Category Archives: WPC – Reminder

Week 407 Theme Reveal

July 3, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

If you are reading this message, I’m either in Minnesota or on my way back from Minnesota. Either way, I’m not in a position to correlate, upload, categorize, label, and code all the images and a “An Artist’s Notebook” post of last week’s submissions. I will put those together either later tonight OR sometime tomorrow.

However… that doesn’t mean you can’t get started on this week’s theme:

TIME

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

But what is a TIME photo? In theory, the idea of this theme is to convey TIME in on of two ways. First, you can freeze a moment in TIME by using a fast shutter speed. I would say a shutter speed that is faster than 1/1000th of a second. OR you can make time more fluid by using a slow shutter speed. I would say a shutter speed slower than 1/30th of a second.

Now I realize that most people use a cell phone camera so they don’t have the power to adjust shutter speeds in a meaningful way. You will have to find a creative way to figure out a way to take a TIME picture. Possibly just taking a picture of a clock like the theme reveal image. Or taking a picture of a distinctive TIME of day. You’ll figure out.

While considering possible subjects for your TIME submission, meditate on the following quote:

The two most power warriors are patience and time.
-Leo Tolstoy

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 TIME in this place that hopefully has passed all of its test thus far next Monday.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Lowell, Music, Railroad, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

THE WINDY CITY: DAY 3B

June 30, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Time for the second collection of images from Day 3 of my work trip to Chicago. The final day of any real photography… for the most part. The rest of the days were filled with work… boring work.

When we left off, Lowell was feeding birds in a park street corn from a food truck:

They loved the street corn so very much!

Buckingham Fountain – I should have known it wasn’t running, but we walked like a mile to it…

To get a heavy dose of disappointment…

Still cool looking though…

And just begging you to go wading in it…

Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams…

It’s Herbie Hancock…

Would’ve been pretty cool if it had been on.

My Grandpa Paris had lion sculptures flanking his driveway. I don’t know why everybody doesn’t.

One more collection of images from Day 3 of my trip to Chicago to share.

+++++++

NOTE: WHILE NEXT MONDAY ISN’T A HOLIDAY IT IS THE DAY BEFORE A HOLIDAY, I MIGHT BE BUSY ON THAT DAY AND YOU MIGHT BE BUSY THAT DAY, SO MAKE PLANS FOR SUBMITTING ACCORDINGLY.

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

RETAIL

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

An astute observer that has a physical Photography 139 Calendar may notice that this week says MUSIC and not RETAIL. That was a typo that wasn’t caught by my proofreader. Mostly because I didn’t have my proofreader look over the calendar. So don’t take a music picture, unless it is at a music store. This theme was suggested by Elizabeth.

While this is the first time that RETAIL has been a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, it isn’t the first time that a similar theme has been used. Check out these submissions from the past for inspiration for this week:

Week 18 – Sarah Karber

Week 141 – Micky Augustin

Week 141 – Christopher D. Bennett

Week 390 – Sarah Toot

Week 390 – Elizabeth Nordeen

This is the last of the Friday Reminders. Nobody made a case for keeping them going, so apparently they won’t be missed.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Art, Black & White, Carla, Cathie, Flowers, Jesse, Kim, Lowell, Michelle, Micky, Nature, Pastor Sarah, Railroad, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

The Windy City: Day 3A

June 23, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Day 3 of my work trip to Chicago was the last day I really got to take any pictures of consequence. Every day after this was mostly filled with boring work stuff. Including Day 4 which was like a 13 hour or so work day. So after we get through the pictures of Day 3, the rest of the days will just fly by. Probably.

I started Day 3 wandering around the streets around the hotel taking a little photography before the Computer Mine training session that lasted from like 8 AM to like 12 PM. Or at least it did for a few of us.

I love street art so much!

You didn’t think I wouldn’t post some flowertography, did you?

Well, did you punk?

I didn’t know Chicago also had a Harlem until this moment.

Almost… almost enough bird poop for me.

Would you believe that Kim has never ridden on a train? Not even a subway?

Almost enough dirt, rust, and grime for me.

More tulips in this flower bed than all of Orange City.

I didn’t bring any of my normal flowertography lenses, but that is okay.

This guy invited Tony to a party after inviting him to a party. Tony did not attend cause he is a fun hater.

And maybe this conversation was the impetus for Tony to think about quitting smoking.

