Category Archives: Self-Portrait

Baier, Birthdays, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Self-Portrait

I Knew from the Start this is Exactly How You’d Leave

March 11, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start off this post by wishing Jason Baier a happy birthday. Happy birthday Baier:

I hope your birthday has all the joy, happiness, and bears doing cocaine you could ever want!

+++++++

I also need to wish Dawn a happy birthday. Happy birthday Dawn!

I just hope you enjoy your book!

+++++++

Time once again to work on the backlog. The images I’m about to share were taken last May and they never really fit into any other “An Artist’s Notebook” entries. Some are self-portraits I took shortly before I shaved off my beard for the trip to Miami Beach. The rest are pictures of Jesse before or after having a water balloon exploded on his face.

I made up four water balloons. Jesse volunteered to be the subject. Anders and Jay watched. Willy, was also in the crowd and he was deemed to be the most athletic of the the three so he was selected to throw the water balloons at Jesse. He missed 3 times in a row. THREE TIMES IN A ROW!!!

So finally, down to the last water balloon, Willy just pressed a water balloon against Jesse’s face. While some of the pictures of Jesse anticipating the water balloon look like the before picture in one of those commercials for t-shirts that fit better, he is actually it is anticipation of a balloon collision.

I Knew from the Start this is Exactly How You'd Leave

It always feels good to get some of the backlog knocked out. You never know, some day there might night be a backlog. On to the June backlog!

9 Emotions Project, Aaron, Alexis, Angie, Baby Got Rack, Bethany, Black & White, Blogging, Boone County Fair, Formal Portrait, Kanoa, Kio, Kupono, Mary, Mom, Road Trip, Saydie, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Town Sign Project, Travel

An Artist’s Notebook Post #4757

March 4, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It has been 6,052 days since August 9, 2006. 16 years. 6 months. 24 days. Since I first posted something in this little experiment known as “An Artist’s Notebook”. 145,2485 hours. 8,714,800 minutes. 522,892,800 seconds. Which is to say, it has been a minute.

There are some very important people in my life that I didn’t even know 16 years, 6 months, 24 days ago. There are people that I thought were important in my life that have come and gone in that 864 weeks and 4 days. It has been a journey. Some good. Some bad. Some of it ugly, I’m sure.

6,052 days ago I started this journal with the following words:

So here is the first journal entry. I felt like having as pretentious sounding name as possible for my journal. I have a few goals about this journal. My main goal is just to actually write in it. My second goal is to be as truthful as possible towards my true thoughts and feelings. I have another journal on another website, but it is really just a collection of sarcastic statements and cheap jabs at open faced sandwiches. This journal is meant to be about what my achievements and failures are in the world of art. What projects I am working on and what I have accomplished and what I have failed to accomplish. What I am photographing and what I am thinking about entering in photo contests. What I am thinking about. It might not always make sense. It might just be things I need to write down because they strike me as poignant or inspirational. This is in a small way an online “idea box”.

Since those words, I have posted 4,756 journal entries. (Normally I would do this little exercise on post #4,750, but I was in Vegas at that time.) This website is still something of an “idea box”. Sometimes I’m just working stuff out here. I don’t know why, sometimes I need to work stuff out in public. But this website is definitely more than just an “idea box”. It is a place where I post a few thoughts and a ton of pictures. I’ve gone through a few photo projects on these pages. From THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT to the 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT to THE SELFIE PROJECT to the POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT to name just a few. This website has also created a community with THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Which is one of my proudest achievements. Even if it sputtered and spit and barely survived in its first few years.

4,757 posts. We’ve been through some stuff. I hope to keep going through some stuff for many, many, many more posts. 4,757 posts and I feel like I’m just getting warmed up.

On these reflective posts, I like to publish a bunch of statistics that me and Joe Duff find interesting. So I might as well get to it.

