Category Archives: Candid Portrait

Art, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Flowers, Macro, Nature, Night, Railroad

2010-06-05 Part 2

January 9, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

There were a literal ton of images in the folder 2010-06-05. Nearly 700. So adding the pictures that belonged in the gallery to the gallery, was no small feat. Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to post all of those images. It would be well over 100.

That being said, a ton of pictures from State Center and an abandoned railroad bridge that used to be in the heart of downtown Ames are still coming your way. This one might get long. Buckle up Dorothy:

That old train bridge has since been torn down. I believe it was the railroad tracks that ran a commuter train “The Dinkey” between downtown Ames and the Iowa State Campus. I used to like to visit that bridge on my lunch breaks or sometimes after work. It is sad that is gone.

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:

RWPE #22 – PAINTING WITH LIGHT

Flame On

Adumbrate

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK NO. 26 ALPHA

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK NO. 26 BETA

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK NO. 26 GAMMA

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a trip to Ledges.

Alexis, Candid Portrait, Elainie, Kupono, Nature, Road Trip, Vacation, WPC - Reminder

Loess Hills

January 8, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 14 Comments

Back during the week of Labor Day, I took a week of vacation. I believe it was the only full week of vacation I took in 2020. One of the things I did while on vacation was take a road trip out to the Loess Hills. My ultimate destination was Preparation Canyon State Park. I think I may have entered from the wrong side, because I didn’t really find all that much there, but a few miles from the State Park, I found a beautiful Loess Hills observation deck. Here are some pictures:

If you don’t know about the Loess Hills, here is some information from the Wikipedia:

The dominant features of this landscape are “peak and saddle” topography, “razor ridges” (narrow ridges, often less than 10 feet (3 m) wide, which fall off at near ninety-degree angles on either side for 60 feet (18 m) or more), and “cat-step” terraces (caused by the constant slumping and vertical shearing of the loess soil). The soil has a characteristic yellow hue and is generally broken down into several units based on the period of deposition (Loveland, Pisgah, Peoria). Loess is known locally as “sugar clay” because it can be extremely hard when dry, but when wet, loses all cohesion. The Loess Hills of Iowa are remarkable for the depth of the drift layer, often more than 90 feet (27 m) deep. The only comparable deposits of loess to such an extent are located in Shaanxi, China.

It is a uniquely beautiful part of Iowa.

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

FAMILY

FAMILY! The first theme of the 8th (full) year of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

What defines a FAMILY photo? First, you need to define what makes a FAMILY? Is it a group of people that share the same Deoxyribonucleic Acid? Or does the definition stretch a little bit farther than what can be placed in a test tube? Is a FAMILY a group of people that have a common set of beliefs? A common set of values? A common set of goals? A common set of experiences? Or perhaps the one thing that binds a group and makes them a FAMILY is LOVE? I’m sure there are more than a few that have come from a dysfunctional FAMILY would argue that love does not define a FAMILY. And others that would argue that just because you share that double helix with somebody, doesn’t make them FAMILY at all.

Personally, I like to think that FAMILY is more than what is in the blood in your body, but is more defined by the people (sentient beings) that you would spill blood for. Yours or others.

There is a scene in one of my favorite movies (Top 100 for sure) GARDEN STATE where the main character (Andrew Largeman) is discussing the idea of home with his romantic interest (Sam). They have the following interaction:

Andrew Largeman: You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone.

Sam: I still feel at home in my house.

Andrew Largeman: You’ll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it’s gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It’s like you feel homesick for a place that doesn’t even exist. Maybe it’s like this rite of passage, you know. You won’t ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it’s like a cycle or something. I don’t know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.

Happy photo harvesting!

Alexis, Andy, Becky, Candid Portrait, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elainie, Elizabeth, Jesse, Kio, Kupono, Micky, Monica, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 277 – TRANSPORTATION

January 4, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

This is the final week of the Hall of Fame THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes. TRANSPORTATION is a good way to end it, I suppose. 66! That is the number of weeks in a row we have hit double digit submissions! WooHoo!

