More from the 2018 backlog. After knocking out pictures from the Eastern Star Trick-or-Treat night, put me in the mood to also knock out the pictures from the Christmas service that my church did at the Eastern Star Home last year.
These pictures include at least one person that has since passed away and people that have passed on from our church to a next phase of their life.
I’m starting to get to the end of the 2018 backlog, but some of the collections I have left to tackle are BIG!
Once again, knocking out the 2018 backlog. On Monday night I sat through my favorite monthly meeting, the Outreach Committee Meeting. It was while I was sitting at that meeting, trying not to tinker with my phone, that it occurred to me that the Eastern Star Home’s annual trick-or-treat night was coming up soon.
It also occurred to me that I never published pictures from last year’s event. I usually go to the event to photograph people from the church that are there to volunteer and help out.
While I was perusing the pictures, it really hit home how drastically our church has changed in a few short months. But even when things change, things don’t change. If that makes sense.
Here are pictures from last year’s event:
This year’s trick-or-treat night will be October 22. It lasts from 6-7 PM. If you have a kid that likes candy, they will get lots of candy. If you would just like to volunteer to help out, I can hook you up with that opportunity as well.
Better strap it on. This post is going to be a LONG one, covering a ton of diverse ground! There are a ton of pictures in the folder known as 2009-06-22. I considered breaking this into multiple posts, but then I decided, “Nah, bro. We got this.”
Thee are night flower pictures, pictures from Ames on the Half Shell, pictures from Ottumwa, family pictures, and pictures of cherries.
The pictures from Ames on the Half Shell were from when The Josh Davis Band played there. It must have been rained out because the pictures are from DG’s Taphouse. The Josh Davis Band is my second favorite band to play Ames on the Half Shell. Not including Against the Grain or whatever Derrick’s band was called when they crashed Half Shell. It appears that I never published those photos.
The pictures from Ottumwa are from when I went there to help Jen & Derrick help with the house that Jen inherited from her uncle.
The cherry pictures are from when Shannon came over and baked me a cherry pie from the cherries from my cherry trees. It feels good to be self-sustaining.
There are pictures in here of people that are gone now. Gone, but definitely not forgotten:
By adding these photos to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Little League baseball.
Welcome to the 3,500th entry in “An Artist’s Notebook”. The blog portion of my Photography 139 website. It has been along time since I first took keyboard hand sitting in the old Computer Mine setup or possibly in my Mom’s basement, because that is where my life was at that time.
In fact, the first time I posted anything on “An Artist’s Notebook” was August 9, 2006. The very first word I wrote, “So”. Maybe not the best word. Maybe not the most forceful word. It is a word that almost feels like an apology.
I clearly didn’t know where this was going to take me and I’m not sure I even know where I’m at now. So.
I would go on in the first post to state that I had a few goals for this blog.
#1. To write in it.
I think I can say safely that 3,499 posts later, I have written in it. I often wonder if I were to print out every page of “An Artist’s Notebook”, how many pages it would be. While I know that most of those pages would just be pictures at not necessarily words, I’m still pretty sure that the entire thing would run several thousands of pages. While the things I write and the nature of what I write and post has changed over time and I’m sure it will continue to change, I will say for now, I’m still on track for Goal #1.
#2. To be as truthful as possible towards my true thoughts and feelings.
On this goal I’m going to give myself an incomplete. I feel that I am truthful to my loyal readers, but I don’t know that I necessarily share my feelings a lot. For example, I don’t know how many of you know how much I despise the open-faced sandwich. It is a pox upon mankind. Kind of like anti-vaxxers. When I think about it, I suppose I don’t hold back much. However, I’ll have to double down on my efforts to let you know about my true feelings. A 5,000 word piece on the worthlessness of the open-faced sandwich is coming your way on Sunday!
#3. Producing something that makes me worthy of having a pretentious sounding journal title like: “An Artist’s Notebook”.