Every post in “An Artist’s Notebook” is tagged with at least one Category. It is one of the easiest ways to navigate around the website. They are listed at the top of each post. Here are some statistics about Categories:

THE TOP 10 MOST USED CATEGORIES (RANK IN POST #4500 & INCREASE SINCE THEN)
10. Macro – 495 (NR)
9. Teresa – 525 (#9 – +70)
8. Carla – 530 (#8 – +54)
7. Shannon – 539 (#6 – +39)
6. Road Trip – 569 (#7 – +92)
5. Art – 622 (#5 – +116)
4. Jesse – 630 (#4 – +51)
3. Animals – 735 (#3 – +37)
2. Flowers – 881 (#2 – +62)
1. Black and White – 992 (#1 – +74)

Dropped from the rankings was WPC – Submissions

THE TOP 10 NON-HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Photoshop – 389 (NR)
9. Nature – 437 (#9 – +41)
8. Formal Portrait – 447 (#10 – +66)
7. WPC – Submissions – 493 (#6 – +38)
6. Macro – 495 (#7 – +54)
5. Road Trip – 569 (#5 – +92)
4. Art – 622 (#4 – +116)
3. Animals – 735 (#3 – +37)
2. Flowers – 881 (#2 – +62)
1. Black & White – 992 (#1 – +74)

Dropped from the rankings is PORTRAIT. I’m trying to eliminate it as a category, so it should eventually drop to zero.

NAIMA and CANDID PORTRAIT have a shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post #5,000.

THE TOP 10 HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Willy – 318 (NR)
9. Logan – 329 (NR)
8. Derrick – 330 (#7 – +10)
7. Kim – 342 (#8 – +45)
6. Jay – 348 (#6 – +11)
5. Mom – 458 – (#5 – +5)
4. Teresa – 525 (#4 – +70)
3. Carla – 530 (#3 – +54)
2. Shannon – 539 (#2 – +39)
1. Jesse – 630 (#1 – +51)

Dropping from the rankings was Jen and Vest.

Micky, Vest, and Jen have the best shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post #5,000.

If you are wondering what is your best way to improve your Photography 139 Score and crack the Top 10, it is simply to be active in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE or go on trips with me or participate in various other photo projects or be related to me. Now these aren’t necessarily the 10 people that have influenced my photography the most, but these are the 10 people that have made the largest imprint on this website.

I can tell you the people that have influenced my photography the most, but that is a tale for another time. But I’m pretty sure you can guess who.

If you have spent any time on the Photography 139 website, you know that on the left sidebar, the “Top 100 Categories” are listed. I thought I would give a little bit of coverage to the Bottom 10 of the Top 100. There are currently 200 categories used on the website. I could cover the Bottom 10, but they are mostly people that either very recently came into the life of this website by birth (Jonah Kahler) or another way (Nathanial, Mindi, Fran). Or people that I thought would be a bigger part of my life and then weren’t. No need to cover those people. The Category that is #200 probably needs to be purged.

THE BOTTOM 10 OF THE TOP 100

#100. Kelly – 71 (NR)
#99. Commercial – 72 (#97 – +1)
#98. Self-Portrait Project – 73 (NR)
#97. Andree – 75 (#94 – 0)
#96. Flat Earth Joe – 75 (NR)
#95. Lowell – 79 (#93 – +2)
#94. Photo Journal – 79 (#92 – 0)
#93. Suzie – 80 (NR)
#92. Pastor Sarah – 86 (#95 – +12)
#91. Becca – 87 (NR)

The following categories have either fallen out of the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 or climbed out of it:

Jaycees, Vacation, Mark, Life, and Birthdays.

Now something I should explain is that I used to put Flat Earth Joe and Joe Duff under the same Category of simply “Joe” out of laziness, but in the last 250 posts, I split them.

Of these categories, I think Pastor Sarah and Suzie have the best chance to climb out of this list. Since I’m not doing the Self-Portrait Project his year, it could fall out of the Top 100. And I’m not sure what part of my life Flat Earth Joe will have in the future. He has taken a hard turn down the path of terrible decision making and has been in jail for over a month now. I hope he gets sorted at some point in the future. But quite frankly, I can’t make a prediction on his future. I can barely make a prediction on my future. So it is hard to say what will happen to that category. As for the category of Andree, I talk to Andree regularly, but he rarely makes an appearance on this website.

The categories that are closest to falling into the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 are Faust, Birthdays, and Joe Duff. But I think at least Birthdays and Joe Duff are pretty safe. I talk to Faust now and again, but he rarely makes an appearance on the website. I still someday need to go visit the Godzilla statue in his town. But I also need to visit Nate and Bethany and Becca and Bill and Sarah and well it is quite a list. When I think about it, I have to sit down on the couch and watch another episode of THE LAST OF US.

