Category Archives: Still Life

Andy, Angie, Boone FUMC, Candid Portrait, Carla, Drone, Holidays, Jodie Cue, Shannon, Steph, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 193 – BLUE

May 27, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

First things first. Even though Photography 139 doesn’t take days off, it does acknowledge holidays. I hope you have had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, but also take the time to remember why it is you got a 3 day weekend. To honor the people who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Happy Memorial Day!

As is usual when a holiday falls on Monday, participation rates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE dip. While this happened again today, the people who did submit for BLUE were very passionate about BLUE.

There were pictures submitted that were taken in Rome, Philadelphia, Saylorville, and even Fraser!

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

Andy Sharp

Carla Stensland

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Angie DeWaard

Andy Sharp

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Stephanie Kim

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:

GROUP PORTRAIT

GROUP PORTRAIT! What a great theme! But what is a GROUP PORTRAIT? A GROUP PORTRAIT is simply any portrait that features more than one person. It doesn’t have to be a formal posed portrait. A candid portrait works just as well.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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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.

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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 grouped Monday.

Photo Journal, Still Life

A PHOTO JOURNAL – PAGES 74-75

May 21, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

A couple Saturdays back I went to downtown Ames to watch Evie’s piano recital, making her the third Gorshe I have now seen in concert. just 3 more to go and I will have collected the entire set. Although I think it will be awhile before the twins are ready to tackle the music scene.

I arrived at the concert venue about 45 minutes early, so I figured I would knock out Pages 74 & 75 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.

Pages 74 & 75 are to make “A record of interesting backgrounds that I can return to later should I need to shoot someone’s portrait.”

There are spots for 11 of these backgrounds in the physical PHOTO JOURNAL. As you will quickly find out, I’m partial to brick walls. Decrepit brick walls.

This wall is actually in Boone.

Plenty more from THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT coming this week!

Photo Journal, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 113

May 3, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett

I can’t say that I’m particularly proud of this picture. It isn’t exactly in my wheelhouse. If I thought about it more, it is something I would’ve had Jay help with. But I’m committed to not getting too hung up on quality and forging ahead and finishing off THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. I’m committed to knocking off at least one page a week and being finished with this project by the end of the summer.

With that in mind, I present Page 113 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 113 – Photograph a vegetable so it looks like a body part.

My rough estimate is that I have about 25-30 of these pages still to knockout.

The next time we check in with THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, it will most likely involve one of these pages:

PAGE 112 – Take a picture inspired by the last thing that jolted you awake.
PAGE 121 – Show us photography is a form of magic.
PAGE 116 – Shoot an advert where the image says it all without the need for any additional copy.
PAGE 74-75 – A record of interesting backgrounds.
page 20 – Make something big look small.

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

GREEN

A GREEN photo is any photo that involves the color GREEN. Remember that there are more than one definition of the term GREEN.

Happy photo harvesting!

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

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.