Category Archives: Still Life

2010-04-29

Whew! This is a big one. Just by adding these pictures to the SmugMug Gallery from the folder 2010-04-29, I was able to fix 5 “An Artist’s Notebook” posts. I believe I added pictures to 14 different photo albums.

The pictures in this folder are taken from over several days of vacation I took back in 2010. Some in Minnesota. Some at Iowa State. Lots of flowers. A few of people.

Here are a few of them:


Vacation Day 6

Vacation Day 6

Vacation Day 3 - Guinea Pig

The 5-8 Club

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Still Laughing - 2010

Where It Got Its Life

Where it Got Its Life

Vacation - 2010

Vacation - 2010

Vacation Day 6

Vacation - 2010

Vacation - 2010

Where It Got Its Life

Where It Got Its Life

Where It Got Its Life

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy

Vacation Day 6

Vacation Day 6

Vacation Day 6

Vacation Day 6

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:

VACATION DAY 3 – GUINEA PIG DENIAL

VACATION DAY 4 – COTTON CANDY

VACATION DAY 5 – THE JUICY LUCY

VACATION DAY 6 – CAMPUS

PERSONAL PHOTO PROJECT OF THE WEEK NO. 21

In that collection of restored posts, is a very bad take on how well Fred Hoiberg would do at Iowa State.

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Willy.

Back in Black and White

Here is another collection of alternates for last week’s BLACK AND WHITE theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Some were taken on my way back from Manhattan, Kansas. Some were taken around my house. Some were taken around my Mom’s house. Some were taken out by Don Williams.


Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Back in Black and White

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

A Proud Assertion - 2020

Back in Black and White

I can’t wait for BLACK AND WHITE to be a theme in the next set of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes!

+++++++

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


WEEK 267 - ANIMAL
ANIMAL

An ANIMAL picture is any picture of an ANIMAL or something related to an ANIMAL.

Happy photo harvesting!

Put that Fire in Your Soul

You know that BLACK AND WHITE is my favorite theme. You know darn well that I’m going to have lots of BLACK AND WHITE alternates. Lots and lots of alternates. Actually I think I have less alternates than I normally do for BLACK AND WHITE. That being said, I’m still going to break this down into multiple posts. Probably 2. Maybe 3. Definitely more than 1 though.


WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2020

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

WEEK 266 - BLACK AND WHITE ALTERNATE

Plenty more, BLACK AND WHITE images still coming later this week.

WPC – WEEK 263 – STILL LIFE

We did it fam! 52 straight weeks of double digit submissions! I can hardly believe it. That means it shouldn’t be an issue to continue to get great participation rates as we slowly move into the colder and colder temperatures in the coming months. Don’t forget to get your flu shot!

Also, remember that next Monday marks the beginning of early voting in Iowa. Also known as in-person absentee voting.

Absentee Voting in Person
You may cast an absentee ballot in person at your county auditor’s office before any election.

You must vote your absentee ballot at the auditor’s office. You cannot take the ballot home with you.

For voters who need assistance in marking their ballots, an accessible ballot marking device is available at the county auditor’s office.

For primary and general elections, absentee ballots will be available no earlier than 29 days at the county auditors’ offices. For all other elections, ballots will be available as soon as they are ready, but not sooner than 29 days before an election.

In-person absentee voting is not available on election day at the auditor’s office unless the polls open at noon. If the polls open at noon, you may cast an absentee ballot at the county auditor’s office from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on election day.

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


WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETTT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - SHANNON BARDOLE-FOLEY
Shannon Bardole-Foley

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - LOGAN KAHLER
Logan Kahler

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - LOGAN KAHLER
Logan Kahler

WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE - JOE DUFF
Joe Duff

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:


WEEK 264 - SIGNS
SIGNS

SIGNS! What a great theme! No wonder is in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE HALL OF FAME! But what is a SIGNS photo? Any image where a SIGN(S) is an important compositional element of the image. Remember there are more than one kind of SIGN(S). In the theme reveal image, there is the street sign that indicates a “T” intersection. But the dark clouds are also a sign of a coming storm. Tamara’s submission this week is an example of a SIGNS image.

