Category Archives: Formal Portrait

Band Festival

The last two years my church has manned the food stand at the Municipal Band Festival. The first year it was pretty successful, but maybe slightly unethical. Last year, it wasn’t very successful from a financial standpoint, but people that worked it had a good time.

Here are some pictures from last year:


Band Festival - 2019

Band Festival - 2019

Band Festival - 2019

Band Festival - 2019

Band Festival - 2019

Band Festival - 2019

Band Festival - 2019

Band Festival

I imagine we won’t have a hand in it this year for a wide variety of reasons. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the food stand replaced by a couple food trucks. But what do I know.

WPC – WEEK 233 – FASHION

FASHION barely drew enough interest to march our double digit submission streak all the way to 22. I mean, if you’ve seen the way my friends dress, it is obvious that FASHION wasn’t going to appeal to many of them. Not everybody is a dandy like me.

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


WEEK 233 - FASHION - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 233 - FASHION - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 233 - FASHION - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 233 - FASHION - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 233 - FASHION - MICHELLE HAUPT
Michelle Haupt

WEEK 233 - FASHION - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 233 - FASHION - SHANNON BARDOLE-FOLEY
Shannon Bardole-Foley

WEEK 233 - FASHION - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 233 - FASHION - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 233 - FASHION - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 233 - FASHION - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 233 - FASHION - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

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:



JUNK

JUNK! What a great theme! But what is a JUNK photo? Well for starters, I should start by pointing that there is a difference between JUNK and GARBAGE. JUNK is often something that has been discarded or set aside because it has little value. GARBAGE is something to be thrown away because is has ZERO value. For example Congressman Steve King is a piece of garbage. He has zero value. It should be pointed out that JUNK has more than one meaning. It can be something of poor quality. JUNK is also slang for drugs. People can have JUNK in their trunk. For examples, I direct you to my friend Tim’s Snapchat stories. A JUNK is also a type of ship. JUNK is also slang for male genitalia, but please don’t send those to me. Send them to that girl you met at the bar last night that gave you a fake phone number. (Okay, don’t do that either.)

As always, I look forward to 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.

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.

+++++++

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 junky Monday!

2009-09-09

The pictures in the folder 2009-09-09 are from two road trips I took back in 2009. One was a trip with my Mom, Grandma, and Teresa to Kalona. Kalona has always been one of my favorite places to visit. It has been too long since I have been there, that is for sure.

The second road trip was one I took with Jay and Jesse to visit Faust up in Mankato. It also has been too long since I have visited Faust. I don’t lack proper motivation. Mankato has a sweet Godzilla statue that I still haven’t seen.

Here are some pictures from those road trips:


Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

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:

Vacation Stuff – One

Vacation Stuff – Two

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve some family photos I did for Jim’s lady friend Pam.

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

A big thank you to all the people that showed up and supported the Youth Group on Ash Wednesday! This year, it was a huge success! We raised more than double the money that we raised on last year’s Spaghetti Fundraiser!

Here are some pictures from the event:


Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Ash Wednesday Spaghetti Fundraiser

Don’t worry if you couldn’t make it on Wednesday. There will be at least one more, possibly 2 more fundraisers for the mission trip to Indianapolis in the next couple of months!

+++++++

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


WEEK 233 - FASHION
FASHION

Remember a FASHION photo is any photo where you get an look at the clothing that the people are wearing.

Happy photo harvesting!

WPC – WEEK 232 – OLD

OLD was not the most popular WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme, but we still managed to have double digit submission for the 21st straight week with a certain amount of ease!

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


WEEK 232 - OLD - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 232 - OLD - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 232 - OLD - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 232 - OLD - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 232 - OLD - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 232 - OLD - MONICA HENNING
Monica Henning

WEEK 232 - OLD - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 232 - OLD - MICHELLE HAUPT
Michelle Haupt

WEEK 232 - OLD - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 232 - OLD - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 232 - OLD - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 232 - OLD - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 232 - OLD - JESSE HOWARD
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:


WEEK 233 - FASHION
FASHION

FASHION! What a great theme! But what is a FASHION photo? It doesn’t have to be a high FASHION photo. You don’t need to go to a FASHION show. You don’t need to find somebody that is a fancy dresser. All a FASHION photo needs to be is a picture that shows what somebody is wearing. Probably best to look for somebody that is dressed at least interesting. You can ask them to make their best FASHION model pose, but it isn’t necessary.

