Category Archives: WPC – Reminder

WPC – WEEK 350 – THEME REVEAL

May 23, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

As you should know, I’m still down in Miami, working for the man. I don’t have access to my computer or website, so I can’t post all the brilliant submissions for HAT that I received. I will post those when I return to the Cyclone State. Either late Tuesday night, but more likely at some point on Wednesday.

However, just because I’m being worked to the bone, in the worst state in these United States of America, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to get started on Week 350 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. All you need to know is the theme:

HISTORY

HISTORY! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a HISTORY picture? A HISTORY picture is simply any picture that deals with a HISTORI(Y)cal artifact. Could be something found in a museum. It could be something found on the side of the road. It could be an old church or an old building. It could be living history. It doesn’t have to be anything as grand as the spot where a President of the United State spoke. It doesn’t have to be political HISTORY or military HISTORY or religious HISTORY. It could very easily be personal HISTORY.

When thinking on possible subjects for your submission, meditate on the following quote:

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.
-Karl Marx

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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.

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

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 HISTORY in this place that definitely records my daily minutiae next Monday.

Art, Black & White, Road Trip, Ruins, Self-Portrait, WPC - Reminder

Clinton County Auxiliary Images Vol. 2

May 20, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Time for another collection of auxiliary images I took while harvesting the town signs of Clinton County and the southern part of Jackson County. All of these pictures were taken in Jackson County.

Sabula

Miles

Spragueville

There is one more collection of images coming from this road trip.

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

HAT

A HAT picture is just a picture that features a hat somewhere in the composition.

Don’t forget that I won’t be in a position to remind people to submit their images on Monday morning. Going to have to be some self-reliance going on here. Hopefully a ton of streaks don’t bite the dust.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Black & White, Dad, History, Road Trip, Slice of Life, Teresa, WPC - Reminder

Monroe and Mahaska County Auxiliary Images Vol. 2

May 13, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Time for another collection of auxiliary images from a road trip I took with Teresa to harvest the town signs of Monroe and Mahaska County. Almost all these pictures are taken in Albia or near Albia. The near Albia pictures are taken at what I think is the coolest veteran memorial I have ever seen in Iowa.

Great Pyramids of Iowa

I will get more into the history of the Great Pyramids of Iowa when I share the rest of these images tomorrow night.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SLICE OF LIFE:

SLICE OF LIFE

SLICE OF LIFE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a SLICE OF LIFE photo? It might not be what you think. Hence this week’s special rule. SLICE OF LIFE is a reference to the photo postcard company that my Dad created. That is why (and here is the special rule) this week, the theme is NOT up for interpretation. This week’s theme is to take a picture that you could see used as a postcard. That is the only interpretation available to you.

Some of you might not live in a tourist hotbed like Boone, Iowa (no seriously, Boone has lots of tourist attractions from Pufferbilly Days to the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Birthplace to Ledge State Park to the Boone Speedway to name a few) but there is certainly something in your town that you could see put on a postcard. For those of you that are under the age of 40 you may have to ask an elder what a postcard is, but I’m sure they will be happy to tell you all about it. And also other amazing things that happened in the 80s or 70s or before.

To give you another few examples of postcards. Here are a few postcards that my Dad made that I hastily scanned this morning:

When you look at these postcards, remember that these were made in a darkroom. With film! Quite a bit harder than dragging and dumping layers in Photoshop.

So remember, it has to be the kind of image you would see on a postcard. Not a picture of your pet or your kid and then saying, this is a “slice of my life”. That doesn’t qualify this week.

Do I expect this to possibly be a streak killer for many people? Maybe.

BONUS: If you want to go the extra mile, this isn’t a requirement, you can take your image in black & white as my Dad’s postcards were black & white.

DOUBLE BONUS: For this theme and this theme only, if you include some kind of description of your postcard scene, I will include it in the “An Artist’s Notebook” post on Monday.

Happy photo harvesting!

Mom, Photo of the Day, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

Fat Mum Slim – April 2022

May 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday I completed another month of the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. It was a month entirely comprised of food prompts. Which seems perfect for me, as I do enjoy eating and I do enjoy trying new foods. However, I have to confess it didn’t ring my bell as much as I thought it would.

That being said, I feel there are a few winners in the month:

April 1 – ON MY PLATE

April 2 – A VEGETABLE

April 3 – A FRUIT

April 4 – BREAKFAST

April 5 – LUNCH

April 6 – SUPPER

April 7 – RAW

April 8 – COOKED

April 9 – IN MY PANTRY

April 10 – DESSERT

April 11 – A GREEN FOOD

April 12 – A SNACK

April 13 – A FAVE RECIPE

April 14 -INGREDIENT

APRIL 15 – KITCHEN

April 16 – 2 THINGS

April 17 – A DRINK

April 18 – A WHITE FOOD

April 19 – HEALTHY

April 20 – INDULGENT

April 21 – A RED FOOD

April 22 – SAVOURY

April 23 – SWEET

April 24 – IN MY CUP

April 25 – ON MY FORK

April 26 – YUK!