4 hours of my life that… well you know. But Steve V. was pumped.

In Miami we spent most of Day 2 trying to get machines working. In Chicago we only had to spend a couple hours tinkering with machines. Kim was pleased.

It took a long time for Lowell and I to find lunch, but eventually we stumbled across these food trucks.

Like 6 of 8 were taco trucks.

I love the mascot so much!

Lowell fed these guys some of his street corn.

And they couldn’t get enough!

After eating, Lowell and I headed for Buckingham Fountain, but that is a tale for another day.

+++++++

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

‘SCAPE

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

But what is a ‘SCAPE picture? The “‘” in the theme name allows you to substitute in a few words. Your submission could be a LANDSCAPE or a WATERSCAPE or a CITYSCAPE.

Well for one thing, it is a great theme for me to remind you that you can include the town your picture was taken in or the county and I will include that with your submission.

Did you know that the first photograph ever taken was of a landscape?

“View from the Window at Le Gras” was captured by Nicéphore Niépce, in 1827. It features a very abstract view from Niépce’s window.

It would be another 12 years before somebody would think to take a “photograph” of a stupid human. I assume the 2nd picture ever taken was of a dog.

With this theme, you are literally touching the absolute deepest root of photography. Wow! That is powerful to think about. But maybe you are still confused about what LANDSCAPE photography is. Here is a definition from the Wiki:

Landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky and waters, at a distance—though some landscapes may involve subjects in a scenic setting nearby, even close-up, and sometimes at night.

Photography of artificial scenery, such as farm fields, orchards, gardens and architecture, may be considered “landscape” photography as well. Even the presence of man-made structures (buildings, roads and bridges, etc.) or art (such as sculpture) may be considered “landscape” if presented in artistic settings or appearing (or photographed) in artistic style.

Further, landscape photography is typically of relatively stationary subjects—arguably a form of “still life.” This tends to simplify the task, as opposed to photography of kinetic or live subjects. However, landscape photography often overlaps the activity of wildlife photography and the two terms are used somewhat interchangeably; both wildlife and landscapes may be elements of the same picture or body of work.

This isn’t the first time that ‘SCAPE or something similar was a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Here is a look back at a few submissions from years past to inspire you:

Carla Stensland – Week 60

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 111

Sarah Karber – Week 111

Jesse Howard – Week 165

Micky Augustin – Week 223

Nobody objected to me killing off the Friday reminder. So next Friday will be the last Friday reminder. Then it will go the way of the dodo bird.

Happy photo harvesting!

Baseball/Softball, Carla, Cathie, Elizabeth, Flowers, Kim, Lowell, Macro, Micky, Sara, Shannon, Street Photography, Travel, WPC - Reminder

The Windy City: Day 2C

June 16, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

This final collection of images from Day 2 in Chicago start as I was doing a walkabout of Wrigley Field. When I was a kid I really loved baseball, but as an adult that love has really waned. I hate to say it, but baseball is boring and it takes WAY too long. Plus things like analytics have really ruined the game. However, I have to applaud Major League Baseball. The changes they have made to speed up the game are fantastic. It was late in the game before I knew it. It was much more enjoyable than the game I went to last year in Miami. Not just because it was in a much better stadium or involved a team that I despise.

But we continue during my walkabout:

The right field scoreboard.

Right field.

The iconic manual scoreboard.

Lowell. The usher in our section was livid that I took this picture. I thought she was going to kick me out of the stadium.

She is on the right.

Left field.

Every other usher in this stadium was cool. Except ours.

I think there was a chance I could have snuck in here, but I didn’t press it.

Would be cool… someday.

Good Sport Section… something that doesn’t exist at the Boone National Little League Park.

Sorry, I really dug the left field area.

Big screen outside of Wrigley.

Not a bad seat in the… okay lots of bad seats at Wrigley.

This is unique, but probably necessary because so many seats with obstructed views.

This girl. Think about the thing you love most in the world. Think about how much you love your children or your dog or your car. This lady loves the song “Y.M.C.A” more than you love your children. She worked the entire section during the song. Then shortly after it was over she started dry humping Kyle Schwarber’s leg until he was ready to leave. I think she is a national treasure.

The Cubs let me down and let the Dodgers beat them. I guess it doesn’t matter since the Padres SUCK!!!

Wrigleyville.

This made me think of Carla.

I love stoned Mr. Peanut!

Reminds me of Miami Beach.