Click on the links below, to see the 7 times in the past where SIGNS has been a theme:

RWPE #12 – SIGNS

RWPE Y2 #46 – SIGNS

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE WEEK 2 – SIGNS

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 55 – SIGNS

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 135 – SIGNS

WPC – WEEK 200 – SIGNS

WPC – WEEK 247 – SIGNS

I look forward to seeing your new 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.

OR

I now allow people to text me their submissions. In the past, I had made exceptions for a couple people that aren’t real computer savvy, even though it was an inconvenience for me and required at least 3 extra steps for me. I am now lifting that embargo because I have a streamline way of uploading photos. I’m not giving out my phone number, but if you have it, you can text me.

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 signaled Monday!

Rodan139: Water Alternate

I need to start today off by wishing my Mom a happy birthday. Without here, none of this would be possible. Not only would I never exist, she also bought me my first camera. A Minolta Maxxum 450si.

Happy birthday Mom!


Mom and Grandma

WEEK 34 - PORTRAIT - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

Photo of the Day 0036 - June 7, 2014

Custer State Park

Bennett Family Photo Shoot - 2017

December 25, 2019

Bennett Family Photo Shoot - 2017

Vacation 09/23/18 - 10/01/17

Mom

Mom

It hope is as amazing a birthday as you want it to be!

+++++++

I went to Ledges on Sunday morning to take my WATER picture for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I took several pictures. Here are some of the others I took that weren’t ready for the world on Monday.


WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

WPC - WEEK 262 - WATER ALTERNATE

I hope to take Rodan139 out again this weekend. On Tuesday I came off a self-quarantine from a potential exposure from a previous Sunday. As it turns out, I wasn’t exposed, so good news for the friendly skies!

+++++++

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


WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE

A STILL LIFE image is a picture of an inanimate object. Usually posed.

Happy photo harvesting!

WPC – WEEK 262 – WATER

Can you believe it? 51 straight weeks of double digit submission! 1 week short of a full year of double digit submissions! WooHoo!

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


WEEK 261 - WATER - ELIZABETH NORDEEN
ELIZABETH NORDEEN

WEEK 261 - WATER - ANDY SHARP
ANDY SHARP

WEEK 261 - WATER - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 261 - WATER - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 261 - WATER - MICKY AUGUSTIN
MICKY AUGUSTIN

WEEK 261 - WATER - TAMARA PETERSON
TAMARA PETERSON


CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT


BECKY PARMELEE

WEEK 261 - WATER - BECKY PARMELEE
BECKY PARMELEE

WEEK 261 - WATER - BECKY PARMELEE
BECKY PARMELEE

WEEK 261 - WATER - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 261 - WATER - KIO DETTMAN
KIO DETTMAN

WEEK 262 - WATER - KIM BARKER
KIM BARKER

WEEK 262 - WATER - CATHIE RALEY
CATHIE RALEY

WEEK 262 - WATER - CATHIE RALEY
CATHIE RALEY

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:


WEEK 263 - STILL LIFE
STILL LIFE

STILL LIFE! What a great theme! But what is a STILL LIFE photo? A STILL LIFE photo is any image of an inanimate object. Usually one that you have posed, but not necessarily. From this week, Elizabeth, Kio’s, and Kim’s photos are excellent examples of STILL LIFE.

Here is a look back at the 7 previous times STILL LIFE was a WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme:

RWPE #25 – STILL LIFE

RWPE Y2 #10 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 12 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 61 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 127 – STILL LIFE

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 184 – STILL LIFE

WPC – WEEK 214 – STILL LIFE

A look forward to your new 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.

OR

I now allow people to text me their submissions. In the past, I had made exceptions for a couple people that aren’t real computer savvy, even though it was an inconvenience for me and required at least 3 extra steps for me. I am now lifting that embargo because I have a streamline way of uploading photos. I’m not giving out my phone number, but if you have it, you can text me.

