Category Archives: Still Life

Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe, Kim, Kio, Linda, Michelle, Micky, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 349 – HAT

May 24, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I am back from Miami Beach! I even brought Kim and Cathie back with me sorta. Not really. At least Kim and I were on the same flight. The short answer was it was a good enough trip that involved long hours in a convention center.

I want to thank everybody that wished me a happy birthday and Kim for briefly singing to me.

Thank you Kim, Elizabeth, Jen, Sara, Anders, Teresa, Micky, Jesse, Michelle, Jay, Monica, Shannon, Elainie, Brandon, Angie, Alexis (bonus points for working in a Godzilla graphic in her birthday wish), Andree, Steph, Faust, Logan, and Carla. I appreciate it! Now on to the mission of the next trip around to the sun and making it as good-ish as possible.

I thought the theme of HAT might be a streak buster because of the unusual logistics of the week, and it did to some degree, but not to the degree that I thought.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, May 16, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:

+ Mary Green – 1 week
+ William McAlpine – 1 week
+ Linda Bennett – 2 weeks
+ Angie DeWaard – 4 weeks
+ Jesse Howard – 4 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 6 weeks
+ Sara Lockner – 6 weeks
+ Becky Parmelee – 6 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 7 weeks
+ Suzie Brannen – 8 weeks
+ Monica Jennings – 9 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 9 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 17 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 17 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 17 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 18 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 19 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 20 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 21 weeks
+ Cathie Morton – 25 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 26 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 28 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 31 weeks
+ Christopher D. Bennett 450 weeks

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Logan Kahler – 10 weeks

Joe Duff – 8 weeks

Kim Barker – 7 weeks

Kim Barker

Dawn Krause – 1 week

Jesse Howard – 5 weeks

Jesse Howard

Teresa Kahler – 18 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Elizabeth Nordeen – 27 weeks

Andy Sharp – 21 weeks

Andy Sharp

Micky Augustin – 20 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 5 weeks

Becky Parmelee – 7 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 22 weeks

Carla Stensland – 18 weeks

Cathie Morton – 26 weeks

Kio Dettman – 32 weeks

Kio Dettman

Linda Bennett – 3 weeks

Linda Bennett

Mary Green – 2 weeks

Mary Green

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 29 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 19 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 18 weeks

William McAlpine – 2 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

33 submissions from 22 participants. That is a good week. I’m glad to see that so many of you have an important HAT in your life.

There were a couple of accomplishments of note this week. Logan cracked double digits to enter the double digit club. Cathie hit 26 weeks to enter the half year club.

But as I feared, multiple streaks did bite the dust. Sara’s 6 week streak is gone. Suzie’s 8 week streak, only something you can read about in the history books. Monica’s 9 week streak, a distant memory.

9. Teresa Kahler – 18 weeks
9. Tamara Peterson – 18 weeks
9. Carla Stensland – 18 weeks
8. Michelle Haupt – 19 weeks
7. Micky Augustin – 20 weeks
6. Andy Sharp – 21 weeks
5. Bill Wentworth – 22 weeks
4. Cathie Morton – 26 weeks
3. Elizabeth Nordeen – 27 weeks
2. Shannon Bardole-Foley – 29 weeks
1. Kio Dettman – 32 weeks

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:

HISTORY

WARNING: NEXT MONDAY IS MEMORIAL DAY. YOU MIGHT BE OUT DOING HOLIDAY TYPE THINGS. THINK ABOUT THIS WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR PLANS TO SEND ME YOUR SUBMISSION. I ALSO MIGHT NOT BE IN POSITION TO SEND OUT ANY REMINDERS. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

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 StateS spoke. It doesn’t have to be political HISTORY or military HISTORY or religious HISTORY. It could very easily be personal HISTORY or family 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.

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

Fat Mum Slim – April 2022

May 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

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, Equipment, Flowers, Naima, Nature, Still Life

Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD Lens

April 28, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Back in October I picked up a new Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD lens. I always meant to right and in depth piece on it, and well, here we are… almost seven months lately and I haven’t even gotten to look at the first set of pictures I took with the lens. Until today!

