Category Archives: Still Life

Anders, Elizabeth, Flowers, Naima, Nature, Photo of the Day, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

Fat Mum Slim – January 2022

February 4, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

This year, in addition to THE SELFIE PROJECT, I’ve decided to participate in the popular Instagram Photo of a Day Project run by Fat Mum lim. Each day there is a different photo prompt. I’ve created a separate Instagram account to post these pictures, so if you are Instagram, you can follow that account at @fmsbennett.

Here are the pictures from January:

January 1 – How I’m Starting 2022

January 2 – This is me

January 3 – Breakfast

January 4 – Something blue

January 5 – This year I’ll

January 6 – Begins with G

January 7 – Words to live by

January 8 – Get in the photo

January 9 – Play

January 10 – Makes me smile

January 11 – Lunch

January 12 – I am here!

January 13 – Happy

January 14 – Reflection

January 15 – Heck Yes!

January 16 – Self care

January 17 – In the sky

January 18 – Serenity

January 19 – Lucky number

January 20 – A path

January 21 – Happens every day

January 22 – I love this colour

January 23 – A place

January 24 – A shape

January 25 – Flowers

January 26 – Water

January 27 – Dinner

January 28 – Nature

January 29 – A book cover

January 30 – Mirror

January 31 – I need to do this…

I need to acknowledge Elizabeth for helping on two of the projects. She threw the basketball in the air for “Up in the sky” and she also provided and held the illustration for “Flowers”.

The February themes are all letter related:
February 1: A is For…
February 2: B if For…
February 3: C is For…
February 4: D is For…
February 5: E is For…
February 6: F is For…
February 7: G is For…
February 8: H is For…
February 9: I is For…
February 10: J is For…
February 11: K is For…
February 12: L is For…
February 13: M is For…
February 14: N is For…
February 15: O is For…
February 16: P is For…
February 17: Q is For…
February 18: R is For…
February 19: S is For…
February 20: T is For…
February 21: U is For…
February 22: V is For…
February 23: W is For…
February 24: X is For…
February 25: Y is For…
February 26: Z is For…
February 27: Letters
February 28: Your Fave Word

Hoping to collect some fun images in February.

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

JUNK

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

But what is a JUNK image? Simply put, it is any picture that involves JUNK in the composition. It can be as simple as opening up your JUNK drawer and taking a picture. I have at least 5 JUNK drawers in my house and one more in the office. You could got to a local salvage yard. You could go to a local “antique” store. It could be simply a picture of something you don’t like. There are numerous definitions of JUNK and feel free to explore any of those definitions. I think you know the definition I’m talking about.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Becky, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Dad, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Layla, Michelle, Micky, Mom, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 333 – #LOVE

January 31, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

#LOVE has proven to be a popular theme. Which is good, I’m glad so many people have #LOVE in their lives.

Heading into the 4th week of Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, these were the current streaks:

+ Logan Kahler – 1 week
+ Layla Gorshe – 1 week
+ Carla Stensland – 1 week
+ Tamara Peterson – 1 week
+ Robyn Augustin – 1 week
+ Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week
+ Joe Duff – 1 week
+ Teresa Kahler – 1 week
+ Michelle Haupt – 2 weeks
+ Jesse Howard – 3 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 3 weeks
+ Monica Henning – 3 weeks
+ Evie Gorshe – 4 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 4 weeks
+ Becky Parmelee – 4 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 5 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 9 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 10 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 12 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 12 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 15 weeks

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

Bill Wentworth – 6 weeks

Carla Stensland – 2 weeks

Kio Dettman – 16 weeks

Kio Dettman

Michelle Haupt – 3 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 2 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Logan Kahler – 2 weeks

Logan Kahler

Kim Barker – 13 weeks

Evie Gorshe – 5 weeks

Andy Sharp – 5 weeks

Layla Gorshe – 2 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 2 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Micky Augustin – 4 weeks

Joe Duff – 2 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 11 weeks

Jesse Howard – 4 weeks

Mike Vest – 1 week

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 13 weeks

Dawn Krause – 1 week

Becky Parmelee – 5 weeks

Cathie Raley – 10 weeks

Monica Henning – 4 weeks

27 submissions from 22 participants! 22 participants ties last week’s record! WooHoo!

Only 2 streaks were broken. Jen and Robyn could not extend that streak out to two.

The four longest streaks remained intact and Cathie joined the world of double digit streaks.

Here are the top streaks:

#1. Kio – 16 weeks
#2. Kim – 13 weeks
#2. Shannon – 13 weeks
#4. Elizabeth – 11 weeks
#5. Cathie – 10 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:

JUNK

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

While considering your possible subjects for JUNK, consider the following quote from terrible human being Thomas Edison:

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
-Thomas Edison

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 our idea of JUNK in this place that is little more than a collection of all my leftovers next Monday.