April 27 – I EAT HERE!

April 28 – DELICIOUS

April 29 – UTENSIL

April 30 – IN MY BOWL

The month of May has some good themes. Here are the May themes:

May 1 – This is Me
May 2 – Good Morning
May 3 – Free Choice
May 4 – Trees
May 5 – Mirrors
May 6 – Leaf
May 7 – View from Here
May 8 – Love
May 9 – A Seat
May 10 – Where I Stood
May 11 – Something Small
May 12 – In Nature
May 13 – Green
May 14 – Sunshine
May 15 – Upside Down
May 16 – This Season
May 17 – A Shape
May 18 – Door
May 19 – Creative
May 20 – I Read This…
May 21 – Waves
May 22 – Flying
May 23 – Stairs
May 24 – A Pair
May 25 – Something Warm
May 26 – Pink
May 27 – Lucky
May 28 – Horizon
May 29 – A Car
May 30 – Sky
May 31 – This is Also Me

A reminder that I post these pictures daily on my dedicated Fat Mum Slim account: @fmsbennett. Follow that account to follow along.

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

SQUARE

SQUARE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a SQUARE image? A SQUARE image is any image where one of the major elements of your composition is a SQUARE. Remember, all SQUAREs are rectangles, but not all rectangles are SQUAREs. If you look around, you will see that there is are SQUAREs all over the place. Once you see them, you won’t be able to stop seeing them. The next step is to photograph one. I wouldn’t even hate on you if you took a picture of your dog and used a 1:1 aspect ratio.

There are also other definitions of SQAURE you can ponder.

While thinking on your possible subjects for SQUARE, meditate on the following song lyric:

It’s not too hard to figure out
You see it every day
And those that were the farthest out
Have gone the other way
You see them on the freeway
It don’t look like a lot of fun
But don’t you try to fight it
An idea whose time has come
Don’t tell me that I’m crazy
Don’t tell me I’m nowhere
Take it from me
It’s hip to be square

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Black & White, Nature, WPC - Reminder

The Best Way to Find Yourself

April 29, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Many of my post titles come from the titles of songs or from quotes. I don’t usually reveal the source of the post title, because I hope that the reader thinks on it for at least half a second.

To share how I get to where I get, so you can get a small inkling on how my mind walks around this planet, I thought I would share how today’s title came about.

The pictures I am sharing today were taken near Lost Lake in Ledges last November. One of them you have seen before because it is the September image of the 2022 Photography 139 Calendar.

Because they were taken near LOST lake, the basis of the title is from the following words about being lost:

Sometimes being lost is the best way to find yourself.
-LJ Vanier

Here are some pictures that helped me find myself:

Can anybody figure out what this says?

A quick thought on graffiti. I am a big fan of graffiti. One of the things I like about living in a railroad town (besides it provides jobs to a few of my friends) is because every day when the trains roll through town it is like a mobile museum. Now much of the art isn’t great, but usually I see at least one thing that I enjoy. In fact, when I work at the Ames Computer Mine, I frequently head down 17 and then take Old 30 into Boone, even though it takes longer, just to check out the graffiti on the parked railroad cars that are usually by the Jordan elevator.

With all of that being said, I can’t stand graffiti in nature. The sayings here that are drawn in this with chalk or a media that will quickly fade away. I’m cool with that. But using spray paint. I’m not down. Tag up a railroad car or the side of a building or a bridge. I’m down with that.

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

#INSTAGOOD

#INSTAGOOD! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a #INSTAGOOD picture? #INSTAGOOD is the second most popular hashtag used on Instagram. As of this morning, it has been used on Instagram 1,531,803,168 times. You might be thinking, “Well, that is an interesting statistic, that doesn’t tell me what it means!”

Don’t worry baby birds, I’m gonna feed you.

The #INSTAGOOD hashtag is used when an Instagram user thinks that the picture is particularly good. Not just your average picture, but a good picture. For our uses, this week’s theme is to send me you best picture you took during this week. From between 12:01 PM today and 10:59 next Monday.

So that brings me to the new rule for this week’s theme:

SEND ME ONE AND ONLY ONE PICTURE!! THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE BEST PICTURE YOU TOOK THIS WEEK! DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT SENDING ME MULTIPLE IMAGES AND TELLING ME TO PICK THE BEST ONE. I WILL NOT DO IT!! I WILL COUNT THAT AS ZERO SUBMISSIONS! I’D HATE TO SEEN ANY STREAKS ENDED CAUSE OF A TECHNICALITY!