Here are some of the specs of the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD lens:

Focal Length: 28-75
Max Aperture: f/2.8
Aperture Blades: 9 (circular)
Minimum Focal Distance 7.1″ (Wide)/15″ (Tele)
Filter Size: 67mm
Minimum Aperture: f/22

Here are the first pictures I took with this lens. Mostly pictures of Naima:

So far I have loved this lens. It is a good standby lens since it covers the focal distances that are used the most. My lens philosophy is still that it is best to use a prime lens over a zoom lens, but zoom lenses have come a long way. I do still enjoy giving somebody a camera with a prime lens and asking them to take a picture, just to here them ask, “How do I zoom?”

To which I always get to respond, “With your feet.”

Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Black & White, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Jesse, Joe, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Sara, Shannon, Still Life, Suzie, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 345 – LETTERS OR NUMBERS

April 25, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

WARNING: READ THE RULES FOR NEXT WEEK’S THEME CARFEULLY. THERE IS ONE CHANGE FOR NEXT WEEK’S THEME!

LETTERS OR NUMBERS has proven to be a fairly popular theme.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, April 18, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:

+ Evie Gorshe – 1 week
+ Sarah Karber – 1 week
+ Kim Barker – 2 weeks
+ Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
+ Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 3 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 3 weeks
+ Linda Bennett – 4 weeks
+ Suzie Brannen – 4 weeks
+ Monica Henning – 4 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 5 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 13 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 13 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 13 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 14 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 15 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 16 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 17 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 21 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 22 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 24 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 27 weeks

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Teresa Kahler – 14 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Sara Lockner – 3 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 23 weeks

Andy Sharp – 17 weeks

Evie Gorshe – 2 weeks

Micky Augustin – 16 weeks

Joe Duff – 4 weeks

Kio Dettman – 28 weeks

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson – 14 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 1 week

Bill Wentworth – 18 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Carla Stensland – 14 weeks

Carla Stensland

Michelle Haupt – 15 weeks

Becky Parmelee – 3 weeks

Linda Bennett – 5 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 25 weeks

Logan Kahler – 6 weeks

Kim Barker – 3 weeks

Dawn Krause – 4 weeks

Dawn Krause

Cathie Raley – 22 weeks

Jesse Howard – 1 week

Suzie Brannen – 5 weeks

Monica Henning – 5 weeks

Monica Henning

31 submissions from 24 participants! That is a great week!

Only 1 “streak” was snapped. Sarah wasn’t able to built on her submission from last week. However, to balance that out, Angie participated for the first time in Year 9. Hopefully this is the sign of big things to come!

Here are the current top streaks:

1. Kio – 28 weeks
2. Shannon – 25 weeks
3. Elizabeth – 23 weeks
4. Cathie – 22 weeks
5. Bill – 18 weeks
6. Andy Sharp – 17 weeks
7. Micky Augustin – 16 weeks
8. Michelle Haupt – 15 weeks
9. Teresa Kahler – 14 weeks
9. Tamara Peterson – 14 weeks
9. Carla Stensland – 14 weeks

#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!

So now that is clear. When considering possible subjects for your best picture this week, meditate on these song lyrics from a song from THE KARATE KID:

Try to be best
‘Cause you’re only a man
And a man’s gotta learn to take it
Try to believe
Though the going gets rough
That you gotta hang tough to make it
History repeats itself
Try and you’ll succeed
Never doubt that you’re the one
And you can have your dreams!
You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down

I look forwarding to seeing the best you got next Monday!

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 #INSTAGOOD in this place that is nothing more than the best I got next Monday.

Andy, Becky, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Joe, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Pastor Sarah, Sara, Shannon, Still Life, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 344 – ORANGE

April 18, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Orange has proven to be a pretty popular theme. Orange you glad?