Andy, Becky, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Elizabeth, Evie, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Layla, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Naima, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 332 – TRIANGLE

January 24, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

So far TRIANGLE has been a fairly popular theme. In fact, it was a record setting theme! More on that later.

Heading into the third week of Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, these were the current streaks:

* Mike Vest – 1 week
* Michelle Haupt – 1 week
* Monica Henning – 2 weeks
* Micky Augustin – 2 weeks
* Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
* Becky Parmelee – 3 weeks
* Andy Sharp – 3 weeks
* Evie Gorshe – 3 weeks
* Bill Wentworth – 4 weeks
* Dawn Krause – 5 weeks
* Cathie Raley – 8 weeks
* Elizabeth Nordeen – 9 weeks
* Kim Barker – 11 weeks
* Shannon Bardole-Foley – 11 weeks
* Kio Dettman – 14 weeks

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

Christopher D. Bennett

Jesse Howard – 3 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 10 weeks

Carla Stensland – 1 week

Kio Dettman – 15 weeks

Kio Dettman

Bill Wentworth – 5 weeks

Layla Gorshe – 1 week

Evie Gorshe – 4 weeks

Kim Barker – 12 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 1 week

Michelle Haupt – 2 weeks

Robyn Augustin – 1 week

Micky Augustin – 3 weeks

Monica Henning – 3 weeks

Monica Henning

Logan Kahler – 1 week

Logan Kahler

Andy Sharp – 4 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 12 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week

Becky Parmelee – 4 weeks

Joe Duff – 1 week

Teresa Kahler – 1 week

Teresa Kahler

Cathie Raley – 9 weeks

Very impressive! 28 submissions from 22 participants! I think the 22 participants might be a new THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE record! Only two streaks were snapped. Mike Vest’s “streak” of 1 week did not extend to 2 weeks. Dawn Krause’s streak of 5 weeks ends at 5.

The three longest streaks remained intact and Elizabeth joined the world of double digit streaks.

Here are the top streaks:

#1. Kio – 15 weeks
#2. Kim – 12 weeks
#2. Shannon – 12 weeks
#4. Elizabeth – 10 weeks

#LOVE

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

But what is a #LOVE image. What is #LOVE? #LOVE is the most popular hashtag on Instagram. Instagram has more than 1 billion users that use the app every month. It is the second most downloaded free app. The average Instagram user browses images 53 minutes a day. Instagram is used by 25% of smartphone users. The first ever photo posted to Instagram was of a dog (duh!) near a taco stand (double duh!), taken by a Instagram founder. As I write this, #LOVE has been used 2,147,483,647 times on Instagram. That is billion with a b.

Now if you read all that, and you were like, great, but what is a hashtag? Sigh.

A hashtag is a label used on social media sites that makes it easier to find information with a theme or specific content. Hashtags encourage social media users to explore content that catches their eye. Associations can use hashtags to reach their target audience and to help members filter information.

But for our purpose here, you don’t need to worry about a hashtag. The hashtag is merely the inspiration for this week’s theme. When you are considering your subjects, think, would it be something that somebody could hashtag it with LOVE? The subject could be something that you #LOVE, or it could be something that represents #LOVE to you. Whatever trips your heartstrings. I’m not here to judge. Love is love and #LOVE is #LOVE too.

While considering your possible subjects, think on the following quote and I know you will take a great #LOVE image:

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.
-Zora Neale Hurston

I look forward to 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 #LOVE in this place that is little more than a where I put all my loves next Monday.

Art, Bill, Calendar, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Drone, Elizabeth, Holidays, Iowa State, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Sara, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 328 – HOLIDAYS

December 27, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

The August image of the 2022 Photography 139 Calendar is a drone shot of the High Trestle Trail Bridge:

Tomorrow I will share the September image from the 2022 Photography 139 Calendar.

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HOLIDAYS proved to be fairly popular theme.

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

Dawn Krause

Elizabeth Nordeen

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Michelle Haupt

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Joe Duff

Micky Augustin

Dawn Krause

Carla Stensland

Bill Wentworth

Sara Lockner

Kio Dettman

Jesse Howard

Logan Kahler

Cathie Raley

Elizabeth Nordeen

EDUCATION

EDUCATION! What a great theme to end Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE on!

But what is an EDUCATION image? An EDUCATION photo is a picture of anything that relates to EDUCATION. Kids in school. A picture of school. Degrees. Diplomas. Books. Libraries. But not all EDUCATION happens in a school. I would actually argue that next to no EDUCATION happens in schools, but that is another subject for another time. However, my point is don’t discount other forms of EDUCATION. For example, back in my prime, I used to take fools to school on the basketball court all the time.