That categories that are closest to cracking into the Top 100 are Mark, Layla, and Vacation. But since Mark isn’t really part of my life anymore, I don’t see that busting through. I also can’t see a vacation on my horizon any time soon. But I like Layla’s odds. A lot of spunk in that one.

“An Artist’s Notebook” is part of Photography 139. The 139 comes from Psalm 139:1-12. The Photography part comes from the fact this website is supposed to be filled with photography. So, what are the most popular photo galleries on the Photography 139 website? Glad you asked:

TOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHY 139 PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERIES (LAST 365 DAYS)

To View the Gallery, Click on its Representative Image

10. Las Vegas – 2023 – 42,941 Views

9. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020 – 47,269 Views

8. Jayton Poole – 2022 – 47,464 Views

7. 9 Emotions Project – 51,763 Views

6. Miami Beach – 2022 – 53,087

5. Christopher D. Bennett – 112,907 Views

4. Selfie Project -2022 – 162,595 Views

3. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images – 184,949 Views

2. Town Sign Project – 201,352 Views

1. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9 – 223,723 Views

At post 4,500 these were the 10 Most Popular Galleries:

10. Iowa
9. 9 Emotions Project
8. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 8
7. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9
6. Selfie Project – 2022
5. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020
4. Christopher D. Bennett
3. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images
2. Selfie Project – 2021
1. Town Sign Project

The galleries that are right outside the Top 10 that have a shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post 5,000 are:
+ Drone
+ Daisies
+ FatMumSlim 2022

But considering I’m done with the FatMumSlim project, I don’t know that its gallery will maintain any popularity. I only know one person that definitely loves my daisy pictures, but I don’t think they poke around my website much these days. However, perhaps the Era of Rodan139 is nearly upon us. I could live with that.

But what are the most popular single images of the last 365 days? Don’t worry, I’m gonna feed you baby birds.

Top 10 Photography 139 Images

10. Dexter, Iowa – 1,964 views

9. Badger, Iowa – 1,967 views

8. Selfie with Mom – 1,993 views

7. Coon Rapids, Iowa – 2,146 views

6. Moingona, Iowa – 2,190 views

5. Prego Alexis – 2,415

4. Saydie and Kyle – 3,231 views

3. Baby Got Rack at Boone County Fair – 4,423 views

2. Miami – 6,039 views

1. Selfie at Bellevue – 6,864 views

That selfie at Bellevue was the most popular picture on my website at Post 4,500 as well.

The final statistic I want to share with everybody before riding off into the sunset and not boring you with these statistics for another 250 posts is the 5 people with the highest Photography Subscriber Loyalty Scores.

1. Kio Dettman – 100%
2. Aaron Barnett – 99.7%
2. Angie DeWaard – 99.7%
2. Mary Green – 99.7%
5. Joe Duff – 99.5%

There are a lot of people in the 90% range that could break into this list next time. Jeanette, Jesse, Sarah, Logan, Tamara, Frank, Michelle, and Andy.

To be honest, I don’t know how this number is figured. I believe it is the percentage of emails from the subscriber list that you open within the first 24 hours of getting an email from me, but I really don’t know if we are being honest. But thanks for doing what it is you are doing!

If you are interested in checking out some of the milestone posts of the past, I got you. Click on any of the links below to check them out:

Post 1
Post 750
Post 850
Post 1,000
Post 1,101
Post 1,200
Post 1,447
Post 1,718
Post 2,500
Post 3,000
Post 3,252
Post 3,751
Post 4,000
Post 4,250
Post 4,500

I think that is enough for now. We’ll check in again in another 243 posts.

Black & White, History, Railroad, Ruins, Self-Portrait, Still Life

So You’d Think I Was Smart

February 18, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Hitting up the backlog again. This is a collection of images I took in April of 2022 that never found their way into a previous “An Artist’s Notebook”. There are pictures of the old Bennett Mine safe, a couple self-portraits, and pictures for the old Kate Shelley Museum in Moingona to name most of them.

I assume everybody know the story of Kate Shelley and I’m sure I’ve told it before, so I won’t go into it again. Maybe tell it again at some point in the future. Still have plenty of backlog to keep me occupied for the perceivable future.

