Category Archives: Candid Portrait

Candid Portrait, Event, Photo Journal, Politics, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Page 106

September 13, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

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:

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:

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.

ARCHITECTURE

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

Happy photo harvesting!

Candid Portrait, Micky, Photo Journal, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Page 18

September 6, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

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.

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:

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:

SKY

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

Happy photo harvesting!

Candid Portrait, Photo Journal, State Fair, Street Photography

A Photo Journal – Page 64

September 5, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

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:

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.

Brandon, Candid Portrait, Football, Iowa State, Self-Portrait

Iowa State 29 Northern Iowa 26

September 3, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

On Saturday, the Iowa State Cyclones opened their season by thrashing an upstart team from Cedar Falls. The referees tried valiantly to keep the Purple Hawks in the game by awarding them 2 touchdowns they didn’t earn. The first was an incomplete pass that UNI “recovered” and returned for a touchdown, which shocked everybody in the stadium because you can not recover an incomplete pass. Let alone return it. The Purple Hawks second “touchdown” was an incomplete pass that was the product of a helluva scramble by their midget quarterback and then “caught” with the aid of the ground in the endzone by the Purple Hawk running back. I’m guessing the refs just felt bad for the QB since he was running for his life and couldn’t even be aided by his running back to make a simple catch. So they just gave them the touchdown.

The referees’ efforts were in vain. The Cyclones prevailed in the third overtime when Sheldon Croney bowed into the endzone to end the game and send the Cyclone faithful home, well relieved more than anything else.

The good news is that the Cyclones have 2 weeks to figure out what the hades just happened and fix a bunch of mistakes that kept a game that wasn’t all that close on the field, close on the scoreboard.

I took an old “point and shoot” camera to the game that Logan had given me a few weeks back. I thought I’d take it to play with since nobody really cares all that much about the UNI game, including what appeared to be most of the Iowa State players.

I didn’t take many pictures because as I tinkered with it I determined that this camera isn’t right for taking pictures in this situation. Also, the game was a little too close for comfort and while I know full well that nothing I do in the stands effects the outcome of the game, I have noticed that every time I fiddle with a camera, Iowa State starts to suck it up.

So here are a few pictures of the band and cheerleaders and from tailgating. We did a dry run for Taco Tailgate, which is still tentatively scheduled for either the TCU or Oklahoma State game.

Derrick couldn’t go to the game because he “cares about his job” or some nonsense like that, so Brandon took his ticket.

Animals, Baier, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Derrick, Ernie, Event, Faust, House, James, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Jill, Logan, Monica, Russell, Sara, Scottie D., Shannon, Steve, Teresa

2009-05-29

September 1, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

There are a wide variety of pictures in the folder 2009-05-29. They range from pictures of socks that Shannon made to Ernie trimming trees to baby worst birds to invites to my housewarming party to pictures Sara took at my housewarming party.

The guy in the picture with me and Jesse was my neighbor across the street from me. He would sometimes drop by at all hours of the night. He was a good guy, but his struggles overcame him and he passed away a couple years after this picture was taken.

However, looking at these pictures, it does inspire me to bring back the birthday party in 2020. I’m about 95% sure that I will.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

The Fruit of the Mystery Trees
Mr. Bunyan
Memorial Day Backyard
Shindy
Housewarming Invites

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flowers.

Baby Got Rack, Candid Portrait, Contests, Formal Portrait, Scottie D., State Fair

Baby Take State Fair

August 28, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

A couple Tuesdays back, Baby Got Rack took its award winning Meat Loaf Cupcakes to the Iowa State Fair to compete against the best the Cyclone State has to offer.

I believe there were 8 other combatants in the category of Combo/Specialty and 44 combatants altogether.

Here is a collection of photos from the day that started at 4:45 AM:

The unofficial roster for Baby Got Rack on this day was Scottie D., Hammer, Little Porter, and Humble Narrator. Of course Melissa contributed more than her fair share, but she doesn’t like to take any credit.

We once again won our category, but failed to win the Overall. I believe the beef winner won overall for the second year in a row. Tells me we might need to start hitting beef a little bit harder for next year.

Animals, Bethany, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Macro, Nora, Pufferbilly Days

Pufferbilly Days 2018 Petting Zoo

August 27, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Hitting up the backlog with another collection of pictures from Pufferbilly Days last year. These pictures are from when Bethany, Nora, and I visited the petting zoo.

I believe that to be all of my 2018 Pufferbilly Days pictures backlog.

Alexis, Brandon, Candid Portrait, Carla, Elainie, Holidays, Jason, Logan, Mom, Olympic Sports, Russ, Teresa

2009-05-10

August 24, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 2009-05-10 are from a Mother’s Day Celebration. I think it is the first family celebration I hosted at my current abode. Might have been one of the last.

I don’t know that I will ever host one again because my house is on the smaller side, but I do have a new grill and a “new” 60 year old dining room table that seats 8.

Here are some pictures:

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery I was able to restored the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” post to its original glory:

Mother’s Day

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a lift and some socks.

Bethany, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Contests, Naima, Nora, Pufferbilly Days

Last Pufferbilly Days

August 22, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Hitting up the 2018 backlog, thought now would be a good time to share some miscellaneous pictures from the Sunday of the 2018 Pufferbilly Days. Trying to get these out there before this year’s Pufferbilly Days festivities kickoff in a couple of weeks.

Bethany brought Nora down for Pufferbilly Days. Most of these pictures are from when Nora and Bethany rode a ride in the Pufferbilly Days Carnival.

The last two pictures are the two pictures that won their category in last year’s Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Andy, Candid Portrait, Carla, Cathie, Contests, Flowers, Kim, Micky, Monica, Music, Pufferbilly Days, Shannon, Steph, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 204 – MUSIC

August 12, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

There is 1 day left to vote in the polls that will determine what pictures I enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

If voting in all 6 polls at once is too much for you, you can at least cast a ballot in the last poll. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

Hidden Treasures of Boone County – Set 2

TS Poll - Loading poll ...

If you are ready to vote in all 6 polls, click on the link below:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Poll

Thanks for voting!

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It looks like there are lots of people that have MUSIC in their lives as MUSIC was a theme that once again hit double digits in submissions. This is, I believe, the 6th week in a row where a theme reached double digits in submissions.

There are only 4 weeks left in this cycle of themes. If you have any ideas or suggestions for themes for the next 4 weeks, leave them in the Comments section of this here post.

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

Andy Sharp

Monica Henning

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Stephanie Kim

Tamara Peterson

Cathie Raley

Christopher D. Bennett

Micky Augustin

Mike Vest

Carla Stensland

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:

FLOWER

FLOWER! What a great theme! As luck would have it, this time the FLOWER theme popped up during a time of year where almost all of us can just walk into our backyard and take a picture of a FLOWER. Or we can go to a park and take a picture of a FLOWER. This might be the best time of year for wildFLOWERs.

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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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.

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 flowery Monday!