We didn’t eat here, which I’m considering somewhat of a miss. But our Uber driver did pick us up here.

We took an Uber back to the hotel. I think we mostly crashed. It was our last day without the rest of the miners around. Tomorrow was potentially a very busy day.

+++++++

NOTE: I’M THINKING OF DOING AWAY WITH THIS FRIDAY REMINDER. LET ME KNOW IF YOU STRONGLY OBJECT TO IT. IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS, I WILL END THESE AT THE END OF THE MONTH.

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

FLOWER

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

But what is a FLOWER picture? Come on! You aren’t new here. You know about Thursdays! A flower picture is simply a picture of a FLOWER. Live, dead, painting, sculpture. Doesn’t matter. Time to get your flowertography on! Or as Micky might say, your flower porn on!

This is not the first time that FLOWER has been a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Have a look at some past submissions for inspiration:

Carla Stensland – Week 45

Micky Augustin – Week 95

Cathie Raley – Week 118

Elizabeth Nordeen – Week 205

Kim Barker – Week 259

Shannon Bardole-Foley – Week 316

Sara Lockner – Week 351

Christopher D. Bennett – Week – 95

Happy photo harvesting!

Flowers, Macro, WPC - Reminder

WEEK 403 – REVEAL

May 29, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

If you are reading this, then I got too busy this morning to compile and code the submissions for last week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t get started on this week’s theme.

Hopefully I will publish this week’s submissions later tonight. I’m guessing around 8:01 PM.

So without further adieu, here is this week’s theme:

TEXTURE

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

But what in Wes Wallace is a TEXTURE image? Well, let’s start with the definition of TEXTURE: the structure, feel, and appearance of something (as a fabric) the smooth texture of silk. wood with a rough texture. In photography that means: the visual depiction of variations in the color, shape, and depth of an object’s surface. What you are trying to do here is to convey the feel of the surface of an object through photography.

While considering possible topics for your TEXTURE submissions, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with an amazing image:

I search for realness, the real feeling of a subject, all the texture about it… I always want to see the third dimension of something.. I want to come alive with the object.
-Andrew Wyeth

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

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 TEXTURE in this place that is a little rough around the edges some next Monday.

Andy, Art, Birthdays, Cathie, Kalista, Kim, Lowell, Micky, Naima, Night, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

The Windy City: Day 1C

May 26, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is Kalista’s birthday, so happy birthday Kalista!

Hope your day is as amazing as you want it to be!

+++++++

We begin where we left off last Friday. Kim, Lowell, Tony, and I were hanging out by The Bean after having supper at Giordano’s.

The Bean is one of the few touristy things I’ve seen in my life that didn’t disappoint. But something else on this trip did disappoint.

Underneath The Bean.

In Las Vegas I never found a mailbox. I marked this one so I could actually mail postcards from Chicago this time.

I loved this clock.

I think the Nederlander Theater was called The Orient Theater, before they realized that was racist.

Jagged Little Pill was playing, which Jesse wants to go see in Minneapolis.

Right next door to it is a Garrett’s popcorn, which I would go to twice on this trip.

The historic Chicago Theater.

I wanted to hit up the Torture Museum so bad, but I never made it. And that is what regrets are made of.

Reverse angle, Chicago Theater.

There was a wide variety of acts that played here while we were there.

Window shopping at the Torture Museum.

Across the street from the Chicago Theater was this alley with a bunch of sweet murals.

This mural may have given me nightmares.

After this we went back to our hotel rooms. I think Tony and I watched the Minnesota Timberwolves get crushed in their playoff game. I dozed off after a pretty good Day 1 in Chicago.

Next Friday we will start in on Day 2.

+++++++

REMINDER THAT NEXT MONDAY IS MEMORIAL DAY. WHILE YOUR BANK AND THE GOVERNMENT AND A BUNCH OF OTHER BUSINESSES TAKE THE DAY OFF, THERE IS NO REST FOR PHOTOGRAPHY 139. RISE AND GRIND EVERY SINGLE DAY. I DON’T KNOW WHAT MY PLANS ARE FOR MEMORIAL DAY (OTHER THAN MAYBE SLEEPING LATE AFTER WHAT I HOPE IS AN EPIC MOVIE NIGHT ON SUNDAY) BUT IT MIGHT INCLUDE A ROAD TRIP OR A BARBECUE OR A FEW OTHER OPTIONS THAT MIGHT KEEP ME BUSY. LIKEWISE YOU MIGHT BE ENGAGED IN A SIMILAR ACTIVITY ON MONDAY MORNING. YOU MIGHT NOT GET A REMINDER AND YOU MIGHT NOT BE IN A POSITION TO SUBMIT. PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

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

PARK

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

But what in the John Culbertson is a PARK image? Simply put, it is a picture taken in a PARK. And there are all sorts of PARKs. There are city, state, national, baseball, softball, playgrounds, nature preserves, urban, pocket, sculpture gardens, cultural… just to name a few. Of course, there is more than one definition of PARK.

