Category Archives: Still Life

Andy, Angie, Carla, Jen, Jodie Cue, Kim, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 186 – TOOL

April 8, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Another solid week of participation! I think the most exciting development is a submission for the first time from Jen Ensley-Gorshe! She isn’t even an email subscriber! Perhaps she will become the latest person to show taste, class, and sophistication by becoming the latest Photography 139 email subscriber. Only time will tell!

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

Carla Stensland

Jodie Cue

Jen Ensley-Gorshe

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Angie DeWaard

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

Christopher D. Bennett

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:

FAVORITE COLOR

FAVORITE COLOR! What a great theme! But what is a FAVORITE COLOR image? A FAVORITE COLOR picture is any picture that involves your FAVORITE COLOR. I don’t know what your FAVORITE COLOR is maybe it is periwinkle. Maybe it is goldenrod.

This is a surprisingly tough theme for me. I don’t even have a favorite color. When I was a kid, it was green. Then when I was a teenager, it was probably black… because… teenager. Then it might have become blue, as my signature color in terms of fashion. But I don’t really even have a FAVORITE COLOR now. They all have a purpose. Don’t worry about me though, I’ll figure something out.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations.

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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.

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

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

+++++++

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 colorful Monday.

Animals, Automobiles, Basketball, Candid Portrait, Commercial, Formal Portrait, Iowa State, Jeff Daniel, Monica, Night, Ruins, Schmidt, Self-Portrait, Shannon, Still Life, Yin

12December2008

April 6, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

Sometime in late 2008 my organizational process of my photos went all FUBAR. The result is that it appears that I have actually lost several images from late 2008 and early 2009.

None of the lost pictures are of much consequence, but it is annoying nonetheless.

Part of this breakdown in the system was that it seems that rather than breaking images into folders by date, I just dumped a ton of pictures into the December folder.

Fortunately for you, I don’t usually take a ton of pictures in December. However, this still potentially might be one long journal entry.

There are pictures from Iowa State at night, Toys for Tots, an American Legion event in Roland, Iowa State basketball, Shannon dressed nice for once, a night with the Daniels, and crayfish that took home from a Chinese buffet.

Here we go:

Looking at those pictures something that struck me is that I had forgotten how badly Greg McDermott had destroyed Iowa State’s basketball program. Thank you Creighton for taking him off of our hands! It is a debt that can never be repaid!

All those pictures added to the Photography 139 Gallery enabled me to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” journal entries to their original glory:

Thelma and Louise

Boone Taxi Driver

Saturday Night

Toys for Tots

Burying the Lead

Muskrat Carcass

Beavers

Plus Five

Roland, Iowa

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve hanging around the ACTORS Studio.

Andy, Jodie Cue, Kim, Linda, Still Life, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 184 – STILL LIFE

March 25, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

Spring has sprung! The new warmer weather has caused the creative juices to start salivating for all sorts of people. I’m saying it was a good week for participation.

In fact, Mike Vest came out of retirement this week. Those of you that are long in the tooth with this website may remember that Mike Vest was a founding member of the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. When it started, it was published on both this website and his website. In fact, it was originally his idea. He even wrote an app to spit out the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme. In fact, back then it was call the RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT.

That is a ton of back story just to say, it is good to have Vest back in the fold.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about the way things were. You came to see the submissions:

Jodie Cue

Linda Bennett

Kim Barker

Linda Bennett

Mike Vest

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

Jodie Cue

Christopher D. Bennett

WATER!

WATER! What a great theme! But what is a WATER photo? A WATER photo is any picture that involves WATER. From a lake to a pond to a river to a glass to a bottle.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

+++++++

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 wet Monday.

Angie, Black & White, Evie, Formal Portrait, Jodie Cue, Kim, Micky, Steph, Still Life, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 183 – FORMAL PORTRAIT

March 18, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I believe that the submissions for FORMAL PORTRAIT are amongst the most solid collection of submissions we’ve had in a long time for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about the submissions. You came to see the submissions:

Kim Barker

Jodie Cue

Stephanie Kim

Christopher D. Bennett

Angie DeWaard

Micky Augustin

Tamara Peterson

STILL LIFE

STILL LIFE! What a great theme! But what is a STILL LIFE image? Here is as good of a definition as I have ever Googled:

A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, etc.).

Seems pretty simple and straightforward. I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

+++++++

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 still Monday.

Art, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Jaxon, Jodie Cue, Music, Still Life

Boone FUMC Church Directory: Chapter 5

March 14, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I think this is the final collection of pictures I took for the Boone First United Methodist Church Directory.

I think these pictures were taken on Graduation Sunday. However, that isn’t the reason for the red balloons. I just can’t remember the reason for the red balloons. Might have been the church’s birthday. That seems vaguely familiar.

I know at least a couple of these ended up in the Directory:

This process gave me some ideas for the next Directory. I might have to take a more active role in crafting it.

Andy, Formal Portrait, Kim, Kio, Michelle, Still Life, Tamara

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 182 – 8

March 11, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I didn’t send out any reminders this week for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Only the diehards participated in this week’s theme of 8.

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

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

FORMAL PORTRAIT

FORMAL PORTRAIT! What a great theme! But what is a FORMAL PORTRAIT. It isn’t a portrait where the subject is dressed formally. A FORMAL PORTRAIT is simply a portrait where the subject knows that they are being photographed and they are posing for the picture.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

+++++++

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 formal Monday.

Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Holidays, House, Jay, Jesse, Night, Olympic Sports, Scottie D., Shannon, Still Life, Willy

11-01-08

March 9, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

The images from the folder 11-1-08 are all over the place. They include pictures of Jesse and I exploring the disc golf course in McHose Park to pictures of Shannon before she made a donation to Locks of Love to pictures of my Hoosier before it got fixed up to pictures Halloween in 2008.

I’m not a frolfer, but I do think that McHose Park has a badass disc golf course. The first 9 holes are nothing special, but the back 9 is a man’s golf course. When I say man’s golf course, what I really mean is that it isn’t for the faint of heart. It is for people that aren’t afraid to get lost in the woods and never heard from again.

The Hoosier pictures were taken from before Shannon’s dad came to pick it up. It was in storage and he did a wonderful job making it presentable again and he did it in plenty of time before I found a house to call home. Which was quite the feat, even though I did take my own sweet time with my house hunt.

The pictures of Shannon before she cut off her hair were taken in Brookside Park. This was Shannon’s 3rd donation to Locks of Love. In that collection of pictures is one of my favorite pictures of Shannon and I believe it is safe to say that I have taken lots of pictures of Shannon.

Finally, the 2008 Halloween pictures includes a picture of Willy in what was definitely the best Halloween costume he has ever had.

Have a look:

The stick figure pumpkin is the best pumpkin I have ever carved. Jay hated it. I’m not bitter about that, otherwise I wouldn’t be bringing it up over 10 years later.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

McHose Park Mystery

All Hallow’s Eve

Before

Another Before

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve another trip to Ottumwa and what Shannon looked like after she cut off her 12 or so inches of hair.

Animals, Automobiles, Becky, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Commercial, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Jay, Macro, Mom, Politics, Road Trip, Shannon, Still Life, Teresa, Travel, Work

10-13-08

February 2, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

There is quite the collection of images in the folder called 10-13-08. I can’t possibly include all of them in this here entry, so I’ll just have to pick out a few that I like the most.

The pictures range from Gyro Day at the Computer Mine to the Ames Party Bus in action to a road trip to Kalona with Mom, Teresa, and Jay.

Have a looksie:

While I’m not 100% sure, I believe that is the last of my Ames Party Bus pictures. Which means I should explain why you haven’t seen Becky driving around the Ames Party Bus in 10 years.

I might not be getting the details 100% correct, but the spirit of what I’m writing is dead on.

Shortly after Becky finished restored the Ames Party Bus and began putting out an APB on fun, Big Party Bus felt threatened. In fact they were scared. Petrified.

Big Party Bus checked their address book to look up which state representatives they had in their back pockets. Then they went to these bought politicians and pulled their chains.

The bought politicians reacted by passing a law that made party buses carry an exorbitant amount of insurance. Like an incredible amount of insurance. Insurance that was price-prohibitive.

This effectively shutdown the small-time party bus. Becky was out of business, shortly after the party had begun. Rich people win again.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

Spoiled

Euphonious

Kalona (Part 1)

Kalona (Part 2)

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve an Iowa State football match with the Bugeaters of Nebraska.

Animals, Art, Christianity, Ernie, Flowers, Portrait, Still Life, Teresa, Travel, Vacation

08-03-08

October 27, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 08-03-08 is from the third day of my vacation in Kentucky with Teresa.

On that day, we went to a Southern Baptist Church service. We spent 3 hours at the church service, before we snuck out the back. I’m not sure how much long it went on. There were some positives about the church service. The music was amazing. The people were friendly. The story of the church was fascinating. It was started by a former prisoner. When he got out of prison he started the church with a mission of helping other convicts of surviving outside of prison and not falling back into the actions that got them in prison the first time.

The negative was it was the only time I’ve heard hate preached from a pulpit. At least hate on a certain group of people. The weird part of it was the pastor wasn’t even talking about the group of people he hated. He just threw a couple of bombs at them for no apparent reason. It was kind of sad.

After the 3+ hour church service, we also went to the lake and watch birds. Then we went to Ernie’s pond and fed his catfish.

Here are some pictures from the day:

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

KENTUCKY – DAY 3

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve driving home from Kentucky and a look at some Abraham Lincoln history!

Becky, Derrick, Event, Jaycees, Music, Portrait, Shannon, State Fair, Steph, Still Life

06-28-08

August 18, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There is quite the eclectic collection of pictures in the folder 06-28-08.

There are pictures from Ames on the Half Shell. The Box Brothers are the band.

There are pictures of the WHO Tractor Ride.

There are pictures of the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

And finally, there is a picture of the most accurate nickname I was ever given.

The Intimidator mailing label was on a gift subscription to American Photo magazine from Steph. I had that nickname because 98% of the people that I have managed in my life have been terrified of me. The other 2%? Fools.

Of course, there are more Box Brothers images than I care to share here. If you want to see more, you can click on the link below:

Ames on the Half Shell – 2008

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

Work Half Done

Burden

Box Brothers

The Right Color Tractor

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve a wedding where I was a 2nd shooter. I don’t know or even remember the name of the people that got married. However, if the other weddings I’ve done photography on is any indication, they are probably divorced now. That might have taken a dark turn, but #facts.