Category Archives: Work

Computer Mine Gift Exchange

Back on Wednesday we had our annual White Elephant Gift Exchange at the Computer Mine. I snapped a few photos of the event for the Computer Mine social medias.

Here are a few pictures:


Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

If you are wondering, I ended up with the tortilla blanket. I stole it from Amy because I thought it would make a perfect addition to Taco Tailgate and nobody stole it from me, cause of the general fear my co-workers have of me. So much fear.

Back before the pandemic, there were like 30 or so people that participated. This year there were 13 methinks. It is still a fun little work tradition. Even if this year nobody showed up drunk. Maybe next year.

About Someone Who Loved You More

This collection of alternate images for last week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE will include pictures I took on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Most of them I took on my lunch break from the computer mine on Wednesday. I went to downtown Ames to talk to Derrick about the upcoming football game on Saturday, but he was actually at the bank. So I did wander around a little bit and do some street photography.

I got stuck working late yet again on Wednesday night, so I didn’t take many pictures in the evening.

Here is the collection of images from Wednesday:


About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

Radiation of Happiness - 2023

On Thursday I woke up to a foggy morning. I had to work at the Computer Mine worldwide headquarters. So I snapped some pictures on the way there. Then I snapped a few pictures at work and then did some shopping after work. Then took a few more when I got home.

Here are the Thursday pictures:


Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Garden of Love - 2022

Garden of Love - 2022

Garden of Love - 2022

Garden of Love - 2022

Garden of Love - 2022

Painted without Instruction -2023

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

About Someone Who Loved You More

A lot of examples in this collection for why I love black & white photography so much. Or one of the reasons. There is just so much play in the exposure control that you get with black & white that you don’t get with color photography. Which isn’t to say that it is less demanding, because if anything, it can be more demanding. However, there is so much latitude in exposure and some of the things that can destroy a color photo like grain (or digital noise) can actually enhance a black & white image.

4 days down, but believe you me… we are just starting to get warmed up.

The Windy City: Day 6

Time for the final collection of pictures from my work trip to Chicago for the Computer Mine. Day 6 was the last day of The Big Convention. It is the slowest day and ends with everybody leaving except for me, Lowell, Kim, and Tony. We sit around for anywhere between an hour to 4 hours waiting for the crates for our equipment to be brought so we can pack up and hit the road. In Miami it was close to 4 hours. In Chicago it was about an hour.

Here is that collection:


Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

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What was left in the snack closet.

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A Computer Mine competitor.

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People in Chicago don’t even care about the White Sox.

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Another Computer Mine competitor.

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Next year the Big Convention is in New Orleans.

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Best part of the Big Convention.

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Being torn down.

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Tony sent this picture to his mom. She didn’t enjoy it.

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Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

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Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

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Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

All in all it was a good trip. But it is time to start sharing pictures of different trips that I have taken. Still haven’t shared pictures from the Christmas Lighted Parade in Oskaloosa…

The Windy City: Day 5

There is one week left to enter the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Monica created this sweet social media artwork to post:



Here is the link to the Entry Form:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Entry Form

Thanks again Monica! I hope at least a few of you decide to enter!

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Last week I shared the cell phone pictures I took on Day 5 of my work trip to Chicago for the Big Convention. Now I’m going to share pictures from the “real” camera:


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Garrett’s to get popcorn.

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Apparently it is where it is at in the popcorn world. I did get some Pecan Caramel Crisp and it was solid.

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Yeah, I photographed this thing a lot.

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The people that were going to this concert were definitely dressed to party!

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Outside the Korean Barbecue.

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That night I wandered around near the hotel to do a little street photography.

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Co-sign.

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I do regret not taking a river cruise.

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Watch out for DMB’s Tour Bus!

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Bubble People!

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Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Just one more small collection of pictures from Chicago left to share. Then on to other adventures!

The Windy City: Day 4 & 5 Phone Pictures

I never actually cracked out the “real” camera on Day 4 of my work trip to Chicago. It was the first day of the Big Convention and it was a 13 hour work day. It was also by far the busiest day in the Computer Mine Booth, so I didn’t even take many cell phone pictures. The ones I did aren’t great, but I thought I would share them in case somebody was interested to know what the Big Convention looks like:


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The Convention Floor.