Also, if you take a picture of a PARK, let me know the name of the park and I will include it in the entry on Monday. If you don’t, I might ask you.

PARK has only been a theme one other time in the 10 year history of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE/RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT. I was actually surprised, because I thought that it had never been a theme before. I guess this makes it the second time.

Here are some previous submissions that will hopefully inspire your submission this time:

Micky Augustin – Week 195

Cathie Raley – Week 195

Kim Barker – Week 195

Andy Sharp – Week 195

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 195

Happy photo harvesting!

Alexis, Anders, Andree, Angie, Art, Baier, Bill, Black & White, Carla, Elizabeth, Jason, Jay, Kelly, Kim, Lowell, Michelle, Micky, Nader, Nathanial, Night, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Shawn Lockner, Steph, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa, Travel, WPC - Reminder

The Windy City: Day 1B

May 19, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start out by thanking everyone that wished me a happy birthday. I believe this is a comprehensive list of everybody that wished me a happy birthday.

+ Kim and also thank you for buying me birthday Buffalo Chicken tots and the card.
+ Ron, Clevenger, Jordan, and Aaron. Although I may have bought those birthday wishes with donuts.
+ Elizabeth and also thanks for buying me candy bars I know you don’t like but the real thanks goes for looking for my favorite candy bars the Whatchamacallit and the Take 5! You are the real hero! Also, glad you are digging SHRINKING! Such a great show!
+ Steph. My birthday buddy, I hope FAST X was everything you wanted to be and I’m trying not to lose just a smidge of respect that you went to it.
+ Jesse – Sorry I was so aggressive in accusing you of eating all the mystery cheese.
+ Nader – Thanks for the frog statue!
+ Shannon- half credit for including a picture of a gross cat with your birthday wishes.
+ Michelle – good job taking a three day weekend to celebrate my birth.
+ Jay – doesn’t look like you got any rhubarb. It isn’t going to pick itself.
+ Kelly – thanks for the kind words. Not necessary, but thanks.
+ Angie – hope the postcard arrives soon.
+ Monica – thanks for sending me the picture of me in my Hulkster phase.
+ Suzie – thanks for knowing the proper animal to include in a happy birthday wish!
+ Jason – glad you are feeling better!
+ Bill – thanks for replying “no problem” when I said “thanks”. Don’t know why, but that amused me.
+ Sara Lockner – thanks for almost using enough exclamation marks in your birthday wishes!
+ Shawn – I’m sorry your wife used up all the world’s supply of punctuation in her birthday wishes and there wasn’t any punctuation left for yours.
+ Faust – thanks for pretending that banking sounds fun.
+ Teresa – thanks but I have my doubts you know who Dwight Schrute is.
+ Anders – I don’t know if it was a great one, but I’m sure May Movie Night will be.
+ Sarah Toot – Thanks for thinking I have the slightest clue what emoticons mean. Don’t feel pressure to do better next year.
+ Alexis – thanks for letting me think today was my day.
+ Baier and Dre – We didn’t have much interaction, but thanks for thinking of me.
+ Micky – thanks for multiple birthday wishes. It isn’t a contest, but if it was I think Elizabeth won. At least I think that is what she yelled at me as I walked out the door. But your message was the closest I came to having cake today. So that is something.
+ Lori – thanks, no need to apologize for transferring me my favorite kind of call, even if I really shouldn’t have been first in queue. Hope things went well today.
+ Mark – thanks. I suppose I should learn when your birthday is. Also stop using your desk for storage. Nah!
+ Lowell – thanks for the gift card. I like to think you would get me one even if the company didn’t require it.
+ Carla – thanks for getting your birthday wishes in right before the buzzer.
+ Nathanial – thanks for the final birthday wishes of my day.