As of 11:00 AM on Monday, April 11, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:

+ Kim Barker – 1 week
+ Sara Lockner – 1 week
+ Becky Parmelee – 1 week
+ Joe Duff – 2 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 2 weeks
+ Linda Bennett – 3 weeks
+ Suzie Brannen – 3 weeks
+ Monica Henning – 3 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 4 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 12 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 12 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 12 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 13 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 14 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 15 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 16 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 20 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 21 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 23 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 26 weeks

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Linda Bennett – 4 weeks

Linda Bennett

Sarah Karber – 1 week

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 24 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 13 weeks

Kio Dettman – 27 weeks

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett

Joe Duff – 3 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 22 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 13 weeks

Micky Augustin – 15 weeks

Evie Gorshe – 1 week

Bill Wentworth – 17 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 14 weeks

Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks

Andy Sharp – 16 weeks

Andy Sharp

Suzie Brannen – 4 weeks

Dawn Krause – 3 weeks

Sara Lockner – 2 weeks

Logan Kahler – 5 weeks

Kim Barker – 2 weeks

Cathie Raley – 21 weeks

Carla Stensland – 13 weeks

Carla Stensland

Monica Henning – 4 weeks

30 submissions from 23 participants! You would think I knew more than one person that had a favorite color of ORANGE!

Amazingly, there wasn’t a single streak snapped AND the first submission from Sarah Karber this cycle. All very exciting stuff!!

Here are the current top streaks:

1. Kio – 27 weeks
2. Shannon – 24 weeks
3. Elizabeth – 22 weeks
4. Cathie – 21 weeks
5. Bill – 17 weeks
6. Andy Sharp – 16 weeks
7. Micky Augustin – 15 weeks
8. Michelle Haupt – 14 weeks
9. Teresa Kahler – 13 weeks
9. Tamara Peterson – 13 weeks
9. Carla Stensland – 13 weeks

A really great week!

LETTERS OR NUMBERS

LETTERS OR NUMBERS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a LETTERS OR NUMBERS picture? A LETTERS OR NUMBERS picture is simply any picture that features LETTERS OR NUMBERS or both! They can be used to create words or they can just be a random jumble like in the theme reveal image.

While thinking on possible subjects for your LETTERS OR NUMBERS picture, meditate on the following qoute:

Why’ is the only question that bothers people enough to have an entire letter of the alphabet named after it.

The alphabet does not go ‘A B C D What? When? How?’ but it does go ‘V W X Why? Z.
-Douglas Adams

I look forward to seeing your interpretations next Monday:

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 LETTERS OR NUMBERS in this place that is nothing more than letters and numbers and symbols next Monday.

Art, Bill, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Christianity, Jesse, Road Trip, Still Life, Tenderloining

Tenderloin Appreciation Society – Harlan Field Work

April 15, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Today is Good Friday. I thought I would share an image I took on a recent road trip that represents Good Friday before getting to a Good Friday devotional.

This devotional I took from the UMC website and was written by Rev. Dr. Hannah Ka:

Scripture: Mark 15:33-41

From noon until three in the afternoon the whole earth was dark. At three, Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you left me?”

After hearing him, some standing there said, “Look! He’s calling Elijah!” Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, and put it on a pole. He offered it to Jesus to drink, saying, “Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down.” But Jesus let out a loud cry and died.

The curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who stood facing Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “This man was certainly God’s Son.”

Some women were watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James (the younger one) and Joseph, and Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, these women had followed and supported him, along with many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him.

Devotion

A dimmed light in theater cues the ending of a scene. The darkness signals the curtain to close. A part of the story has ended. If the protagonist is dead at this end, then we know it is a tragedy. Jesus’ death is a disappointment for those who hoped that he would rise as a new political leader to overthrow the oppressive colonial power of Rome and rebuild the nation that would protect them. For those who executed his death sentence, it is a clear victory against a rebel. This seemingly failed attempt closes the curtain on the story, at least for many human eyes.

From the wider viewpoint of faith, however, it is not. It signals something totally otherwise. At the moment of Jesus’ loud cry and his last breath, there the curtain in the temple is torn in two. This is the curtain that the God-fearing and Law-abiding Jewish people had put up to keep some out. It is torn “from top to bottom” (v. 38) because God breaks the division between the holy and the ordinary and erases the line between what is acceptable and unacceptable.