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

Kio Dettman

Becky Parmelee

Christopher D. Bennett

Tamara Peterson

Carla Stensland

Dawn Krause

Micky Augustin

Elizabeth Nordeen

Cathie Raley

Monica Henning

Andy Sharp

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Jesse Howard

If you want to take a look back at all the images submitted for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – HALL OF FAME, click on the link below:

Weekly Photo Challenge – HOF

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:

FAMILY

FAMILY! The first theme of the 8th (full) year of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

Personally, I like to think that FAMILY is more than what is in the blood in your body, but is more defined by the people (sentient beings) that you would spill blood for. Yours or others.

Andrew Largeman: You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone.

Sam: I still feel at home in my house.

Andrew Largeman: You’ll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it’s gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It’s like you feel homesick for a place that doesn’t even exist. Maybe it’s like this rite of passage, you know. You won’t ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it’s like a cycle or something. I don’t know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.

Sam: [cuddles up to Andrew] Maybe.

Meditate on what FAMILY means to you and take an image that shows exactly that.

Then send me you submission(s) by 11 AM next Monday. Remember, while I might consider you FAMILY, the picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing our idea of FAMILY in this not quite imaginary, but not quite real place next Monday.

Billy, Candid Portrait, Dory, J.T., Laura, Nate

Miller Time – 2020 – Vol. 2

January 3, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

Figured today would be another good day to share more pictures from when I travelled to Manhattan, Kansas to take pictures of the Millers. This was meant to be more of a formal portrait, but turned out to be candid portraits, which is perfectly okay, by my standards.

Got plenty more pictures from this photo session still to come!

Billy, Calendar, Candid Portrait, Dory, J.T., Laura, Nate, Nature

Miller Time – 2020 – Vol. 1

December 27, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

The picture for the August in the 2021 Photography 139 Calendar was taken after the derecho devastate a good chunk of Iowa. It was taken of the elevator in Luther with a fisheye lens. It was taken on August 11, 2020.

Here are some details on the photo:

DETAILS

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M2
LENS: Fisheye
EXPOSURE: 1/320
ISO: 100
LATITUDE: 41.96685
LONGITUDE: -93.82281

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Back in October, I made a daytrip to Manhattan, Kansas to take pictures of the triplets around the time of their first birthday. Although a more formal portrait was planned, candid portraits more ruled the day. 1 year olds (particularly 3 of them) don’t cooperate much for formal portraits.

Here are some of my favorites:

When we got to the park, we ran into a group of witches. Just kidding, it was a group of women that were in the woods, dancing in a circle. They gave us bubbles though, so they were good witches… errr… women dancing in the woods in a circle.

There are definitely more pictures from this day to come.

Black & White, Calendar, Candid Portrait, Derrick, Music, Naima, Night, Photoshop, Sara, Still Life

2010-05-30

December 19, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

As I’ve started to distribute the Photography 139 2021 Calendars, it is time to start revealing the pictures that made the cut:

Front Cover

The front cover image is an HDR image of Naima wading into the pond at Dickcissel Park while the sun goes down in the west. It was taken on November 2, 2018. It is the oldest picture in next year’s calendar.

Details
CAMERA: SONY ILCA-77M2
LENS: DT 18-135MM F3.4-5.6 SAM
FOCAL LENGTH: 18MM (27MM IN 35MM)
APERTURE: f/4.5
ISO: 100
FIELD OF VIEW: 67.4 degrees
LATITUDE: 42.03875
LONGITUDE: -93.81687

I will reveal one calendar image every day, for the rest of 2020.

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The pictures from the folder 2010-05-30 are from a series of pictures I took at both Rieman Music and on a bridge over 235 in Des Moines. Derrick was an assistant for the pictures at Rieman Music. Sara was an assistant for the pictures of 235.

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:

Euphony

RWPE #21 – HARMONY

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK NO. 25

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

Amanda, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Logan

Amanda and Logan – Pre-Dahlia No. 1

December 13, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Today I want to share a few photos I took of Amanda and Logan a couple weeks before Dahlia was born. These were taken out at Don Williams and They were definitely looking for some silhouette pictures. You’ll be able to tell that, I’m sure…

There is one more collection of images from this photo shoot still left to be curated.