I think that is the list. I think that is everybody that wished me a happy birthday! Thanks everyone!

If you are wondering what I did for my birthday, it was nothing super spectacular. It was mostly an average day.

I woke up about 5:54 AM. A little late for me. I was up late last night watching the NBA Playoffs. Then trying to watch the season finale of THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND. Dang it! This wasn’t the season they actually found treasure. And I was so sure! I also ate fried food the night before. I’m trying to eat healthier, so it is fairly rare I eat fried food these days, he said hoping that there were people that believed him. Point is I slept in. It was my birthday. Cut me some slack!

I’m not sure what I did when I first got out of bed. I think I moved to the couch and watched the news for a little bit. Then I went outside and watered the flowers. I also took apart the trunk in the Camry. I had a slight gas spill in the trunk the night before and it was creating a pretty strong smell in the rest of the car. Then I took a shower. Brushed my teeth. Got dressed. But on cologne option #2. Said goodbye to Naima. Got in the Camry. Headed out.

There is an old birthday tradition at the Computer Mine where on your birthday you bring in food for the other employees. On a good day, there are about 10 employees in the building. (On a great day there is less.) On this day, half those people were gone for various reasons. On my way to work I stopped at the Dutch Oven Bakery and picked up a dozen donuts for my co-workers.

This is a small detail of what transpired on my birthday, but perhaps one of my favorite things that happened.

I left the donuts in the breakroom and then sent an email out to the people I knew would be in the building. Here is the backstory.

About 2 weeks, Elizabeth brought in a dozen donuts from a bakery in Nevada. (For the record, and I might get rode out of Boone on a rail for saying this, these donuts buried the ones from Dutch Oven.) She cut all the donuts in half. Now I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain why, but I will. She cut them in half so that people could try multiple donuts and multiple people could try the same donut.

Back to my birthday. Based on my current work schedule, Ron gets to the building about 30 minutes before I do. Elizabeth gets to the office about 15-30 minutes after me. She is in Special Forces so she can come and go as she pleases. I guess that is really more backstory, for what I’m promising you isn’t much payoff.

So back to that email. I explained in the email that there were donuts in the breakroom for my birthday. I didn’t cut them in half (cause I’m lazy – I didn’t write that, but it was in the subtext) but maybe when Elizabeth got here she would cut the donuts in half. I added that this wasn’t sexist on my part, just she is very passionate about the donut cutting thing.

Here is the “payoff”. I’m telling you that the ink wasn’t dry on that email before Ron was standing next to my cubicle. He wished me a happy birthday and then said that he was going to go get a donut quick before Elizabeth got here and cut them in half.

I said it wasn’t much of a payoff, but I thought it was hilarious.

I think it was somewhere in here I went to take a Snap of the donuts to keep my Streaks going with Logan (501), Brandon (257), Nathanial (89), Fran (37), and Alexis (23).

Somewhere after this, Elizabeth did come in. She did not cut all the donuts in half, but she did cut the donuts she tried in half. Take that Ron! She also brought me candy! So the day was off to a great start.

After that I put in a good solid 8 hours for The Man. I was a problem solving machine. Well to be honest, in the morning I mostly did a lot of rando stuff. I think the highlight of my morning (besides the other stuff I’ve highlighted) was being on hold with a customer for about 30 minutes as they repeatedly rebooted their computer before announcing, I’ll have to call you back.

Then came my lunchbreak. I did point out that I am trying to eat healthier. That means (amongst other things) that I only drink pop once a week. I’m pretty much completely off fast food. I rarely eat fried foods. This means that one of my favorite haunts, B-Bop’s has been off the table. But I figured it was my birthday, I could treat myself to B-Bop’s.

I drove halfway across Ames and got the #2 with Cheese with a Large Pepsi.

Sidebar: A great birthday present would have been the B-Bops across the street from the Computer Mine opening back up so I don’t have to drive completely across tarnation to get B-Bops goodness. They have been remodeling for months now! How long does it take to remodel a restaurant that doesn’t have a dining room?!?!?

It was just as good as I remembered. Although, I could feel the salad place next door judging me a little bit. But I literally ate there the day before. Asian Crunch Salad, no protein. So I think we’re square. Stop looking at me lettuce!

After I got back to the work I was a machine. Updating Server Managers. Modifying hosts files. Attaching SQL databases. All a beauty of motion, while sitting in a desk chair staring at 3 monitors. Barely taking a break to try to solve the mystery of what happened to the missing (I failed).