Andy, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dad, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Micky, Monica, Nathanial, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Self-Portrait, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 386 – BOOKS

February 6, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

It is time to determine whether or not BOOKS was a popular theme. I thought it might be, because I’m pretty sure the Photography 139 readership is highly literate. But you won’t know until you scroll down:

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 30, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
2-Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks
3-Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
4-Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
5-Monica Jennings – 2 weeks
6-Nathanial Brown – 3 weeks
7-Mike Vest – 4 weeks
8-Tamara Peterson – 13 weeks
9-Brandon Kahler – 24 weeks
10-Linda Bennett – 27 weeks
11-Sarah Toot – 28 weeks
12-Angie DeWaard – 32 weeks
13-Dawn Krause – 36 weeks
14-Kim Barker – 42 weeks
15-Joe Duff – 43 weeks
16-Logan Kahler – 45 weeks (2)
17-Teresa Kahler – 54 weeks (2)
18-Carla Stensland – 54 weeks
19-Micky Augustin – 56 weeks
20-Andy Sharp – 57 weeks
21-Bill Wentworth – 58 weeks
22-Cathie Morton – 62 weeks (2)
23-Elizabeth Nordeen – 63 weeks
24-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 65 weeks
25-Kio Dettman – 67 weeks (3)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Texas) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Becky Parmelee (Missouri) – 2 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Nathanial Brown (Iowa)

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 5 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 14 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 25 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 28 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 29 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 33 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 37 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 43 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 44 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 46 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 55 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 55 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 57 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 58 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 59 weeks

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 63 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 64 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 66 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 68 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa) – 490 weeks

28 participants! That is a pretty great week!

This week we had submissions from:

+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Missouri
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

There were no new additions to the map. This year’s list is:

+ Arkansas
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Nevada
+ Missouri
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas

10 states is still pretty good for this time of year though!

This week I took my picture about 2 miles from my front door. I’m still not helping to grow the map.

There were no major milestones reached this week, BUT there were also no streaks snapped either. So that is good news.

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:

PLAY

PLAY! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a PLAY image? It is simply a picture of something that is PLAYed with or somebody at PLAY. There are all sort of different things that can be PLAYed. A sport. A game. A musical instrument. A human being. Or even a PLAY is PLAYed. Remember, what some might consider WORK others consider PLAY.

While considering possible subjects for your PLAY submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great picture:

It’s the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives.
-Fred Rogers

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

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. There is a limit of 3 submissions per participant. To be considered the photographer, you have to be the one that takes the picture. Don’t be stealing the work of other artists. You can submit pictures for other photographers that took pictures with your camera or phone, but give credit where credit is due.

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

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of PLAY in this place that is in a constant state of play next Monday.

Drone, Nature, Self-Portrait, WPC - Alternate

Rodan139: Ledges Selfie

February 1, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Back in May of last year, I took Rodan139 out to Ledges to take a few self-portraits. I think I was going to use one of these for the theme SELF-PORTRAIT for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, but took one that I liked better. But now feels like a good time to share them.

I know I’ve said this before. But I need to get Rodan139 out and about more often.

Camping, Candid Portrait, Carla, History, Jason, Nature, Self-Portrait, WPC - Reminder

On a Boat Like Leo

January 13, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Happy Friday the 13th to those who celebrate! I celebrate by going to Jimmy’s for their free sandwich Friday the 13th special. I’ll see you there.

This is a good time to share more pictures from my camping trip with Carla and Jason. I actually had to cut the camping trip shorter than I wanted because I had to drive from Spirit Lake to Johnston for a little kid’s birthday party. So I didn’t get to stay through until Sunday. Hopefully I get a chance to go camping with Carla and Jason again this year and won’t have to leave early.

We still had a pretty cool day with the time I was there. We visited the site of the Spirit Lake “Massacre” and then we tooled around I think 3 of the Great Lakes of Iowa. On a boat!

Still more pictures from this trip to share!

+++++++

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

REFLECTION

REFLECTION! What a great theme to kick of Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what in tarnation is a REFLECTION picture. It is simply enough a picture where a major compositional element of the picture is a REFLECTION. Mirrors obviously make great REFLECTIONs. But there are other things that REFLECT(ION) as well. For example water. I nicely waxed floor. Eyes. The list just goes on and on. Also, don’t forget that there is more than one definition of REFLECTION.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Nature, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Self-Portrait, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 382 – TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES

January 9, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It is time to begin the 10th year of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! I’m pumped! Are you pumped? Of course you are pumped? The theme is clearly called TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES, but I had a few people enter under a completely different theme PLANES, TRAINS, & AUTOMOBILES. I decided to accept their submissions because I am super magnanimous!

