Category Archives: Ruins

Just Let Me Do What I Do Best; You’re Better Off Playing Russian Roulette

The world wasn’t ready for these alternates for last week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme RUINS. Not sure the world is ready yet, but I can’t hold them back any longer:


Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Alternate - Ruins

Most of these pictures were taken down at the Kate Shelley Museum in Moingona. For those of you from Minnesota, that is pronounced MON like the MON in MONtana. No MOYN like the MOINes in Des Moines. The Kate Shelley Museum is closed to the public while they try to raise money to fix it. However, considering the Historical Society’s current situation with the Eisenhower Birthplace, I can’t imagine it opening back up to the public at any point in the near future.

Sadly, even the outhouses (#outhousesofinstagram) are even closed. However, the trail to the Mill Creek Bridge seems to still be open.

The steps can be found near the intersection of US-30 and R18. Near there is where my Dad took his famous (if you ever went to the bathroom at 415 Greene Street) Mahaska Avenue Outhouse (#outhousesofinstagram) photo.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 121 – RUINS

There was another slight uptick in participation this rates for RUINS in this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

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


WEEK 121 - RUINS - KIM BARKER
KIM BARKER

WEEK 121 - RUINS - KIM BARKER
KIM BARKER

WEEK 121 - RUINS - TAMARA PETERSON
TAMARA PETERSON

WEEK 121 - RUINS - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 121 - RUINS - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 121 - RUINS - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 121 - RUINS - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 121 - RUINS - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 121 - RUINS - STEPHANIE KIM
STEPHANIE KIM

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 122 - HIGH PERSPECTIVE
HIGH PERSPECTIVE!

HIGH PERSPECTIVE! What a great theme! But what does it mean? A HIGH PERSPECTIVE photo would be the opposite of last week’s LOW PERSPECTIVE. Rather than getting low like one of God’s noblest creatures, the rat, think of getting high like one of God’s lowest creatures, the hawk. But how high is high? It doesn’t have to be way up in the sky. Anything spot where you can look down on your subject is good enough. That might just be standing on a chair. Get creative.

As always, I look forward to your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. 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.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. 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

I’m pleased to announce that Andy Sharp is the newest person to show taste, class, and sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. He did this despite the fact that his wife checks his email for him and he is very proud of his lack of tech savvy and social media-ness. You may remember Andy from such past adventures like Mission Trip to Martin or Mission Trip to Milwaukee. I’m sure he will be starring in my future adventure called Mission Trip to Houston. If you see Andy out walking the mean streets of Boone, feel free to give him a knowing look and show him the super secret Photography 13 handshake!

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

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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 high Monday!

The Burned Bridge of Madison County

Hitting the back log again. These are images I took the day after some young hooligans set fire to the Cedar Bridge near Winterset.


Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

Cedar Bridge

I’m not really sure what possessed people to burn down this bridge. While I do agree that the efforts of Robert James Waller are an affront to literature, I’m not tempted to set any of these bridges on fire.

If Nicholas Sparks had written about these bridges, that is another story!

Final Day to Order – 2018 Photography 139 Calendar

A friendly reminder that today is the last day to order a 2018 Photography 139 Calendar!

The price of the calendar is still $10. A veritable bargain in this climate of rising prices!

I’m sure you are ready to plunk down $10 or $20 or $30 based on the high quality product that has existed in the past. I would gladly take your money, sight unseen, but I would at least like to reveal what pictures are in the 2018 Calendar.

Have a look:


2018 Calendar - Cover
Front Cover

2018 Calendar - January
January

2018 Calendar - February
February

2018 Calendar - March
March

2018 Calendar - April
April

2018 Calendar - May
May

2018 Calendar - June
June

2018 Calendar - July
July

2018 Calendar - August
August

2018 Calendar - September
September

2018 Calendar - October
October

2018 Calendar - November
November

2018 Calendar - December
December

Each picture was aligned with the month it was taken in. Okay maybe a hair of finagling was done at that front… I’ll never tell… Even if the .exif data will.