The question here, is this: Is the blog any darn good? It would be arrogant of me to claim that it is. I have garnered a small amount of loyal subscribers. But I’m sure a better blog would garner more. My entries do occasionally gather comments. But I’m sure a better blog would gather more comments. I guess I’ll have to keep plugging away and let the sands of time figure out if this thing is any good.
On these mile marker posts, I like to look at what things and what people have most influenced this post.
On my 750th post, these were the Top 16 post categories and I’ll assume, the only categories I had for posts back then:
1. Photography – 295
2. Friends – 269
3. Life – 238
4. Family – 98
5. Religion – 63
6. ISU Football – 41
7. Jaycees – 40
8. Movies – 39
9. Blogging 33
10. Sports – 25
11. Work – 25
12. House – 24
13. Writing – 23
14. Comedy – 20
15. Politics – 17
16. History – 12
On post 1,000, these were the 10 people that I had tagged the most in posts:
1. Jay (144)
2. Jesse (143)
3. Shannon (140)
4. Derrick (117)
5. Jen (101)
6. Teresa (96)
7. Willy (93)
8. Sara (88)
9. Baier (65)
10. Dawn (64)
By post 1,447 these were the 10 most tagged people:
10. Dad – 117
9. Carla – 118
8. Sara – 122
7. Willy – 124
6. Jen – 143
5. Teresa – 144
4. Derrick – 157
3. Shannon – 160
2. Jay – 180
1. Jesse – 195
This picture of Evie was the most popular picture on my website:
By post 2500, these were the 5 most tagged people:
1. Jesse – 283 Posts
2. Teresa – 244 Posts
3. Shannon – 231 Posts
3. Jay – 231 Posts
5. Derrick – 220 Posts
By post 3,000 these were the most popular categories:
#10 – Jay – 262 Posts
#9 – Life – 274 Posts
#8 – Teresa – 282 Posts
#7 – Shannon – 289 Posts
#6 – Animals – 301 Posts
#5 – Portrait – 313 Posts
#4 – Jesse – 328 Posts
#3 – WPC (Formerly RWPE) – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – 432 Posts
#2 – Flowers – 436 Posts
#1 – Photography – 440 Posts
And these were the most tagged people:
#10 – Vest 204 Posts
#9 – Jen – 205 Posts
#8 – Willy – 209 Posts
#7 – Derrick – 241 Posts
#6 – Mom – 247 Posts
#5 – Carla – 261 Posts
#4 – Jay – 262 Posts
#3 – Teresa – 282 Posts
#2 – Shannon – 289 Posts
#1 – Jesse – 328 Posts
Here we are, post 3,5000. I should point out before I reveal the current most popular categories on “An Artist’s Notebook”, I should point out that while I’ve been going back and fixing old broken entries via our Saturday night trips down memory lane, I have also been re-categorizing and breaking some categories into multiple categories. That is why some categories have actually lost posts. Hopefully some of those generic categories like “Photography” and “Life” will be down to zero some day.
Here are the most popular categories:
10. Photography – 311 Posts
9. Teresa – 312 Posts
8. Carla – 314 Posts
7. Shannon -351 Posts
6. Black & White – 390 Posts
5. Weekly Photo Challenge – 394 Posts
4. Jesse – 404 Posts
3. Animals – 477 Posts
2. Portrait – 516 Posts
1. Flowers – 537 Posts
10 Most Popular Not People Categories:
10. Art – 243 Posts
9. Nature – 260 Posts
8. Personal Photo Project – 261 Posts
7. Road Trip – 288 Posts
6. Photography – 311 Posts
5. Black & White – 390 Posts
4. Weekly Photo Challenge – 390 Posts
3. Animals – 477 Posts
2. Portrait – 516 Posts
1. Flowers – 537 Posts
10 Most Tagged Humans
10. Jen – 222 Posts
9. Vest – 234 Posts
8. Willy – 238 Posts
7. Derrick – 267 Posts
6. Jay – 294 Posts
5. Mom – 300 Posts
4. Teresa – 312 Posts
3. Carla – 314 Posts
2. Shannon – 351 Posts
1. Jesse – 403 Posts
You may be wondering, what does it take to improve my Photography 139 Score? How do I get on the big board by the time Post 3750 comes around next August-ish?