The death of Jesus is an opening. God opens the closed curtains that we so often put up and walks into our lives. God is not only within our reach, but also reaches out to all humanity with the redeeming grace of the cross. God treasures our ordinary life as a part of eternity. God turns the ends of human tragedy into new beginnings because God’s redemptive story always eradicates any human-made divisive binaries we put up on earth. God follows neither the Roman Empire nor the Jewish Law. God builds a new kin-dom on earth according to God’s all-embracing love. God is… and God does.

For reflection

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” by Lao Tzu.

Prayer

O God, help us feel your presence in our daily lives, in our pain and our despair. Open our eyes to see your new beginnings in our endings. Guide us to live as a part of your redemptive story. Amen.

Once again, you are invited to join me at “my” church. The Boone First United Methodist Church for Good Friday. At noon you can start visiting the church to tour The Stations of the Cross. The video starts every hour on the hour from noon until 7 PM. You might recognize the voice of the narrator of Station 7. At 7 PM there will be a worship service. If you want to stay home and tour the videos they will be online to watch as well. I believe on the Boone First United Methodist Church Facebook page.

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A few Saturday’s ago Jesse and I road tripped to Harlan, Iowa to meet Bill at Victoria Station to do a little tenderloining. Victoria Station is the reigning Best Tenderloin in Iowa, so we had to get there and give it a go. The Pork Producers do a fair job of crowning the champion, but they do frequently anoint subpar tenderloins as the champ. So I kept my expectations in check. Especially, cause this is definitely not a standard tenderloin. It is served on Texas Toast and rather than being served with mustard and ketchup, it is eaten with a garlic aioli.

Here are some cruddy cell phone pictures from the experience:

I’ll just cut to the chase. This is one of the best tenderloins I’ve ever had. The Pork Producers actually got it right! I wasn’t sure about the Texas Toast, but it works! Certainly better than some place that try brioche or ciabatta buns, which don’t work that well. The meat tastes great and the garlic aioli complements it perfectly.

I believe it belongs in the Tenderloin Pantheon.

THE GOOD

+ Toasted “bun”.
+ Great thickness.
+ Nailed the meat to bun ratio.
+ White onions.
+ Garlic aioli, delicious!
+ Flavorful breading.
+ Served Pepsi products.
+ The appetizers were phenomenal. In particular, the fried pickle thing.
+ Former depot setting is really cool.
+ Great service.

THE BAD

+ Served default with lettuce and tomato, but I’m just beginning to accept this.
+ Cool setting, but not very big dining area. If you going during peak hours, I’d recommend a reservation. We were there at 2 PM on a Saturday, so there was plenty of space, but we still had a reservation.

THE UGLY

+ No doors on the bathroom stalls in the Men’s room. The door does lock however. There are doors on the Women’s restroom stalls though. We confirmed this with our awesome waitress.

Victoria Station is also a finalist for the Best Burger in Iowa, so a return trip there might be in my future!

+++++++

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

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.

I’ve already received a submission from Minnesota from a person that hasn’t submitted for quite some time. I’m pretty excited about this potential development! Also, I received a submission from somebody that drove all the way to California for the sole purpose of taking a picture for their submission! I love the commitment!

While considering possible subjects for your ORANGE submission, consider the following quote:

Whoever said ORANGE was the new pink was seriously disturbed.
-Elle Woods

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Black & White, Camping, Commercial, Cousin Amy, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Funk, Jesse, Macro, Night, Photoshop, Road Trip, Sara, Still Life, Willy

2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17

April 9, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

The grand majority of the pictures in the folders 2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17 are from a trip to Kalona to eat an authentic Amish meal with Funk, Sara, and Cousin Amy. This was before Funk became a total badass and started spending her free time climbing mountains in Peru. There are also a couple pictures here from a camping trip to Ledges and a pictures I took and poorly photoshopped for the United Way of Story County.

I miss Kalona. I will need to go there at some point this year, and not just for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT.

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:

RWPE Y2 #23 – DEPTH OF FIELD

GUYS’ NIGHT

LIVE UNITED

KALONA ROAD TRIP

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a trip to a baseball game.

Andy, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Jesse, Joe, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Naima, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 342 – FRAMED

April 4, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

FRAMED has proven to be a theme that is fair in popularity.