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.

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.

+++++++

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 fashionable Monday!

Birthday Road Trip – Misc.

Hey! Guess what? One week from today is Ash Wednesday! Do you know what that means? It means that it is another chance to come support the Youth Group’s Mission Trip to Indianapolis!

We will be holding a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser from 6-7 PM at the Boone First United Methodist Church. You can come down there and slop down some delicious spaghetti for whatever price you deem acceptable. Just throw some of your spare scratch in the donation basket and knock down as much spaghetti as your heart can take. Some garlic bread too!



All the information you need is right there. Hope to see many of you there!

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This is the second to last collection of images from my Birthday Road Trip. This is a collection of some random stops and places that just didn’t quite have enough pictures to warrant their own post. Places like Fort Atkinson and The Small Church near Festina.


2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

The last collection of images from my Birthday Road Trip are the cruddy cell phone pictures I took that day.

WPC – WEEK 231 – FAMILY

20 WEEKS IN A ROW! That is right, this is the 20th straight week with double digit submissions! Glad to see there are so many people out there that belong to a FAMILY and like them enough to take their picture!

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


WEEK 231 - FAMILY - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - LOGAN KAHLER
Logan Kahler

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - MICHELLE HAUPT
Michelle Haupt

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - SHANNON BARDOLE-FOLEY
Shannon Bardole-Foley

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - ELIZABETH NORDEEN
Elizabeth Nordeen

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 231 - FAMILY - LOGAN KAHLER
Logan Kahler

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:


WEEK 232 - OLD
OLD

OLD! What a great theme! But what is an OLD photo? An OLD photo is a photo of anything that you consider to be OLD. People can be OLD. Animals can be OLD. Things can be OLD. Of course OLD is a relative term. When I was a kid, I thought something that was 20 years old was an antique! But now I think something that is 20 years old is just getting broke in!

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.

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.

+++++++

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 aged Monday!

2009-08-29

The pictures from the folder named 2009-08-29 are mostly from a photo session I did with Stephanie. If I recall correctly, these pictures were supposed to be a headshot for her music career. I decided to convert those to black and white and save them for posterity.

The other pictures in this folder are from my garden.


2009-08-29

2009-08-29

2009-08-29

2009-08-29

2009-08-29

2009-08-29

2009-08-29

2009-08-29

Stephanie Kim - 2009

Stephanie Kim - 2009

Stephanie Kim - 2009

Stephanie Kim - 2009

Stephanie Kim - 2009

Stephanie Kim - 2009

Stephanie Kim - 2009

This is the first time that I’ve published any of these images.

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve Ottumwa, Iowa and fire.

2009-08-27

The pictures in the folder 2009-08-27 are from a photo session I did with Jill. It was the beginning, I think, or near the beginning of a thing I did for a couple years I call THE PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT. It was something I did where at least once a week I took pictures entirely for me. Meaning, I had this list of ideas for pictures I wanted to take, but I would never take them because I always seemed to be working on somebody else’s project. At least that is how I felt. It might be something I need to get back to doing. We’ll see.

One of these pictures was turned into a piece of artwork where I placed it inside of a window and then hung it on my wall. It was on my wall for several years until it started to fall apart and I moved on to a different piece of art for that piece of wall. I think its remains are still in the basement somewhere. You don’t want to go to my basement, unless it is for Monthly Movie Night. Then you definitely want to go to my basement.


No. 14

No. 14

No. 14

No. 14

No. 14

No. 14

No. 14

No. 14

No. 14

One of those pictures does still hang in my office. The office is filled with pictures that have been retired from the living room.

It has been 3, maybe 4 years, maybe 5 years since the last time I talked to Jill. I think one day she just woke up and thought, “Screw that guy.” Which raises a good question: Why haven’t more people had that thought? I mean besides Eric, who one day, woke up and thought “screw that guy” and then sent me a formal email ending our friendship. A few weeks after he lived with me for a week. If I still had that email, I would print it out, frame it, and put it on my wall. It was maybe the best rejection letter I’ve ever received.

Regardless, I hope she is doing well and I hope Eric is doing the best that he can. We weren’t meant to be in each other’s lives.

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

No. 14

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Stephanie and my green thumb. Not together though.

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.

+++++++

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.