As you consider your possible subjects for EDUCATION, mediate on this scene from one of my all-time favorite movies GOOD WILL HUNTING:

CHUCKIE
Yeah, cause I think I had a class
with you.

At this point, several interested parties materialize. Morgan
Billy and Will try, as inconspicuously as possible, to situate
themselves within listening distance. A rather large student
in a HARVARD LACROSSE sweatshirt, CLARK (22) notices Chuckie.
He [Clark] walks over to Skylar and Lydia, nobly hovering
over them as protector. This gets Will, Morgan, and Billy’s
attention.

SKYLAR
What class?

CHUCKIE
Ah, history I think.

SKYLAR
Oh…

CHUCKIE
Yah, it’s not a bad school…

At this point, Clark can’t resist and steps in.

CLARK
What class did you say that was?

CHUCKIE
History.

CLARK
How’d you like that course?

CHUCKIE
Good, it was all right.

CLARK
History? Just “history?” It must
have been a survey course then.

Chuckie nods. Clark notices Chuckie’s clothes. Will and Billy
exchange a look and move subtly closer.

CLARK
Pretty broad. “History of the World?”

CHUCKIE
Hey, come on pal we’re in classes
all day. That’s one thing about
Harvard never seizes to amaze me,
everybody’s talkin’ about school all
the time.

CLARK
Hey, I’m the last guy to want to
talk about school at the bar. But as
long as you’re here I want to “seize”
the opportunity to ask you a question.

Billy shifts his beer into his left hand. Will and Morgan
see this. Morgan rolls his eyes as if to say “not again…”

CLARK
Oh, I’m sure you covered it in your
history class.

Clark looks to see if the girls are impressed. They are not.

When Clark looks back to Chuckie, Skylar turns to Lydia and
rolls her [own] eyes. They laugh. Will sees this and smiles.

CHUCKIE
To tell you the truth, I wasn’t there
much. The class was rather elementary.

CLARK
Elementary? Oh, I don’t doubt that
it was. I remember the class, it was
just between recess and lunch.

Will and Billy come forward, stand behind Chuckie.

CHUCKIE
All right, are we gonna have a
problem?

CLARK
There’s no problem. I was just hoping
you could give me some insight into
the evolution of the market economy
in the early colonies. My contention
is that prior to the Revolutionary
War the economic modalities especially
of the southern colonies could most
aptly be characterized as agrarian
precapitalist and…

Will, who at this point has migrated to Chuckie’s side and
is completely fed-up, includes himself in the conversation.

WILL
Of course that’s your contention.
You’re a first year grad student.
You just finished some Marxian
historian, Pete Garrison prob’ly,
and so naturally that’s what you
believe until next month when you
get to James Lemon and get convinced
that Virginia and Pennsylvania were
strongly entrepreneurial and
capitalist back in 1740. That’ll
last until sometime in your second
year, then you’ll be in here
regurgitating Gordon Wood about the
Pre-revolutionary utopia and the
capital-forming effects of military
mobilization.

CLARK
(taken aback)
Well, as a matter of fact, I won’t,
because Wood drastically
underestimates the impact of–

WILL
“Wood drastically underestimates the
impact of social distinctions
predicated upon wealth, especially
inherited wealth…” You got that
from “Work in Essex County,” Page
421, right? Do you have any thoughts
of your own on the subject or were
you just gonna plagiarize the whole
book for me?

Clark is stunned.

WILL
Look, don’t try to pass yourself off
as some kind of an intellect at the
expense of my friend just to impress
these girls.

Clark is lost now, searching for a graceful exit, any exit.

WILL
The sad thing is, in about 50 years
you might start doin’ some thinkin’
on your own and by then you’ll realize
there are only two certainties in
life.

CLARK
Yeah? What’re those?

WILL
One, don’t do that. Two — you
dropped a hundred and fifty grand on
an education you coulda’ picked up
for a dollar fifty in late charges
at the Public Library.

Will catches Skylar’s eye.

CLARK
But I will have a degree, and you’ll
be serving my kids fries at a drive
through on our way to a skiing trip.

WILL
(smiles)
Maybe. But at least I won’t be unoriginal.
(beat)
And if you got a problem with that,
I guess we can step outside and deal
with it that way.

I look forward to seeing your interpretation next week.