I called it a day, leaving many a satisfied customer in my wake. (Which means next time I work I won’t be able to solve anybody’s problems.) I drove home. I like to take a route home (sometimes called Old 30) where I drive by a bunch of railroad cars just parked along the highway to see if there is any interesting graffiti to photograph. There wasn’t anything transcendent like a painting of a dog or a clown or characters from The Simpsons, but there was one I found photo worthy. I pulled over and snapped a photo. I’m collecting these images and when I hit about 20 or so I will share them. This is what passes for an art scene in Boone.

Got home. Said hello to Naima. Then mowed my back yard. Which needed to be done before it became a 3 man job… again. I was supposed to have a meeting with my friend Kelli. She is opening a wine bar and wants to use my photography on her walls. I was supposed to look at the space and kind of figure out what we wanted to put there, but that meeting got postponed cause, from what I’m gathering, one of her kids did something dumb. Like go to Grand Junction.

The cancellation opened up a hole in my schedule and I was able to take Naima to Dickcissel for a walk and some wading for her. It was also a good time for me to take the theme reveal image for next week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme.

There was a decent rain coming down on us when we completed the loop. Which meant Naima was soaked all over. I consider this to be a positive though, because the smell of wet dog masked the smell of gas. Not much of a trade up, but small victories.

I decided to go to Dairy Queen for ice cream on our way home since I’m eating healthier. Unfortunately, the line in the DQ drive-thru was crazy long, so instead I drove across town to Big Kahuna’s. This is a considerable upgrade in the quality of the ice cream for me, but it meant Naima didn’t get a pup cup. Sorry, Naima. Don’t feel too bad for her. She did get a full pork chop for supper. Me? I had a cherry amaretto ice cream waffle cone for supper. The supper of champions!

I came home and started watching the Lakers-Nuggets game to finish off my night. While sitting there I got a snap from Nathanial asking for my opinion on his options for the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. He is the second person to ask for my opinion. Meanwhile, humble narrator, hasn’t even given any consideration to what he will enter. Usually at this point I at least know at least 2 of the pictures I will enter. This year I have absolutely no clue. I mean that could be a weekend project, but I don’t know I’ll have much time this weekend either. I guess we’ll see what happens.

After the Nuggets won, I watched a little bit of “90s Nation” on MTV Classic and called it a night. Nodding off into a golden slumber listening to the “Morbid” podcast on H.H. Holmes. Part 4. All in all, a pretty good birthday.

+++++++

We begin where we left off last Friday. Lowell, Tony, and I were walking around Chicago waiting for Kim to get done getting good union employees fired for smoking a joint while putting up our booth. Kim has no chill. We were going to checkout a place called Zombie Taco as a potential place for supper. Kim had told us that we were to pick the place for supper. Tacos are always a good choice. That is free advice that I’m giving you, that I wish I had listened to on Day 3 of this trip. Unfortunately when we found Zombie Taco it seemed to be only a walk-up window and on top of that, it seemed to be closed.

But back to the walkabout.

A play on “This American Life”. My favorite radio show. But I’m not sure what it means.

I think this place was abandoned.

Never let anybody tell you, wearing Skechers is not cool. I wear them. Snoop wears them. Tony wears them. Elizabeth’s Grandma used to wear them.

My greatest regret from the trip to Chicago is not taking a river cruise.

I wonder if this was the boat that the Dave Matthews Band dumped their poop on. As awful as that must have been, still better than listening to their music.

Chicago has a fair collection of interesting bridges.

More street art.

Down to the River Walk.

Another interesting bridge.

It was around here I met a lady that was walking a golden retriever. Such a good dog. Also, more street art.

I’m guessing this is to protect you from Dave Matthews dumping his poop on your head. Now if they could devise a way to protect you from his awful music.

I assume Dave Matthews put that there.

I’d tell you what I think of Salesforce, but enough work talk.

There is also a Dick’s Last Resort on the San Antonio River Walk. This parking garage is an excellent example of why I would never want to live in a city.

But it is pretty to look at.

My #1 goal of the Chicago Trip was to see The Bean. Crossed it off the list Day 1.

After telling us to pick the restaurant, Kim picked the restaurant. Which fortunately, was 1 block from The Bean.