Candid Portrait, Flowers, Macro, Mom, Teresa

Marnie

December 11, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Here is another collection of pictures of me playing with the concept of freezing a flower in ice and then taking a picture of it. The flower is a zinnia. I believe that this is the time I switched to making ice with distilled water. I should have kept better notes. But I didn’t.

I still wasn’t done playing with this idea. I assure you.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is FACELESS PORTRAIT:

FACELES PORTRAIT

A FACELESS PORTRAIT is simply a portrait of somebody that doesn’t show their face.

Happy photo harvesting!

Candid Portrait, Carla, Cathie, Elizabeth, Jesse, Kim, Kio, Michelle, Micky, Mom, Naima, Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, Toby, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 273 – FOOD

December 7, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

It is with a heavy heart that I want to start today’s post by honoring my cousin Alan, who suddenly passed away last Monday morning. He was a wonderful person and will definitely be missed. Here is his obituary, so you can get to know him a little bit as well:

Alan Lee Johnson
May 3, 1967 – November 30, 2020

Alan Lee Johnson, age 53, died suddenly on Monday, November 30, 2020 from a massive heart attack.

Alan, the son of Sheryl and Terry Johnson, was born at Boone County Hospital, May 3, 1967, at 8:17 a.m. and weighed 8lbs and 3oz.

He attended Lincoln Elementary School and was baptized at Central Christian Church where he attended Sunday School, participated in choir, Christian Youth Fellowship (CYF), and represented the youth at The Sanctuary Cornerstone Dedication Ceremony. In 1985, he graduated from Boone High School where he was an active member of the Swing Choir, chorale, theatre, and yearbook committee. Post high school he attended one semester at Iowa State University before moving to Los Angeles, California; Ames, Iowa; Jacksonville Beach, Florida; and most recently Des Moines, Iowa where he was employed at Vision for Less.

Alan loved music. He loved singing it, playing it on the piano, dancing to it, listening to it and sharing it with his nephews. Alan also enjoyed listening to the many programs on National Public Radio and reading a wide variety of books. He kept quotes that spoke to him and cherished his books. He enjoyed creating and viewing art with his sister and nephews and attending live musical and theatrical performances. Alan spent many years living two blocks off of the beach in Jacksonville, Florida. He relished the relaxed, unhurried attitude, beautiful scenery, and mild weather. Walking with his best friend David and his dog Humphrey along the beach while collecting sharks’ teeth, was a favorite activity along with piloting the family’s speed boat for his friends and family. Alan’s quick wit, gentle spirit, accepting, loyal and selfless nature made him a friend to all who knew him.

He is preceded in death by his grandparents: Doris and Lyle Paris, Maxine (Peg) and Richard (Dick) Johnson, aunt Charlene Paris, uncles Gerald Bennett and Dean Walter, cousins Olivia and Samuel Bennett.

Alan is lovingly remembered by his parents; Terry and Sheryl (Paris) Johnson; sister Dee Ann (Johnson) Wulbern; brother-in-law Shands Wulbern; nephews Carsten Alan and Andrew Shands Wulbern; closest friend David Henderson; aunts Charlotte Bennett, Delores (Dee) VanDePol, Lori Sebring and Dianna (Annie) Walter; uncles Lyle (Butch) Paris, Gary Paris, Richard VanDePol, Roger Sebring; and many loving cousins.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the family requests no home visits, and a visitation is not planned. Thoughts, prayers and cards will be appreciated, 702 Fremont Street, Boone, IA 50036. A private burial will be held at Linwood Park Cemetery at a later date.

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be given to the Boone Food Pantry at IMPACT Community Action Partnership – Boone at 606 Greene Street, Boone, IA 50036.

Special thanks to all of the precious friends, old and new, that have held Alan in their hearts throughout the years.