But the real question is, was TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 2, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Mary Green – 1 week (2)
2-Jesse Howard – 1 week
3-Monica Jennings – 1 week
4-Sarah Karber – 1 week
5-Sara Lockner – 1 week
6-Sabas Hernandez – 3 weeks
7-Becky Parmelee – 3 weeks
8-Willy McAlpine – 7 weeks
9-Tamara Peterson – 9 weeks
10-Brandon Kahler – 20 weeks
11-Linda Bennett – 23 weeks (3)
12-Sarah Toot – 24 weeks
13-Angie DeWaard – 28 weeks (2)
14-Dawn Krause – 32 weeks
15-Kim Barker – 38 weeks
16-Joe Duff – 39 weeks
17-Logan Kahler – 41 weeks
18-Teresa Kahler – 50 weeks (2)
19-Carla Stensland – 50 weeks (2)
20-Michelle Haupt – 51 weeks
21-Micky Augustin – 52 weeks
22-Andy Sharp – 53 weeks
23-Bill Wentworth – 54 weeks
24-Cathie Morton – 58 weeks
25-Elizabeth Nordeen – 59 weeks
26-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 61 weeks
27-Kio Dettman – 63 weeks (3)
28-Christopher D. Bennett – 485 weeks

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

WEEK 382 - TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES - BILL WENTWORTH

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 55 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 51 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 39 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 40 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 24 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa)

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 25 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 62 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 29 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 21 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 53 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 60 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 33 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 51 weeks

Becky Parmelee (Arkansas) – 4 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 64 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 1 week

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 54 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa)

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 42 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Michelle Haupt (Iowa) – 52 weeks

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 59 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 1 week

25 participants! A solid but not spectacular start to the new year!

We had submissions from:
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Arkansas
+ Texas
+ Pennsylvania
+ Nebraska

Pictures taken in 6 different states isn’t bad.

My submission for this week was taken about 15 miles from my front door.

Year 9 we finished with submissions taken in the following states:
+ California
+ Nevada
+ Arizona
+ Colorado
+ Texas
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ South Dakota
+ Minnesota
+ Iowa
+ Missouri
+ Arkansas
+ Louisiana
+ Wisconsin
+ Illinois
+ Michigan
+ Indiana
+ Ohio
+ New York
+ Pennsylvania
+ New Jersey
+ Washington D.C.
+ North Carolina
+ Florida
+ Alaska

25 different states. I hope we can beat that this year. Although, I don’t know that I will contribute much. Right now for 2023 I have work trips planned for Las Vegas and Chicago. I’m going to a concert in Omaha. I’m going to visit the triplets in Little Manhattan. I’m sure I will have other trips, but that is what is on the calendar for now.

I rely on my big travelers like Cathie and Sarah and Kim to help fill out the map. No pressure.

We did have many submissions from foreign countries as well. Spain and Mexico and France and a few Caribbean islands come to mind. I plan on tracking that better this year as well.

The big milestone this week was Michelle hitting 52 weeks and joining the 1 Year Streak Club! A big accomplishment! She has said that after hitting one year she would throw in the towel. I guess we’ll wait and see what happens.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses though. The following streaks went kaput:
+ Mary Green – 1 week
+ Monica Jennings – 1 week
+ Sarah Karber – 1 week
+ Sara Lockner – 1 week
+ Willy McAlpine – 7 weeks

REFLECTION

REFLECTION! What a great theme to kick of Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

While considering possible subjects for your REFLECTION picture reflect on the following quote and I’m sure you will create a magnificent REFLECTION image.

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First by reflection, which is noblest. Second, by imitation, which is easiest, and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
-Confucius

I look forward to seeing your interpretation of the theme.

RULES

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

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of REFLECTION in this place that holds up a mirror to me next Monday.

Brandon, Carla, Jay, Jesse, Nader, Naima, Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Teresa, Willy

Selfie Project – December 2022

January 4, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the December images from THE SELFIE PROJECT. I don’t know I did a tremendous lot in December, but I think there are a few good pictures in there.