The WPC theme this week was FRIENDS. Nathanial told me I could take a picture of my reflection and I could be my own FRIEND(S). I have FRIENDS Nathanial. Still a cool shot.

The sculptor (Anish Kapoor) of The Bean at first hated that people called it that. It’s official name is Cloud Gate.

It is made out of 168 stainless steel plates welded together.

It’s highly polished exterior has no visible seams.

It measures 33 x 66 x 42 feet.

The design was inspired by liquid mercury.

I still have one more collection of images to share from Day 1 of the trip to Chicago.

+++++++

This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is HAPPY!

HAPPY

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

But what in the Dave Rauker is a HAPPY photo? Simply put, it is a picture of somebody that is HAPPY or a picture of something that makes you HAPPY. HAPPY is, well it is a feeling of pleasure or contentment. In case you aren’t sure you know what it means to be HAPPY.

HAPPY has been a theme one other time. Here are a few of the submissions from that time to provide you with some inspiration:

Suzie Brannen – Week 71

Kim Barker – Week 71

Stephanie Kim – Week 71

Angie DeWaard – Week 71

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 71

In fact, that was pretty much every submission I received for HAPPY. I bet there will be more submissions this time.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Bill, Carla, Dawn, Jen, Kim, Lowell, Railroad, Ruins, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

The Windy City: Day 1A

May 12, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I’m going to cover my recent work trip to Chicago in a different format than I covered my work trip to Las Vegas. I’m going to mix the camera images with the cell phone pictures. I’m also going to try to tell the story mostly through the pictures. Rather than telling the story and then sharing the pictures. I’m also not going to include the food pictures. I’m going to put all my Chicago food pictures together in one big Sunday food adventure entry.

Here are the first collection of images from my Day 1 of my work trip to Chicago:

I was dreading parking in the Gray Lot, but I got stuck there again. But now I’ve been there a couple of times I’m starting to dig it. Especially when I get paid by the hour.

Even though I parked approximately 15 miles from the terminal, I got to my gate in plenty of time.

I’m roughly 6 foot 4. Tony is pushing 6 foot 8. Putting us next to each other in one of the world’s smallest planes is the height of cruelty. The type of thing you would see in a museum dedicated to torture.

The hotel.

This time we didn’t have to wait 3 hours to get into our room. We dropped off our stuff and looked for food, but that meal will be covered later.

The hotel was straight across the street from the river and a half block from the Chicago Theater. A good location.

I never ate here, but reminded me that my favorite restaurant on my trip to NYC was Empanada Mamas.

A dispensary. I’m not into marijuana cause I have elements of a control freak, but seeing one reminded me how backwards thinking Iowa has become.

True words.

At Naima’s age, she might benefit, but she is such a dang picky eater, I’m not spending that much money for her not to eat it.

Wake and bake.

I do love the names of marijuana products.

Day 1 was the day before International Pot Smokers Holiday.

That is over 50% off!

Just looking up and trying not to run into somebody on the street. Full disclosure, I don’t care if run into somebody on the street.

I love street art so much!

Art in the hotel. The hotel was much nicer than the one we stayed at in Miami Beach, but less interesting. So a wash.

Taxi up close.

“Staytion”. Lame.

I don’t know if Kim hates me but I always get a “view” of a parking garage. Lowell’s view was so much better.

Wasn’t as loud as expected.

For people who don’t know how elevators work. Much better elevators than in Las Vegas though.

While waiting for Kim to get done, so we could go get supper, Lowell, Tony, and I went for a walkabout. That is a lot of commas, probably not used properly.

I miss this guy.

Two more collections of images from just Day 1 of this trip are in the hopper. I hope you like Chicago!

+++++++

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

RUINS

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

But what in the Ron Harris is a RUINS image? Simply put, it is a picture of something that is in the state of physical destruction or disintegration. Something that is in bad shape.

RUINS has been a theme a few times before. Take a look back at some previous submissions for inspiration:

Bill Wentworth – Week 30

Dawn Krause – Week 103

Carla Stensland – Week 121

Jen Ensley Gorshe – Week 211

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 362

Happy photo harvesting!

Night, Road Trip, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

Viva Las Vegas Day 5B

April 28, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Despite the constant rain storm, I hung out by the Bellagio Fountains waiting for the show. While I was soaked, oh well, it gave me a feeling of solitude that I didn’t get very much in Las Vegas. No matter where you go, there are people everywhere. Tony is a fantastic roomie and I have zero complaints about him. But even in the room you don’t get much alone time. Besides, why would you want to hang out in your room when there is so much to see and experience in Las Vegas. I don’t think I ever made it more than 6 blocks from Planet Hollywood and I still know I missed a million street photography opportunities.

