Category Archives: WPC – Submissions

RWPE #48 – Active

Apparently the theme ACTIVE had the result of making everybody inactive. Then at least a few people should be pleased to know that ACTIVE has been eliminated as a theme for next year. Here are the submissions for a curiously inactive week:



Mike Vest


Christopher D. Bennett

I went down to the Random Theme Generator’s office and socked it a good one. As it was slightly dazed, I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and told it to “give me a theme that will fire the creative energy of the people”.

I felt bad for ruffling the feathers of the Random Theme Generator, so I sat it down and helped straighten out the cheap suit it likes to wear on working days.

Then it spat the theme for this week out at me:

LOVE

Brilliant!

After all, everybody has somebody they love or some thing they love. Everybody should be able to come up with one visual concept or example of love. Right? If a person couldn’t, wouldn’t they in essence be a horrible shell of a person that was just barely getting by in this world? Like me on Thursday nights?

I hope my calculations are correct and there is an explosion of LOVE pictures in my mailbox next week!

RWPE #47 – Discover

I don’t know if it was the theme or if it was the holiday, but once again submissions were somewhat anemic. Here are the submissions for DISCOVER.


WEEK 47 - DISCOVER - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

IMAGE LOST
Dawn Krause

WEEK 47 - DISCOVER - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

There are only 5 themes left before this little experiment starts over. I went down and kicked the Random Theme Generator and told it to give me a theme that would light the fires of creativity under more people. It just sat there. Then it spit out the following theme:

ACTIVE

On the surface that seems like a good solid theme that could be interpreted in a bazillion different ways. Hopefully this will get RWPE back on track.

RWPE #46 – Spiritual

The theme of SPIRITUAL didn’t ring the bell of many people this week. It reminds me of one of my favorite Daniel Tosh jokes.

“When people tell me, ‘I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual’, I tell them ‘I’m not honest but you’re interesting.'”

Here are the submissions for SPIRITUAL:


WEEK 46 - SPIRITUAL - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 46 - MIKE VEST - SPIRITUAL
Mike Vest

WEEK 46 - SPIRITUAL - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

Dawn’s Poetry Submission

Spiritual

I thought of love in its glory
How each of us has a story
I thought of awe and thought of grace
Survival of the human race

And so it came I thought real hard
Of birds and trees in the yard
Of what it was that gave us life
And gave us strength in our strife

I pondered on many things
Of promises and wedding rings
Of how it is we know He’s there
The change we sense in the air

I felt a warmth begin to spread
It filled my soul from toe to head
I yearned to stay within that light
And so I prayed and said good night

We are definitely in the homestretch now. Just a handful of themes for the RTG to spit out. The theme for this week has been spat:

DISCOVER

That is a good broad theme. Hopefully it will light a fire of creativity under several people and the submission pool will gain a good depth again next week.

RWPE #45 – Diagonal Rule

This week there is a submission from somebody I have never met. I think that is an exciting development. Here are the submissions for DIAGONAL RULE:


WEEK 45 - DIAGONAL RULE - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest of Waxen Media

WEEK 45 - DIAGONAL RULE - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole of Little White Lye Soap

WEEK 45 - DIAGONAL RULE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 45 - DIAGONAL RULE - JULIE JOHNSON
Julie Johnson of The Joy Is In The Journey

WEEK 45 - DIAGONAL RULE - KAREN BITTNER
Karen Bittner

I stuck a quarter in the Random Theme Generator and pulled the handle. Before it gave me a theme for this week, it reminded me that there are only 7 themes left. As I was ruminating on this, the Random Theme Generator spit out the theme for this week:

Spiritual

Vest and I have decided to continue on with this project for another year. I put a call out for people to submit ideas for themes for next year. Nothing was submitted. Here is you last chance.

Vest and I are meeting soon (like today) to finalize the list of themes for next year. If you have a theme you want to see on next year’s list, you can leave it in the comments section of this journal entry and it will be considered for inclusion. But you are almost out of time.

RWPE #44 – Hands

There were a fair amount of submissions for last week’s theme HANDS. Here are the submissions:


WEEK 44 - HANDS - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 44 - HANDS - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 44 - HANDS - JULIE JOHNSON
Julie Johnson

WEEK 44 - HANDS - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 44 - HANDS - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

The Random Generator has been fired up and it has spit out an interesting theme for this week.

Diagonal Rule

This is a somewhat technical theme, so let me quote from Picture-Thoughts:

The Diagonal Rule states that a photograph looks more dynamic if the objects fall or follow a diagonal line. The diagonal line doesn’t have to be an actual line and it doesn’t have to be a straight one. It could be the edges of a river, the top of a forest, or even an imaginary line connecting the different objects in the scene.

There is more of a technical definition that involves math, but for our purposes, I think just have the subject follow a diagonal line is more than enough to think about.

It is a good theme, so I hope that there are plenty of submissions for next week.

RWE #43 – Smoke Photography

Not so many submissions this week for last week’s theme SMOKE PHOTOGRAPHY. I guess not as many people love fire as I thought loved fire.


