here is Page 82:

Page 82 – Show us the world is flat.

Now the original intent of “Show us the world is flat” was to get up high and look down on the earth and then compress the image by using a telephoto lens. I decided to go in a different direction.

My goal is still to knock at least one of these pictures out a week. I have yet to take one this week as I haven’t had the free time I expected yet, but these are some of the ones I’ve been thinking on:

PAGE 21 – Make something small look big.
PAGE 43 – Take a picture that only works in black & white.
Page 68 – Let a window do the talking.
Page 90 – Create ambiguity with a blend of natural and artificial light.

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

TOOL

Remember that a TOOL photo is simply any photo involving a TOOL. Remember that there are multiple definitions of the world TOOL.

Happy photo harvesting!

Black & White, Jay, Photoshop, Self-Portrait

Moments Before

April 4, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 8 Comments

I never meant for this to go so far. At a certain point, it felt like things got out of control and I was powerless to do anything about it. What started as laziness had grown to a point where it had a life of its own. I was supposed to be in control, but now I was a passenger. Then on March 15, I grabbed the wheel back. I empowered myself. Took control of the situation.

It wasn’t easy to say goodbye to a close friend. We had become inseparable. It was a relationship that had started in June, possibly May of 2018. It is hard to pinpoint a date, but I know the whole affair started before leaving for the mission trip in Vidor, Texas.

There was no plan. Nothing was building towards anything. There were many times I felt like just cutting things off and walking away. There were times I looked in the mirror and told myself that I can’t do this any more. But I would cave and walk away.

Initially I was going to say goodbye on January 1. New year, new beginnings. Even though the stinging encounter with a parade Santa had left a wound that had just days before been ripped open by a little girl at the Chinese buffet, I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger. I needed some documentation. Proof of what I had become. I was going to take some pictures before finally walking out on this toxic relationship.

Then, the weather changed. A polar vortex ripped through the area. Some days the wind chill factor was below -40. Some days it was below -20 without the wind chill factor. The temperature stayed below freezing for six straight weeks.

Rather than committing to the change that needed to be made, I used the cold as an excuse. As a crutch. As a reason to hold on.

But the cold weather receded and my resolve strengthened. A new date for a new me arrived in March. The first day of spring. New life. New beginnings. Time to say goodbye. Place this friend aside and walk away.

I still needed the pictures. If I ever saw that old friend again I could remember the pictures and remind them, we were good together, but even the best things come to an end.

Moments before my beard got shaved off, I sat down for a photo shoot. Jay took the following pictures:

Moments later, I would look like a corporate sellout. My old friend wanted to punch me in the face, but there were quite a few moments between the glory of the beard and the shame of being a dirty nakedface.

Black & White, Candid Portrait, Event, Evie, Jen, Layla, Photoshop

Irish Dancing

April 3, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

March was a very Irish month for this man mostly descended from Scottish and Welsh ancestors and a splash of Cherokee. March Movie Night featured 2 of the most Irish movies around: LEPRECHAUN IN THE HOOD and MILLER’S CROSSING. In particular, LEPRECHAUN IN THE HOOD will definitely frame the way I look at the Irish for many, many days into the future.

In addition to watching the adventures of Postmaster P and Stray Bullet, I also made my way to Dublin Bay to watch Evie in an Irish Dance Recital.

It has long been established that I suffer from PTSD from being forced to watching every single minute of every single dance recital and dress rehearsals my sisters were in. From beginning to end.

To this day, I fear dance recitals.

However, on Saint Patrick’s Day, I responded to Jen’s invitation to go watch Evie do some Irish Dancing. It was definitely the most unique dance recital I have ever experienced. It was in a tent, outside a bar/restaurant filled mostly with screaming drunk people. For most of the recital I stood on a pile of mud. Talking to Sean Clubine as he was there celebrating his wedding anniversary.

Was it worth it? Take a look at the pictures and you can decide:

April’s Movie Night’s date has yet to be determined, but the movies will be rabbit themed. I don’t think Evie has any rabbit themed dance recitals to attend though.

Animals, Black & White, Formal Portrait, Kio, Naima, Photoshop, WPC - Reminder

The Driving Force

March 15, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

I feel it has been too long since I have had a post devoted to Naima. This is an error that I will correct today.

These pictures come from an October trip to Dickcissel Park.

Naima does enjoy getting in the water at Dickcissel, but she will only go as deep as her paws touch the ground.

Enjoy these pictures of Naima:

I’ll try not to go so long without a day of Naima pictures in the future!

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Just a reminder that the theme for this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is FORMAL PORTRAIT:

FORMAL PORTRAIT

A FORMAL PORTRAIT doesn’t have to be in a studio with a bunch of fancy lights. For our purposes, a FORMAL PORTRAIT is a portrait of somebody when they know they you are taking their picture and they are posing for the picture.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Art, Black & White, Brandon, Candid Portrait, Holidays, Johnathan, Logan, Naima, Photoshop, Self-Portrait, Youth Group

I Know What I Did Last Mother’s Day…

March 5, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Reminder that tomorrow night the Boone First United Methodist Church Youth Group will be holding a fundraiser for their mission trip to Rapid City, South Dakota in June:

Cost is a free will donation. Come eat some delicious spaghetti. Throw a few ducats into the till. Heck, even stick around and enjoy a wonderful worship service. Support a good cause and borderline great kids!

Hope to see many of you there!
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While I work on the 2018 backlog, the most recent folder I cleared out was from pictures I took on Mother’s Day.

They range from pictures of my nephews grilling to pictures of me working on a self-portrait project (that heavily involves updating classic Photography 139 image “Blue Steel”) and pictures of Naima.

Enjoy:

The original “Blue Steel” was considered too sexy to hang on the wall of Salon 908. I’m not going to bother trying to get Blue Steel Redux on any public walls. However, one of them could be part of the Canvas Wall Project.

Cathie, Kim, Photoshop, Ruins, Self-Portrait, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 177 – RUINS

February 4, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

It would appear that the polar vortex not only crushed the temperatures, it also seems to have squashed participation for RUINS. But at least a few hearty souls got out in the weather and found something decaying to photography.

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

Cathie Raley

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

EYE

EYE! What a great theme! But what is an EYE picture? Well an EYE picture is any picture that involves an EYE or anything that might be EYE related, like say an EYEpatch.

Of course, there is more than one definition for the word EYE. Interpret the theme as you see fit!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 eyed Monday.

Angie, Art, Kim, Macro, Michelle, Photoshop, Steph, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 174 – ART

January 14, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I would say that ART was about an average week for participation rates. I figured it would be a higher theme, but it was only average. C’est la vie! Hopefully some people made New Year’s Resolutions to get more ART in their lives, but of course, I am biased.

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

Kim Barker

Michelle Haupt

Angie DeWaard

Stephanie Kim (This banner was made in celebration of the 700 block of Jefferson Ave. in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn during a 2018 block party. It’s holding up well on this fence.)

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

MACRO

MACRO! What a great theme! But what is a MACRO photo? There is a painful technical definition that maybe I’ll share on Friday’s reminder, but for now, all you really need to know is that it is a close-up photo and that will be enough info to get you started.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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 close Monday.