As of 10:59 AM on Monday, April 4, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:

+ Kim Barker – 1 week
+ Linda Bennett – 1 week
+ Suzie Brannen – 1 week
+ Evie Gorshe – 1 week
+ Layla Gorshe – 1 week
+ Jesse Howard – 1 week
+ Sara Lockner – 1 week
+ Monica Henning – 2 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 2 weeks
+ Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 10 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 10 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 10 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 11 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 12 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 13 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 14 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 18 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 19 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 21 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 24 weeks

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Evie Gorshe – 2 weeks

Monica Henning – 3 weeks

Dawn Krause – 1 week

Andy Sharp – 14 weeks

Joe Duff – 1 week

Joe Duff

Kio Dettman – 25 weeks

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson – 11 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 22 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 15 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 12 weeks

Cathie Raley – 19 weeks

Linda Bennett – 2 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 11 weeks

Jesse Howard – 2 weeks

Logan Kahler – 3 weeks

Logan Kahler

Elizabeth Nordeen – 20 weeks

Micky Augustin – 13 weeks

Carla Stensland – 11 weeks

Mike Vest – 1 week

26 submissions from 21 participants! That is a solid week!

There were only 4 streaks snapped this week. Kim, Layla, and Sara could not build on their submissions from last week. Becky had her two week snapped.

Here are the current top streaks:

1. Kio – 25 weeks
2. Shannon – 22 weeks
3. Elizabeth – 20 weeks
4. Cathie – 19 weeks
5. Bill – 15 weeks

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.

While considering possible GRATITUDE subjects, meditate on the following quote:

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”
– William Faulkner

I look forward to seeing your interpretations.

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 our idea of GRATITUDE in this place that I am thankful for next Monday.

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 Leave a comment

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!

Andy, Becky, Bill, Cathie, Christianity, Elizabeth, Evie, Jesse, Kim, Kio, Layla, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Sara, Shannon, Still Life, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 341 – SHADOW

March 28, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

SHADOW seems to be a pretty popular theme.

As of 10:59 AM on Monday, March 28, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:

+ Harrison Gorshe – 1 week
+ Monica Henning – 1 week
+ Logan Kahler – 1 week
+ Stephanie Kim – 1 week
+ Becky Parmelee – 1 week
+ Mike Vest – 1 week
+ Dawn Krause – 5 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 9 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 9 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 9 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 9 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 10 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 11 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 12 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 13 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 17 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 18 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 20 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 23 weeks

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Jesse Howard – 1 week

Micky Augustin – 12 weeks

Layla Gorshe – 1 week

Evie Gorshe – 1 week

Teresa Kahler – 10 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Michelle Haupt – 11 weeks

Kio Dettman – 24 weeks

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson – 10 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 21 weeks

Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 14 weeks

Linda Bennett – 1 week

Christopher D. Bennett

Elizabeth Nordeen – 19 weeks

Carla Stensland – 10 weeks

Carla Stensland

Sara Lockner – 1 week

Cathie Raley – 18 weeks

Kim Barker – 1 week

Andy Sharp – 13 weeks

Monica Henning – 2 weeks

Monica Henning

Suzie Brannen – 1 week

Logan Kahler – 2 weeks

28 submissions from 22 participants. That is a great week.

Congratulations to Teresa, Tamara, and Carla for being the latest people to join the double digit club!

Unfortunately a few streaks were snapped. Harrison, Stephanie, and Vest could not build on their submission from last week. Dawn had a 5 week streak snapped. And Joe… a 9 week streak gone! Hopefully they can start building that streak back up starting next week!

Here are the current top streaks:

1. Kio – 24 weeks
2. Shannon – 21 weeks
3. Elizabeth – 19 weeks
4. Cathie – 18 weeks
5. Bill – 14 weeks

FRAMED

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

While thinking on possible subjects for your FRAMED image, meditate on the following quote:

You can frame a moment. But you can’t frame life.
-Armin Houman

I look forward to seeing your interpretations.

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 our idea of FRAMED in this place that tries to put a frame around my existence next Monday.

RULES

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THE GOOD

THE BAD

THE UGLY

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