+++++++

Next Monday will mark the beginning of Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Here are the 52 themes for next year:

1. Black + White
2. Rock
3. Triangle
4. #love
5. Junk
6. Believe
7. Still Life
8. Harmony
9. Hobbies
10. Government
11. Abstract
12. Shadow
13. Framed
14. Gratitude
15. Orange
16. Letters or Numbers
17. #Instagood
18. Square
19. Slice of Life
20. Hat
21. History
22. Flower
23. Children
24. Service
25. Self-Portrait
26. Entertainment
27. Road Trip
28. Work
29. Wild
30. Odd Camera Angle
31. People
32. Family
33. Animal
34. Weekends
35. Circle
36. Colorful
37. Green
38. Paths
39. Signs
40. Ruins
41. Violet
42. Macro
43. Lines
44. Art
45. Decoration
46. Strong
47. Communication
48. In the Air
49. Street Photography
50. Water
51. Explore
52. Body Part

Now you can start thinking on them, but you can’t start shooting them. Them’s the rules. Speaking of rules…

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 EDUCATION in this place that is little more than result of my misspent learning next Monday.

Amanda, Calendar, Carla, Elainie, Flowers, Holidays, Macro, Still Life, Teresa

Christmas Treats – 2021

December 26, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The July image from the 2022 Calendar is a picture of an Easter lily.

Tomorrow I will share the August image.

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Last Saturday a few people got together at Teresa’s house to make Christmas treats. I stopped by to take a few pictures.

I think next year Johnathan, Logan, and Brandon might get an invite. However, I’m not in charge, so we’ll see.

Black & White, Candid Portrait, Jesse, Ruins, Sarah Toot, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel

NYC – Five

December 18, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Here is another collection of images from my trip to New York City with Jesse. It wasn’t exactly to visit my cousin Sarah, but that was really the highlight of the trip.

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:

MORE RANDOM NYC

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #64

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will still include more New York City.

Animals, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Jesse, Sarah Toot, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel

NYC – Four

December 11, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

Here is another collection of images from my trip to New York City I took with Jesse. This collection is a bit more random. Some are taken on Liberty Island. The rest are kind of random.

I hope if you ever make it to New York City, you have as great as a tour guide as my cousin Sarah. Even though, she herself doesn’t go to touristy places.

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:

MORE RANDOM NYC – LIBERTY ISLAND AND DAY 3

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will still involve this trip to New York City.

Black & White, Christianity, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Night, Sarah Toot, Self-Portrait, Steph, Still Life, Street Photography, Tim, Travel, Vacation, Vest

NYC – One

November 20, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in this collection are in a folder called New York City. These pictures are from a trip I took with Jesse to visit my cousin Sarah and her beau Tim. They live in Manhattan. We made this trip in 2011 and I thought that I’d probably go out and visit every couple of years. I haven’t been back since, and that is really pathetic.

There are also pictures in this collection I took with a pinhole camera.

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:

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #58

RANDOM NEW YORK CITY IMAGES

MORE RANDOM NEW YORK CITY – NEAR GROUND ZERO

The next time we take a stroll down memory lane, that memory lane will still be in New York City.

Becca, Bethany, Billy, Candid Portrait, Colleen, Dory, Event, J.T., Jonah, Laura, Nate, Nora, Still Life, Tim

Triplet + Jonah Birthday Party

November 14, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

A few weeks back the Triplets and Jonah had a birthday party at the KOA near Adel. I wasn’t able to make the party because it was schedule for the same time as the Iowa State-Oklahoma State football game that I was scheduled to attend. But I did have time to drive down to Adel and hang out for about 90 minutes before I had to head to Ames to witness Iowa State beat a top ten Cowboy team.

Here are some pictures from my hang time:

The Triplets and Jonah Birthday Party - 2021

Having everybody meet up in kind of a central location and spend the weekend was a pretty cool idea I thought. I hope it happens again on a weekend where Iowa State doesn’t have a home game, so I can be around more than 90 minutes. It was also really cold that weekend. I mean not really cold, but it was definitely colder than you would want.

Derrick told me that KOA campsites suck and hate children, but that wasn’t my experience, in the 90 minutes I was there. I would consider staying there on a trip sometime. I didn’t know they rented cabins and tents.

It was the first time I’d seen many of these people since before the pandemic. I hope it doesn’t take so long to see them again. Although I pretty sure I’m going down to Manhattan for Nate’s graduation in about a month.

Animals, Black & White, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Jill, Photoshop, Shannon, Still Life, Street Photography

March Misc.

November 13, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

As I’ve indicated before, the 2011 folders are a disaster. These images cover most of the March 2011 folders. These are mostly pictures that were taken for the RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT (now called THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE), but a few were taken for a PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT.

WEEK 9 - SILHOUETTE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

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 #9 – SILHOUETTE

RWPE Y2 #10 – STILL LIFE

RWPE Y2 #11 – COMMUNICATION

RWPE Y2 #12 – UNFOCUSED

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK #60

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve New York City.