1. Submit pictures for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.
2. Assist or pose for photo projects.
3. Be related to me.
If you are wondering who is just outside of the top ten? The 3 people just outside of the Top Ten are Kim, Sara, and Logan.
Here are the current most popular pictures in the Photography 139 Gallery, by views in the last 365 days:
9. Howards 2017 – 571 Views
8. Michelle – Computer Mine Holiday Card – 2018 – 690 Views
7. Cy beating down Herky – 746 Views
6. Rapid City Mission Trip – 776 Views
5. Autumn Sharp – 935 Views
4. Selfie Project – January 1, 2019 – 1251 Views
3. Selfie Project – July 15, 2017 – 1511 Views
2. Metropolis, Illinois – 2724 Views
1. Selfie Project – January 14, 2019 – 3215 Views
And these are the Ten Most Popular Albums in the Photography 139 Gallery by views in the last 365 Days (You can go to the album by clicking on the picture):
9. Misc. Portraits – 11,198 Views
8. 2018 Computer Mine Holiday Card Portrait – 11,409 Views
7. Iowa State Cyclones Football – 2008 – 12,024 Views
6. Iowa State Cyclones Football – 2018 – 12,715 Views
5. Naima – 14,770 Views
4. Photo Journal Rejects – 14,872 Views
3. Selfie Project – 2019 – 37,416 Views
2. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 6 – 43,174 Views
1. 9 Emotions Project – 58,863 Views
Whew! Well, I’m spent. Thanks to everybody that subscribes to this here blog. You are a big part of whatever success that is does have!
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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is FRAMED:
Reminder that a FRAMED photo is a photo where your subjected is FRAMED by objects that aren’t the subject of the photo. Like a window. Or a door. Or literally anything that creates negative space.
Happy photo harvesting!
This is final collection of pictures of College GameDay in Ames. It includes pictures of douche country “celebrity” Eric Church.
There are also a couple pictures from the Iowa State-Iowa game. I didn’t take many pictures because I have pretty much given up on taking pictures at Iowa State games. Plus, if you don’t remember, it poured down rain for about 5 hours of the 6+ hour game. It was a LONG day.
But it wasn’t an all bad day. Yes douche country “celebrity” pick Eric Church picked against the home team, but at the end of the day, all anything will remember is that Lee Corso put on Cy’s head.
Hopefully, the next time that College GameDay comes to Ames, they don’t poop the bed and bring us somebody that Iowa State fans aren’t booing every time he is even mentioned.
Hopefully, the next time College GameDay comes to Ames, Lee Corso is still around to put on Cy’s head.
Here are some pictures:
I don’t have much to say about the game. Obviously it hurts when you dominate a game and lose. Regardless of what you think about the phantom holding call that hurt Iowa State at the end of the day Iowa State didn’t make the plays they needed to win the game. There were about 5 plays in the game that were decided by an inch. Everyone of those plays went Iowa’s way. However, every goal Iowa State has for the season is still on the table.
As for the other stories swirling around still.
I don’t really have anything to say about Bandgate. Looks like there was lots of blame to go around and hopefully things are fixed in the future. I do fear for the Iowa State University Cyclone Varsity Marching Band when they go to Iowa City next year.
I don’t have anything to say about the Des Moines Register digging up tweets a person made 8 years ago when they were 16. In the end, Carson King is still going to raise a ton of money and Busch Beer still sucks!
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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is RUINS:
Remember a RUINS picture is a picture of something that has been abandoned or is in decay or has been destroyed.
Happy photo harvesting!