This is one of two themes that will have special rules this year. The other one is also coming up pretty soon.

Surprisingly, I’ve already received a couple of submissions. I love the bravado! It isn’t even the weekend yet and people have decided, this is it! This is the best picture I can take this week! I mean it is possible that I have already taken the best picture I will take this week already. But I’m also arrogant enough to think the next click of the shutter will be the best picture. Then the click after that will be even better.

Happy photo harvesting!

WPC - Reminder

Week 344 Theme Reveal

April 11, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Right now I am not home. I’m away dealing with some family stuff. I will be sharing the submissions for GRATITUDE later today. Probably about 8 PM or so.

But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t start to get started on this week’s theme. This week’s theme is:

ORANGE

ORANGE! What a great theme for Week 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is an ORANGE image? An ORANGE image is simply and image where the subject of the image OR a major compositional element of the image is the color ORANGE.

While considering possible subjects for your ORANGE theme meditate on the following quote:

Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow.
– Wassily Kandinsky

RULES

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

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 ORANGE in this place that contains a little bit of yellow humanity next Monday.

Jesse, Logan, Naima, Photo of the Day, Teresa, WPC - Reminder

Fat Mum Slim – March 2022

April 8, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Thursday I completed another month of the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I don’t know how many winners are this month, but I think there are at least a couple of them in there.

Here are the pictures from March:

March 1 – the weather

March 2 – something in my kitchen

March 3 – skyline

March 4 – makes you feel nostalgic

March 5 – books

March 6 – a corner

March 7 – a bus stop

March 8 – sunset

March 9 – from inside the car

March 10 – a meal you made

March 11 – somewhere with a good view

March 12 – an insect

March 13 – a close-up

March 14 – something you’ve never photographed

March 15 – a playground

March 16 – a local café

March 17 – something you think is boring

March 18 – flowers

March 19 – a grocery store

March 20 – something weird

March 21 – a colourful place

March 22 – a garden

March 23 – a leaf

March 24 – a sunbeam

March 25 – graffiti

March 26 – an empty road

March 27 – a tree

March 28 – a shop window

March 29 – an old building

March 30 – a stranger

March 31

I post these pictures daily on my Fat Mum Slim Instagram account. You can follow that here:

@fmsbennett

The April prompts are all food related:

April 1 – ON MY PLATE
April 2 – A VEGETABLE
April 3 – A FRUIT
April 4 – BREAKFAST
April 5 – LUNCH
April 6 – DINNER
April 7 – RAW
April 8 – COOKED
April 9 – IN MY PANTRY
April 10 – DESSERT
April 11 – A GREEN FOOD
April 12 – SNACK
April 13 – A FAVE RECIPE
April 14 – INGREDIENT
April 15 – KITCHEN
April 16 – 2 THINGS
April 17 – A DRINK
April 18 – A WHITE FOOD
April 19 – HEALTHY
April 20 – INDULGENT
April 21 – A RED FOOD
April 22 – SAVOURY
April 23 – SWEET
April 24 – IN MY CUP
April 25 – ON MY FORK
April 26 – YUK!
April 27 – I EAT HERE!
April 28 – THIS IS DELICIOUS
April 29 – UTENSIL
April 30 – IN MY BOWL

Hopefully there are some winners in this month too!

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

GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a GRATITUDE picture? It is simply a picture of something or somebody that you are thankful for. It could also be somebody showing thanks as well.

Happy photo harvesting!

Angie, Art, Baier, Basketball, Becky, Bill, Carla, Derrick, Iowa State, Jay, Jesse, Logan, Nader, Naima, Pastor Sarah, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Still Life, Teresa, Toby, WPC - Reminder

Selfie Project – March 2022

April 1, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Tomorrow is the Final Four. Thought it would be a good time to check-in on the Roundball Oracles.

With 3 games left to go in the NCAA tournament this is the Top 3:

1. Becky Parmelee – 231 Points
2. Carla Stensland – 229 Points
3. Angie DeWaard – 224 points

This is the Bottom 3:

34. Joey Randazzo – 143 points
35. Olivia Baier – 141 points
36. Toby Sebring – 140 points

At this point, there are 4 people left that have a chance of taking home the Championship Trophy. 2 people still have a shot at The Sara.

Here are the scenarios for The Sara:

If Villanova beats Kansas then Toby “wins” The Sara.
If Kansas beats Villanova then Joey “wins” The Sara.

Note as Olivia Baier is a child, she is not eligible for The Sara.

