There are two sets of pictures from the folder called 2009-07-02. One is from a trip to see the Boone City Band play and ran in to Josh and his progeny Wesley.
The other is a collection of pictures of Frank. I’m not entirely sure why we took the pictures of Frank, but we did.
It seems that this is the first time I’ve published any of these photos.
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve the 4th of July.
Last Friday I published pictures of when I saw Pete Buttigieg speak at the Iowa State Fair. It was the best place to hear somebody speak, so I decided to see him again.
A few weeks back he came to speak at the Farm Expo Grounds near Boone. It was a cold, rainy, Sunday morning, but I made my way out there with Jesse to see him speak.
Here are some pictures:
Buttigieg was one of the most impressive candidates I’ve seen to date. I was legitimately surprised how impressive he was. His eloquence. His master of issues. It was all very impressive. You can tell that he was a Rhodes Scholar. He was the first candidate I saw that dramatically moved the needle for me.
But I’m very far from committing to one candidate at this time.
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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is FORMAL PORTRAIT:
A FORMAL PORTRAIT is a PORTRAIT where the subject knows that they are being photographed and pose for the picture.
Happy photo harvesting!
Once gain, hitting up that sweet, sweet 2018 backlog. Back in September I went to see and ride Thomas the Tank with Bethany, Nora, and Bethany’s friend Harvey and her kids.
I frequently go down to the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad when Thomas is in town, but this was my first experience riding Thomas.
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day:
I’m not a parent, but I think that bringing kids over to see Thomas is a pretty good deal. While riding Thomas might be something of a rip-off, there is plenty of other things to do there for free. Riding Thomas also gets you a free ride on the trolley, so that makes it a little bit less of a rip-off.
Anyways, Nora loved it!
Once again, LINES was a very popular theme. We hit double digit submissions for WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE for the 5th week in a row! WooHoo!
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions!
Andy Sharp
Cathie Raley
Carla Stensland
Carla Stensland
Carla Stensland
Carla Stensland
Kim Barker
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Kim Barker
Tamara Peterson
Becky Parmelee
Cathie Raley
Christopher D. Bennett
Logan Kahler
Micky Augustin
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:
FORMAL PORTRAIT! What a great theme! But what is a FORMAL PORTRAIT? It is a PORTRAIT, where the subject knows that they are getting their picture taken. They don’t have to be dressed nice. They don’t have to be in a studio, they just have to know that they have to know they are getting their picture taken and therefore, they are posing for the picture.
I look forward to seeing your interpretations!
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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 formal Monday!
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!
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!
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.
Elainie and Sabas are home from San Diego which created absolutely the perfect opportunity to knock out Page 28 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.
Obviously this is based on Alfred Eisenstaedt picture of a sailor kissing a girl on VJ Day. However he wasn’t the only photographer to capture this moment. It was also captured by Navy photo journalist Victor Jorgensen. His pictures was published in “The New York Times” the next day. Eisenstaedt’s picture became famous in LIFE magazine.
Here are a couple other takes on the photo:
This leaves only the following images left to capture before finally closing the book on THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:
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.
I only need to take the pictures for PAGES 66-67. I just need a volunteer to be the subject. You know where to find me!
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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is STREET PHOTOGRAPHY:
Remember that a STREET PHOTOGRAPHY picture needs to be taken in public and needs to be random. Once again, I will suggest to make the picture black & white as an homage to Robert Frank, but it isn’t required.
Happy photo harvesting!
The pictures from the folder 2009-06-06 are from the first Ames on the Half Shell concert of the 2009 season. The band that played was Vivace. I’m not sure if they are still around, but they were just a real solid classic rock cover band. Classic rock cover band pretty much describes the local music scene in central Iowa and pretty much describes almost every band to ever play Ames on the Half Shell.
Here are some pictures:
I drastically upgraded the Ames on the Half Shell website before this season. It looks like they still use the same platform that I built, but they have upgraded the look considerably. What is interesting is that they added a “History” page that lists every band that has played Ames on the Half Shell, except they don’t have anything listed for 2009.
That same year they Ames on the Half Shell logo was completely redesigned. It looks like the logo has been updated since then, but still plays on the same theme.
If you want to see more pictures from Vivace’s 2009 performance at Ames on the Half Shell, click on the picture below:
The Union Street Theater Movie Club had our September Movie Night last Saturday. The B Movie was ACTION JACKSON. The Feature was BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. Jay made us ribs. It was a good night.
It was also a good night to knock off Page 121 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. Anders gamely volunteered to put himself in danger to be the subject of Page 121.
This type of image was all the rage at Iowa State Fair Photography Salon this year. I expect there will be many copycats next year. I don’t think I will be one of them, even though it is a fun image to take.
I took a couple more images, but the one above is one that will be physically adhered into the physical A PHOTO JOURNAL.
By knocking off Page 121 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, I am down to just the following pages left:
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 123 – Don’t take any more photographs -none- until you see something that emotionally moves you. Only then pick up your camera.
I still have to shoot two of the pages, but hopefully this project will be finished next week!