What I’m trying to say is that I was pretty much the only person to watch the Bellagio Fountain Show. At least from the sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard. It was like my own personal show. I’m not going to hate on that.

Here are some pictures of the fountain:

I still have one last collection of pictures from Las Vegas to share and then we can move on to my trip to Chicago. Probably.

+++++++

This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ROAD TRIP.

ROAD TRIP

ROAD TRIP! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! This is one of my favorite themes for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. It isn’t just because I am one of the few universally recognized Masters of the Road Trip. Okay, maybe it is.

But what in the Sam Hill is a ROAD TRIP photo? Simply put, it is a picture that is taken on a ROAD TRIP or in preparation for a ROAD TRIP. It doesn’t have to be a picture of a road or a car or a map or snacks. I LOVE a good ROAD TRIP snack. For example, if you are taking a ROAD TRIP to Pella to do a little flowertography this weekend, then a picture of anything you encounter on that ROAD TRIP is fair game. It doesn’t have to be a grand ROAD TRIP. You don’t have to leave the state on this trip. And judging by where many of my submissions come from, many of you haven’t left the state since Theresa Becker was the Iowa State women’s basketball coach*.

Happy photo harvesting!

*If you don’t get the reference, are we even friends?

Road Trip, WPC - Reminder

Week 398 – Reveal

April 24, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

If things have worked out correctly, I’m currently in Chicago working for the Man, helping the Computer Mine sell its myriad of mining products at a convention aimed at our exact clientele. Which mean, I’m nowhere near a computer… Okay I’m probably surrounded by computers, but I still can’t stop and put together a blog that reveals the many stunning and no doubt heartwarming FRIENDS pictures that are waiting for me in my email inbox or on my Pixel 5. In fact, I won’t be able put together something like that until I close down this convention, board an airplane, fly back to the Cyclone State, get off the airplane, get back to my car that hopefully isn’t parked in the Gray Lot… again, maneuvered through the constant construction on Fleur, taken a left and made my customary trip through the Ted’s Coney Island drive-thru, maybe stopped at Jester Park to eat such a delicious meal, waved at the buffalo and elk, drove the rest of the way back to Boone, parked my car, greeted Naima, texted all the people that care if I made it home from Chicago alive that I made it home safely (both of them), taken her for a car ride and weather permitting, a walk around Dickcissel Park, drove back home, unpacked my suitcase, maybe started a load of laundry, sat on the couch, watched an episode of whatever show I’m currently binging, and taken a nap. Maybe.

After that, I will get off the couch, roll into my home office, fire up PHOTOTRON, start downloading the submissions, renaming the submissions, upload them to the internet, categorize and label them in the gallery, open up the STREAKS document that is saved on my Google Drive, login to photography139.com backend, go to Posts, add a new post, and start coding this entry, copy and paste the things that are in the post every week (the reference to GONE WITH THE WIND, the quote from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, the reference to Hank Williams Sr.), verify if any new states were added to the map, see if anybody reached any new milestones, mourn the end of any streaks, check all the proper categories, make sure the post is Featured, and then click on Publish.

At that point, WordPress will fire up the plugin MailPoet, MailPoet will access the subscriber list and then fire off emails to the inbox (and quite honestly the SPAM and promotional and junk folders) of all the current subscribers. At which point all the subscribers should see an email to open up and enjoy all the wonderful and heartwarming FRIENDS pictures that were no doubt submitted.

But when will all this happen? Either sometime Tomorrow night or the day after.

However, just because I’m in Chicago working like a dog, that doesn’t mean you have to wait to see the FRIENDS pictures to start on this week’s submissions. No, in fact you can start on it the moment after you finish reading this post.

The theme for this week is:

ROAD TRIP

Sorry got sidetracked. Your ROAD TRIP could be a jaunt around the block or down to the grocery store. I don’t judge. Or it could just be a picture of preparations for a ROAD TRIP to PELLA to do some flowertography.

While considering possible subjects for your ROAD TRIP submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt that you will come up with an amazing idea:

All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.
-Jack Kerouac

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

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 ROAD TRIP in this place that is more of a journey than a destination next Monday.