Here are the scenarios for the Championship:

If Duke wins the National Championship then Sarah Karber wins the trophy.
If Kansas wins the National Championship then Ben Baier wins the trophy.
If Villanova beats Duke for the National Championship then Becky wins the trophy.
If North Carolina beats Villanova for the National Championship then Becky wins the trophy.
If North Carolina beats Kansas for the National Championship then Ben wins the trophy.
If Villanova beats North Carolina for the National Championship then Derrick Gorshe wins the trophy.

It is possible, that there is an error in my math, but I’m fairly certain this is correct.

Root accordingly.

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I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I think I actually did some stuff in March. I didn’t go to Pennsylvania and Illinois (briefly) and North Carolina (briefly), but I did stand in Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota all at the same time. I ate the reigning Best Tenderloin in Iowa. I went to two Iowa State NCAA Tournament games. I stood on the highest point in Iowa and the second highest. I hosted Alligator Movie Night. I had some good times with friends and some poignant times with family. March wasn’t too bad. Raised the bar a bit for April.

Here are my favorite SELFIE PROJECT images from March:

March 1

March 3

March 4

March 5

March 7

March 8

March 9

March 11

March 12

March 13

March 15

March 16

March 17

March 18

March 19

March 20

March 21

March 23

March 25

March 26

March 29

March 30

March 31

Oh yeah! I also bought a new camera in March! I hope to continue to do good work in April!

Of course, there can only be one selfie for each day. Here are my favorite alternates I took for THE SELFIE PROJECT:

Jesse is a sleeper!

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

FRAMED

But what exactly is a FRAMED picture? It is simply a picture where the subject is FRAMED in by something else. In the theme reveal, the edge of the garbage can makes a frame for the subject of the refuse. A doorway makes a good frame. So does a hall way. A window Any thing that creates negative space makes a great frame for your subject. Or you could even do something as easy as taking a picture of something that is in a literal picture frame.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Basketball, Christianity, History, Iowa State, Railroad, Road Trip, WPC - Reminder

Kossuth and Winnebago County Auxiliary Images Vol. 2

March 25, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Today is a big day for Iowa State athletics. Iowa State is one of only two schools that have both their Men’s and Women’s basketball team still alive in the NCAA tournament. For the Men, this is pretty shocking since they only won two games last year. This was the expectation for the Women.

However, for the third time in as many games, in their infinite wisdom, the NCAA has scheduled the Men’s and Women’s games to overlap. (Yes, I actually know that the television networks schedule the game times, but still!) This has lead several people to ask me how I’m going to watch both games. The astute people know that I refuse to DVR games, so that isn’t a possibility.

The answer is simple. I’m going to watch Season 2 of BRIDGERTON on Netflix and then read about the games in the morning paper on Saturday.

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Several months back I cruised around Kossuth ad Winnebago County harvesting their town signs. This is the second collection of auxiliary images from that road trip. All these images were taken in Kossuth County.

Algona

Wesley

Titonka

Lone Rock

There is still one more collection of images from this trip to share.

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

SHADOW

SHADOW! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a SHADOW picture? A SHADOW picture is simply a picture where one of the major compositional elements of the image is a SHADOW. The SHADOW can be on the ground. It can be on a wall. It can be across somebody’s face. A silhouette picture is a SHADOW picture, for example. And of course, there are other types of less literal SHADOWs out there too.

Happy photo harvesting!

Flowers, WPC - Reminder

Happy

March 18, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Here is a collection of flower pictures I took in my yard back in June:

I have plenty more flower pictures from last year to share.

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

ABSTRACT

But what exactly is an ABSTRACT image?

Here is a definition from the Wiki:

Abstract photography, sometimes called non-objective, experimental or conceptual photography, is a means of depicting a visual image that does not have an immediate association with the object world and that has been created through the use of photographic equipment, processes or materials. An abstract photograph may isolate a fragment of a natural scene in order to remove its inherent context from the viewer, it may be purposely staged to create a seemingly unreal appearance from real objects, or it may involve the use of color, light, shadow, texture, shape and/or form to convey a feeling, sensation or impression.

In a nutshell, an ABSTRACT image would be an image that doesn’t necessarily look like the object that is being photographed. Or at least it concentrates on shapes and forms. It isn’t a picture of a flower that looks like a flower. There are several ways to do this:

+ Move the camera while taking the picture.
+ If you are using a camera with a zoom lens. Zoom the lens while taking the picture.
+ Move a light in a dark room.
+ Take a picture of smoke or steam.
+ Take a picture that is out of focus. Lights work as great subjects here.
+ Reflections in water.

The theme reveal image is a picture of the sun, taken in my alley. With a wide open aperture and completely out of focus.

Another option is to find a piece of ABSTRACT art and take a picture of that.

Happy photo harvesting!