WEEK 43 - SMOKE PHOTOGRAPHY - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 43 - SMOKE PHOTOGRAPHY - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 43 - SMOKE PHOTOGRAPHY - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

Dawn’s Poetry Submission:

Smoke

It’s all just smoke and mirrors
The way you disguise your fears
What you keep hidden from yourself
Keeps love unattainable atop a shelf

Your mind recalls it’s photograph
Of every time you made her laugh
Can you see clearly through your daze
While hiding behind that blackened haze

She caught you peeking in her soul
Wondering if she could make you whole
Instead of fanning that smoldering flame
You choose to hide in billowy shame

Take the chance and build a fire
Make it known your secret desire
She has faith in what you do
Clear the smoke and believe it too

Not many themes left. I fired up the Random Theme Generator. It spit out some smoke. Then it gave a great theme for this week:

HANDS

This is a theme that should bring out quite a few participants. After all, almost everybody has hands. Everybody knows somebody that has hands. Plus hands do so many wonderful and interesting things.

RWPE #42 – Shadows

I think that at the aggregate level, this is the best batch of submissions to date. Here are the submissions for SHADOWS:


WEEK 42 - SHADOWS - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 42 - SHADOWS - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 42 - SHADOWS - BECKY PERKOVICH
Becky Perkovich

WEEK 42 - SHADOWS - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland A

WEEK 42 - SHADOWS - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland B

WEEK 42 - SHADOWS - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 42 - SHADOWS - MIKE VEST
Michael Vest

WEEK 42 - SHADOWS - JULIE JOHNSON
Julie Johnson

Dawn’s Poetry Submission

Shadows

Something lurks beneath the bright
It shies away from the light
Peripheral image that can’t be seen
What can that phantom visual mean?

Sense the dark as it closes in
Suffocates like a hidden sin
Run to a meadow open and free
Take a moment to breathe and see

The sun was shining just last week
Now the sky seems cold and bleak
Oh won’t the sun come out and play
Chase the shadows and gloom awa

I’ve walked the rocky trail that leads to the cottage that houses the Random Theme Generator. I gave it a cookie and it spit out the theme for this week:

SMOKE PHOTOGRAPHY

A compelling and interesting theme. I look forward to seeing the submissions and seeing what creative ways people waft with this theme.

RWPE #41 – Dry

Here are this week’s submissions for DRY:


WEEK 41 - DRY - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 41 - DRY - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 41 - DRY - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 41 - DRY - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

Dawn’s poetry submission:

Dry

The wind blows through the Sahara of my mind
I’m reaching out but now your love’s gone blind
It took so long to reach my heart’s turning point
Now it lies in your hands not to disappoint

My garden is ready now to grow and bloom
The weeds have died and my heart has made room
Please don’t say your love is withered and dry
Let’s tend our flowers and let our love grow high

So I’ve been to the treehouse where the Random Theme Generator or RTG as his friends call him where he spends his sabbaticals. I put a coin in the slot. Pulled the handle. RTG spit out the following excellent theme for this week:

SHADOWS

I’m very excited for this theme. I think there should be many good exceptions. After all, everybody has a shadow.

RWPE #40 – Odd Camera Angle

Last week’s theme ODD CAMERA ANGLE worked up the creative juices of more people than I was expecting. That makes me even more pumped for next week!


WEEL 40 - SHANNON BARDOLE - ODD CAMERA ANGLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 40 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 40 - JULIE JOHNSON - ODD CAMERA ANGLE
Julie Johnson

WEEK 40 - DAWN KRAUSE - ODD CAMERA ANGLE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 40 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

Dawn’s poetry submission:

Odd Angle

You may say that I’m a cynic
that I should visit a clinic
or maybe that I judge too much
but sadly life has made it such

Maybe I’m a little jaded
Personality has faded
But it’s what’s hidden deep inside
that I can’t continue to hide

Perhaps I’m more aware these days
overly cautious with my ways
To watch a world falling apart
It’s time now for a brand new start

Only 12 weeks left in this humble experiment. Only 12 Themes left. It is probably time to consider whether or not this little project will return for another 52 weeks. Leave your feedback on this quandary in the comments section of this entry.

If you are pro RWPE Year 2, feel free to also leave suggestions for possible Themes for next year.

I’ve been out to the woods where the log cabin that protects the Random Theme Generator is protected from the elements. I adjusted its solar panels. It caught a glimpse of the sunlight, powered on and spit out the following theme for this week:

DRY

An interesting theme. I hope this is a theme that continues to fire the imaginations of those that entered in the past and those that wish to enter for the first time in the future.

RWPE #39 – Fast

I’m very excited to have Jason Baier as a first time contributor this week! Here are the submissions for FAST:


IMAGE LOST
Dawn Krause

IMAGE LOST
Jason Baier

WEEK 39 - FAST - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 39 - MIKE VEST - FAST
Mike Vest

Dawn’s Poetry Submission

Fast

Time seemed slow
as the years flew past
Now I struggle
to make memories last

For all I’ve fought
and little I’ve won
My heart still seeks
a golden sun

Someday soon
it will all work out
In my heart
there’s little doubt

Embracing time
as it flies by
Not taking time
to sit and cry

I welcome time
to heal our hearts
And set us off
to better starts

Quickly now
time can speed
To bring us closure
we all need

I’ve been transported through time and space to the secret location of the Random Theme Generator. It was fired up and it spit out a unique theme for this week:

ODD CAMERA ANGLE

Some of you may be scratching your head and are wondering how this is different from the theme of VIEWPOINT from a few weeks ago. The VIEWPOINT theme challenged you to see the world from a different perspective. The perspective of a mouse or a bird. This theme is asking you to photograph something from a camera angle that you wouldn’t normally photograph an object.

I have faith that a few of you will show the world an object from a surprising and perhaps startling perspective. I look forward to the submissions and I hope that Jason Baier finds contributing to be addictive.