I live in the same town as most of my cousins (on my Mom’s side of the family). There are a couple spread out in other states, but most live in central Iowa. That being said, it is rare that I see any of them. With the pandemic, I see them even less. Alan is the last cousin I’ve seen in person. That was in May, I think. His parents took over my Grandma’s house and I was over there looking through some of Grandma’s possessions. Alan was there helping point out some of the best stuff or we were laughing at some of her “worst” stuff.

When I heard of his sudden passing, it made me think about the last time all of the cousins were together. It was 2002. At Grandpa’s funeral. Grandma passed away on Christmas Day in 2019. She had a visitation a couple weeks later. Not all of the cousin’s made it back for that, cause there was supposed to be a family burial service on Mother’s Day weekend, where she was to be lain to rest next to Grandpa. That was another thing taken away from us by this pandemic. When the service happened, it was limited to 10 people.

I don’t know that all of my cousin’s would’ve made it back for the funeral, but I like to think they would have.

When I heard the news, I went to a trunk where I had put away some old pictures. In there I found a picture taken on the day of Grandpa’s funeral. The day that would end up being the last day that all of us were together. 18 years ago.

If you are wondering which one in the picture is Alan, he isn’t in the picture. When everybody gathered up on the stage in the Fellowship Hall of the Central Christian Church, he wasn’t there. He had ran home to take some medication (if memory is correct). I don’t know why we couldn’t wait 15 minutes for him to get back to take this picture. My memory doesn’t hold that reasoning.

If I had to take a guess, it was because it was thought that we would be able to get this cousin picture at the next family gathering. A wedding. A family reunion. God forbid, another funeral (and there have been too many in the following 18 years). Somewhere along the way, a picture with Alan in the mix would be taken. It just never happened. That makes me even sadder, that whatever happened on the day of Grandpa’s funeral that caused this picture to be taken without Alan happened.

Since I don’t have a picture of Alan easily available, I lifted this picture off his Facebook page:

It was from near the last day I saw him. He was helping sort Grandma’s attic treasures down to the garage for the family to go through. I’m sure it isn’t the best picture of him out there, but I think his personality and sense of humor really comes through in it.

Rest in peace Alan. You are missed.

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62 straight weeks y’all. Sorry, I meant 62 straight weeks all of you! Good to see so many of you have good food in your lives! Also glad to see a submission by a 9, or maybe a 10 year old. Makes me proud to see that THE RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE ripples across generations.

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

Elizabeth Nordeen

Kim Barker

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Jesse Howard

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Cathie Raley

Katelyn Augustin

Micky Augustin

Mike Vest

FACELESS PORTRAIT

FACELESS PORTRAIT! What a great theme! But what is a FACELESS PORTRAIT? A FACELESS PORTRAIT is simply a picture of somebody that doesn’t include their face. It doesn’t even have to include their head. It is also possible to do this theme without including any parts of their body at all. Pictures of objects that are unique to a person can also be a FACELESS PORTRAIT.

Click on a link below to have a look back at all the times in the past that FACELESS PORTRAIT has been a theme:

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 6 – FACELESS PORTRAIT

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 81 – FACELESS PORTRAIT

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 144 & WEEK 145

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 181 – FACELESS PORTRAIT

WPC – WEEK 252 – FACELESS PORTRAIT

I look forward to seeing the new 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 faceless Monday!

Candid Portrait, Dahlia, Logan, Mom, Still Life

To Catherine

November 12, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

It has been several years since I have done anything with the grapes in my yard. This year there was such a bounty of grapes, it felt like a waste to not make some grape jelly with them. Logan really wanted in on this because he has increasingly been getting into cooking. The only problem is that neither of us knew how to make jelly, so we had to have my Mom teach us.

We did it at Logan’s house because, he has a wide open kitchen and because he needed to watch Dahlia, and as an added bonus, we didn’t mess up my kitchen.

Here are some pictures from the process from back in early September:

The secret to a great jelly… lots of sugar. So much sugar. I pretty much bought Hy-Vee out of sugar. But hopefully, there are enough grapes next year to do this again.