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 still Monday!

2010-04-05

The pictures in the folder 2010-04-05 are from a combination of us introducing Jackson to the greatness of Homerun Derby and then the rest are pictures for a MACRO theme of the first year of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, then known as THE RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT.


WEEK 13 - MACRO - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 13 - MACRO ALTERNATE

WEEK 13 - MACRO ALTERNATE

WEEK 13 - MACRO ALTERNATE

WEEK 13 - MACRO ALTERNATE

WEEK 13 - MACRO ALTERNATE

WEEK 13 - MACRO ALTERNATE

Home Run Derby: The Next Generation

Home Run Derby: The Next Generation

Home Run Derby: The Next Generation

Home Run Derby: The Next Generation

Home Run Derby: The Next Generation

Home Run Derby: The Next Generation

Makes me want to get a big red bat and knocks some balls around the yard 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:

Home Run Derby: The Next Generation

The Virtue of the Bored

RWPE #13 – Macro

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve the most beautiful campus in the entire world.

Honey Hollow

A few Saturdays back, I went on a small road trip with my Mom. We went to the State Center Rose Garden. We went to the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge. We went to Hardee’s in Indianola! Then we ended up at Shannon and Jason’s store Honey Hollow. It is located in their lower level of their house near Indianola. It is really nice!

Have a look:


Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

Honey Hollow

You can buy honey, creamed honey (which apparently is a thing), bees. hive equipment, wax, soap, and brooms there. Here is how you get there:

“Located halfway between Des Moines and Indianola, Iowa. Head south out of Des Moines on highway 65/69 toward Indianola until you come to Summerset Rd. Turn east and we are .6 miles down Summerset Rd, nestled between Summerset Trail and Plug Run Creek. Our 2 story log cabin is very visible from the road.”

Their hours are something like 5-8 on Tuesday nights and 10-2 on Saturdays. I might be wrong about that, but it isn’t it more important that is just feels right?

I’ll go more into the creamed honey at a later date.

Red Fish, Blue Fish

I meant to publish a post on this subject a week or so ago, but the derecho put those plans on hold. I’ve meant to be more proactive about writing about when I get new equipment, even equipment that is fairly small or seemingly inconsequential to most people. Hopefully this post starts just such a new era for “An Artist’s Notebook”.

The most recent thing I purchased was a fisheye lens for the mirrorless camera setup. Have a look:


Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish


Here are some specs for the lens:
FOCUS TYPE: Manual
CLOSEST FOCUSING DISTANCE: 7.9″
FOCAL LENGTH: 12mm
ANGLE OF VIEW: 180
MAXIMUM APERTURE: f/2.8
MINIMUM APERTURE: f/22

On a 35mm camera or a full frame sensor camera, a 50mm lens is the same as human sight. When you look through a viewfinder with a 50mm lens on the camera, what you see should be about the same as when you aren’t looking through the lens. Your angle of view won’t be the same, but objects should be about the same distance.

To illustrate how a fisheye lens, I took pictures of Jesse with a 50mm lens and with my new fisheye lens so you can see the difference between human sight and a fisheye lens.


Red Fish, Blue Fish
50mm

Red Fish, Blue Fish
Fisheye

Red Fish, Blue Fish
50mm

Red Fish, Blue Fish
Fisheye

Red Fish, Blue Fish
50mm

Red Fish, Blue Fish
Fisheye

Red Fish, Blue Fish
50mm

Red Fish, Blue Fish
Fisheye

I wanted to make this example to be more scientific, but I couldn’t find a football field in Boone with yardlines already painted that wasn’t being used. So these distances are mostly eyeballed, but they are pretty darn close.

Now that you know what it is and what it does, here are a few sample pictures I have taken:


Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Red Fish, Blue Fish

The next piece of equipment I will talk about is a macro bellow I recently picked up. Then maybe a remote camera trigger. Then I need to purchase some stuff.