Here are my favorite December images:

December 1

December 3

December 5

December 6

December 8

December 10

December 12

December 13

December 14

December 15

December 16

December 17

December 18

December 19

December 20

December 21

December 22

December 23

December 24

December 25

December 26

December 27

December 29

December 30

December 31

January 1

Then I had to make a photomosaic out of the 365 THE SELFIE PROJECT images of what I looked like on January 1:

The Photomosaic from the 2022 SELFIE PROJECT.

I’m not doing THE SELFIE PROJECT in 2023. Maybe I’ll bring it back in 2024. But it isn’t happening in 2023. Sorry to all this disappoints.

Art, Automobiles, Baseball/Softball, Basketball, Becca, Black & White, Brandon, Calendar, Christianity, Dad, Flowers, Geri, Gretchen, Holidays, Iowa State, Linda, Logan, Maven, Michelle, Mom, Music, Naima, Night, Photo of the Day, Road Trip, Sara, Self-Portrait, Shawn Lockner, Shorty, Still Life, Teresa, Work

Hello 2023.

January 1, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It is the first day of 2023. I’m not really a “resolutions” person. Pastor Adam was on vacation today so we had a substitute seromizer in church this morning. He gave an impassioned, longwinded sermon on resolve. It took more than a bit of my resolve to stay awake during the longest sermon these ears have heard in quite sometime.

But if I were to take the words on resolve to heart, I would say that I’m not without goals. Last year my main goal was to complete THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. I did that.

My main goal in 2023 is to complete Phase 2 of THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT and put the book together. I should be freeing up sometime to work on that buy dropping a couple of photo projects that I did in 2022.

My second goal in 2023 is to begin work and complete my new photo project. Details are still foggy, but it is to create Boone postcard. Not a bunch of Boone postcards. Not even to print up a bunch of one Boone postcard. But to make one big image of one Boone postcard. While the end goal is one image, it will involve taking at least several hundred (probably thousand) images. It will make more sense when I get going on it.

My third goal in 2023 is to keep the positive momentum that was achieved in 2022 in participation rates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I’m not likely to go out and beat the drums looking for participants, but doesn’t mean you guys can’t. Right?

My fourth goal in 2023 is to consider and maybe take action on visiting and photographing every State Park in Iowa.
That seems more straight forward than it actually is because in addition to State Parks there are State Forests and State Preserves and State Recreation Areas. Boone County contains 3 Minor State Forests alone! We will see where this one goes, but we all know I could use the exercise.

I don’t have any goals related to the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. That type of stuff is a considerable amount of luck. So best not to have goals that are out of one’s hands. Maybe my goal should just be to give my best effort.

Hopefully 2023 is a good year for all of us!

+++++++

Time to share the December images for the FatMumSlim Photo A Day Challenge. This is also the final collection of images as I will be dropping this pursuit in 2023. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it still eats up a fair amount of time. Hopefully time freed up that I can use to pursue some of those 2023 goals.

Here are the December images:

December 1 – I Love This!

December 2 – I Bought This!

December 3 – Starts with T

December 4 – I Held This

December 5 – Something Red

December 6 – Peace

December 7 – Tree

December 8 – Looking Up

December 9 – Small

December 10 – Out + About

December 11 – Free Choice

December 12 – Lights

December 13 – Something Green

December 14 – Decoration

December 15 – A Star

December 16 – Candy Cane

December 17 – A Hat

December 18 – I Made This!

December 19 – Joy Is…

December 20 – Begins with S

December 21 – On the Floor

December 22 – A Gift

December 23 – A Tradition

December 24 – Someone I Love

December 25 – My Day

December 26 – This is Delish

December 27 – Colourful

December 28 – A Book

December 29 – Us

December 30 – How I Relax

December 31 – Best Part of 2022

Top 9 Most Popular Images

I did enjoy this project and I’m not walking away from it because I didn’t enjoy it. I “met” numerous other people in this community that I will continue to follow, like @bea.photoaday, @sara.fms.photoaday, @outnbout, @gerkgirl, @pink_koffie, and @lostfate13.

But there were other things I didn’t like. Most people used the challenge to curate images, rather than take new images every day. The person that ran the challenge is Australian. That meant that a lot of the prompts were seasonal for Australia, meaning they weren’t seasonal for Iowa. Prompts repeated an awful lot. Not that they wouldn’t after 365 days, but I felt like they repeated more than necessary.

These minor complaints aside, I would consider doing it again in a future year. Just not this year. I’m sure many of you have minor complaints about how I run THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE as well.