One thing I can tell you about being at College GameDay is that it is almost impossible to actually watch the show when you are there. Lee, Kirk, Rece, and Desmond have their back to the crowd and there is so much equipment around them that you can’t really see them.
They broadcast the show on a couple giant screens, but there is such a mass of people there, that the sound from the speakers gets drowned out. That being said, it was magical being at College GameDay. It was an accomplishment that I didn’t think Iowa State would ever achieve. I think under the right circumstances, they will be back. Or at least they will be at another Cyclone game in the future.
Here are more pictures from College GameDay:
Still got more pictures from College GameDay’s first ever trip to Iowa State… for football!
I was able to make it to College Game Day on Saturday morning. I left my car at Jen and Derrick’s and Derrick dropped me off at The Jack on his way to work.
The crowd was already a pretty good size by 7:45. I can say that College GameDay certainly lived up to the hype!
Plenty more College GameDay in the chute!
Hey! Guess what! It is fundraiser season! The first fundraiser for the 2020 Mission Trip is tomorrow night at Pizza Ranch! You’ll get a chance to support some of these amazing kids:
You’ll notice something is a little different about the promo card this year. This is no longer the Boone First United Methodist Youth Group. I know it had some name that involved, what I’m sure was super clever, an acronym. But I never used it. I never cared about it.
We are now the Heart of Boone Youth Fellowship. Our Youth Group merged with the First Baptist Church and Central Christian Church to form one youth group. We had plenty of kids in our youth group, but we just couldn’t get enough adult volunteers to run the youth group any longer. Enter a relationship with a couple of other downtown churches and boom, something beautiful was born.
But you don’t need all that information, you just want to know how to support our 2020 Mission Trip.
Well, it is simple. Print off one of the vouchers below:
Bring it to Pizza Ranch tomorrow night. Have supper there. Give that voucher to the cashier. Boom! You get supper. We get $2.
If you think $2 isn’t enough, there will be tip jars all over the place and everything you put in the tip jars will go to the mission trip.
You might be wondering where we are going on our mission trip. Well, I know, but I’m not ready to reveal the information. However, you can rest assured that wherever we go, we will do awesome things like in the pictures below:
I hope to see many of you there!
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY proved to be an extremely unpopular theme, like I predicted. Not only did hardly anybody try this theme, only one person took on my added challenge of taking the picture in black & white as a tribute to the late great Robert Frank. Thanks Jen! The streak of double digit submissions is over and I don’t know if I will every fully recover. I soldier on.
You didn’t come here to hear me talk all tommyrot about abysmal participation rates, you came to see the submissions:
Andy Sharp
Kim Barker
Christopher D. Bennett
Stephanie Kim
Tamara Peterson
Jesse Howard
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:
RUINS! What a great theme! But what is a RUINS photo? A RUINS photo is a photo of something that has been destroyed, obliterated, or more commonly, is in a state of decay. Think about the entire town of Beaver, Iowa. Or don’t. It is sad to think about Beaver. However, RUINS challenge you to take a picture of something that isn’t considered “beautiful” by the Funk & Wagnall definition. Go out there and find something that has been abandoned. That isn’t getting any love or attention any longer and give it some love and attention!
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.
OR
I now allow people to text me their submissions. In the past, I had made exceptions for a couple people that aren’t real computer savvy, even though it was an inconvenience for me and required at least 3 extra steps for me. I am now lifting that embargo because I have a streamline way of uploading photos. I’m not giving out my phone number, but if you have it, you can text me.
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
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 ruinious Monday!
The pictures from the folder 2009-06-12 are from the Burnin’ Sensations Ames on the Half Shell concert in 2009. It rained that day, so the concert got moved to DJ’s Taphouse.
I believe that Burnin’ Sensations have played Ames on the Half Shell every single year since Ames on the Half Shell began. They are your basic classic rock cover band, but they put on a very fun show.
Here are some pictures:
By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flowers.