The calendars are 17 x 11 inches in size when they are open.

Calendar comes with a free Christopher D. Bennett business card. Good for getting you out of any life or death situation involving Boone toughs.

If you wish to order a calendar or calendar(s), you may email me at:

bennett@photography139.com

If you live within reasonable driving distance (about 45 minutes from Boone’s Golden Circle) I can hand deliver the calendar free of charge.

If the calendar needs to be mailed, there will be a shipping and handling charge of some kind.

Order fast! Supplies are limited!

Thanks!

Christopher D. Bennett
Photography 139
CDO
Chairman of the Board
President
Vice-President
Director
Superintendent of Invention

I Ain’t No Hogback Girl!

As me and my friendly neighborhood robocopy scripts make it through the back log, I’ve come across some images from the day I went down to Winterset after some young hooligans burned down one of the famous (or infamous depending on how you feel about “literature”) covered bridges of Madison County.

Here are some of those images:


Statue in Downtown Des Moines

Des Moines Tulip

Des Moines Tulip

Flower

Des Moines Art

Des Moines Art

Des Moines Art

Des Moines Art

Des Moines Art

Shorty's

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Madison County

Vulture

Vulture

Vulture

Vulture

Vulture

These pictures remind me that I need to get back on that open road some time soon. Very soon!

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 33

On the last Saturday of my vacation I headed up to the downtown Boone area to stroll around and complete Page 33 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:


Photo Journal - Page 33
Cover your screen with black tape. Spend the day shooting and only remove the tape when you get home.

This was a little photo experiment that I enjoyed more than I anticipated. I would encourage anybody to try it.

I put an 18-135 zoom lens on my camera for this page. I decided I needed the extra challenge of also zooming blindly, in addition to composing blind for some reason.

Another thing that I didn’t expect to be so hard about the project (for me personally) was to have to so blindly trust auto-focus.

If you are getting a little bored in your photography, I definitely urge you to try this for an hour or so. It is more fun than it sounds. One other added bonus is not seeing the pictures takes us old-timers back to the days of film and not being able to get that instant gratification of what the picture looks like.

Here are the other pictures I took on this photo jaunt that I like (to one degree or another) but won’t physically be placed in the physical copy of A PHOTO JOURNAL:


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


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PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


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PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


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PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE 33 - REJECT


PAGE  33 - REJECT


I did not crop or straighten any of the pictures.

Next time we check in with THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT we will most likely check in on Page 93.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 103 – RUINS

This week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE took the typical holiday in participation. That is to be expected. What wasn’t to be expected was that there was a first time participant. Joe Duff submitted his first ever (and hopefully not last) submission. He managed to do it while being in the heart of Hurricane Harvey. So I guess whatever excuse you were going to give me about not being able to take a picture this week seems a little bit lame right about now. Doesn’t it.

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


WEEK 103 - RUINS - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 03 - RUINS - JOE DUFF
Joe Duff

WEEK 03 - RUINS - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 03 - RUINS - SARAH KARBER
Sarah Karber

WEEK 03 - RUINS - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 103 - RUINS - DAWN KRAUSE 1
Dawn Krause 1

WEEK 103 - RUINS - DAWN KRAUSE 2
Dawn Krause 2

WEEK 103 - RUINS - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

While there weren’t many submissions this week, they were solid submissions.

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 104 - LOW PERSPECTIVE
LOW PERSPECTIVE

LOW PERSPECTIVE! What a great theme! What is LOW PERSPECTIVE? It is simple. You just have to get low to the ground. Think of what the world must look like to one of nature’s noblest of creatures, the rat, then photograph that view.

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. 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.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge. 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

Nothing new to report. I’ll try to do better next week.

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 GALLERY DIVISION

Sometimes people send me descriptions of their photos. I’ve never done anything with that information in the past. However, if you send me a description in the future, I will add it to your image in the Weekly Photo Challenge Gallery that houses all the submissions.

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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 LOW Monday!