Alexis, Anders, Andy, Baier, Becky, Bethany, Brandon, Calendar, Colleen, Dawn, Derrick, Elainie, Elizabeth, Holidays, Jason, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Kim, Kio, Michelle, Micky, Nature, Nora, Road Trip, Russell, Sabas, Sara, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Shannon, Teresa, Willy, WPC - Reminder

Goodbye 2022.

December 31, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Happy New Year to those of you sheeple that follow the Gregorian Calendar. I for one, moved to Unix time years ago. So if I have a birthday party this year (Sara wants me to have one, but I doubt it happens) the invites will list the time of the event in Unix Time, like an adult. But I don’t want to tell you what calendar to use.

I think you should look at the options. By the Gregorian Calendar, when this post publishes, it is the year 2022. But there are other calendars.

Here is a list of other calendars and what year it is if you use those calendars:

Hebrew – 5783
Islamic – 1444
Chinese – 4659
Coptic – 1739
Japanese – Reiwa 4
British Regnal – 1 Cha. 3
Buddhist – 2566
Nanakshahi – 554
Hindu – 5123
Juche – 111
Byzantine – 7531
Roman – 2775
Holocene – 12022
Unix Time (like an adult): 1672531199 (roughly)

As you can tell, Unix Time is clearly superior.

Even though I don’t celebrate New Years, I do like to give holiday Power Rankings.

Here are my champagne power rankings:

CHAMPAGNE POWER RANKINGS
10. All champagne is trash.
9. All champagne is trash.
8. All champagne is trash.
7. All champagne is trash.
6. All champagne is trash.
5. All champagne is trash.
4. All champagne is trash.
3. All champagne is trash.
2. All champagne is trash.
1. Champere

So Happy New Years to those who celebrate it. I will have been asleep a couple hours when the bell tolls for 2022. I’m old, lame, and don’t get invited to adult parties.

+++++++

Time to reveal the December image for the 2023 Photography 139 Gregorian Calendar:

December

The December image is a picture of the old mill in Independence, Iowa. I took it while harvesting the town signs of Buchanan County for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. In retrospect, it isn’t a great image for the brutal colds and snows of December. But it was the last selected image and December was the last month that didn’t have an image. These things tend to sort themselves out.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: May 28, 2022 – 9:41 AM
LENS: Tamron 17-28 f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 28mm
APERTURE: f/9
EXPOSURE: 1/320
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS: +.3

I have no calendar images to share tomorrow. Or again until December. If the Photography 139 Calendar exists again in 2024.

+++++++

This year when I handed a calendar to somebody I asked them to pick a favorite image. Then I photographed them with their favorite image. I also asked people that I didn’t hand deliver a calendar to to pick a favorite image and then send me a picture of them with that image. Like 3 people did that. So good for them? Not that such treachery might factor in who gets a calendar next year…

I forgot to do this for the attendees of the Westhaven Christmas, so this won’t be held against them. Maybe Nate. I did ask him and he said “No problem” and then never sent me a picture.

Any way here is a collection of, but not comprehensive collection of pictures of people with their favorite pictures from the calendar:

Shannon

Bethany and Nora

Colleen

Also Colleen

Also, also Colleen

Andy

Baier (Jason)

More Baiers (Olivia)

More Baiers (Ben)

More Baiers (Carrie and J.J.)

More Baiers (Will)

Russell

Michelle

Elizabeth

Willy

Micky

Kio

Kim

Brandon

Teresa

Logan

Elainie

Sabas

Johnathan

Jason

Carla

Dawn

Lockners

Gorshes

Scott

Anders

Becky

Alexis

Jesse

Jay

Nader

It is possible more pictures might trickle in, if people I mailed calendars to haven’t received them yet. I think every picture got picked except for January. Poor January. Might try this again next year. We’ll see if the people like it.

+++++++

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

BODY PART

IT IS POSSIBLE I MIGHT ROAD TRIP ON MONDAY. IF I DO, THERE WILL BE NO ADDITIONAL REMINDERS. YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!!!

BODY PART! What a great final theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a BODY PART image? Simply put, it is a picture where a major compositional element of the image is a BODY PART. Doesn’t have to be your BODY PART. Could be somebody else’s. It could belong to an animal. There are so many BODY PART(s) to choose from! Heads. Shoulders. Knees. Toes. Just to name a few.

Happy photo harvesting!