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More convention floor.

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You get the idea.

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The area at the top of the picture is the Exhibitor Lounge. It is wear you go to get a break and absolutely terrible iced tea.

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This area is the International Lounge.

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Privacy, but no roof.

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These guys are super annoying. Super. Annoying.

Because there aren’t many, I’m also going to share the cell phone pictures from Day 5 and then combine all the “real” camera pictures from Day 5 and Day 6 and the cell phone pictures from Day 6 into one post. There aren’t many of them. There wasn’t much free time when the Big Convention starts.

Day 5 pictures:


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Setting up the booth.

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Kim making friends.

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Maybe “friends”.

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I believe they are pen pals now.

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After the Big Convention concluded for the day, Kim and I went back to Garrett’s so she could bring back popcorn for some people.

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The lady working the popcorn stand told us that the popcorn wouldn’t be any good the next day, which made me panic a little bit. I had bought Elizabeth and Scottie D.’s popcorn 2 days before this and it would be 2 more days before I would be able to deliver it at a minimum. But frankly I think she was full of it. Elizabeth didn’t complain about her popcorn. Scottie D. didn’t complain about his.

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After the Korean Barbecue place that Kim “loved”.

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Kim was cold and had to wait inside.

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After getting back dinner I took a short walk around the area to admire the street art.

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

One last post about my work trip to Chicago! Then we can move on to other trips I’ve been on lately!

The Windy City: Day 3C

I have a confession to make here. When I decided to combine cell phone pictures with the “real” camera pictures into the same posts, I would have made my life a lot easier if I had realized that I hadn’t changed the clock settings on my camera after Daylight Savings ended or began or whatever it does in the spring. For that reason, putting the pictures in chronological order is something that fails me at times.

Anyways, we will begin where we left off last Friday. Lowell and I had walked to Buckingham Fountain, just to see that it wasn’t turned on. After the disappointment we began walking to some restaurant where the sales team hosts everybody for apps and brews at a restaurant as a “thanks” for working the Big Convention.


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View from near Buckingham Fountain.

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Chicago Rules? This should be a universal rule.

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I wish I knew what this sticker said, but I do know that generational wealth is one of the great evils of our time.

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I really don’t know what this is.

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The Bean again. But this time you had to go through a security checkpoint to see it.

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The Bean from farther away.

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I had never heard of Garrett Popcorn, but apparently it is where it’s at in the popcorn world.

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I was tasked with bringing back popcorn for Elizabeth and for Scottie. D. Elizabeth’s order was more complicated.

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I left the “party” to go get the popcorn. But I decided to head back.

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On my way back I saw the signs of the houseless situation in Chicago.

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Walking back to the hotel with Jodi, Michelle, Michelle, Lowell, and not pictured Cathie.

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Remember when I said Lowell’s room had a much better view? I wasn’t foolin’.

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That mural is way better than the nachos at the Taco Pub.

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Have I mentioned that I love street art?

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Chicago, Illinois

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This mural was on one of the walls of the hotel.

That concludes Day 3 of the work trip to Chicago. Day 4 was like a 13 hour work day. My only pictures are of the Big Convention. So I might combine Day 4 and Day 5. We’ll see where it itches when we get there.

THE WINDY CITY: DAY 3B

Time for the second collection of images from Day 3 of my work trip to Chicago. The final day of any real photography… for the most part. The rest of the days were filled with work… boring work.

When we left off, Lowell was feeding birds in a park street corn from a food truck:


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They loved the street corn so very much!

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Buckingham Fountain – I should have known it wasn’t running, but we walked like a mile to it…

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To get a heavy dose of disappointment…

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Still cool looking though…

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And just begging you to go wading in it…

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Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams…

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It’s Herbie Hancock…

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Would’ve been pretty cool if it had been on.

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Chicago, Illinois

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My Grandpa Paris had lion sculptures flanking his driveway. I don’t know why everybody doesn’t.

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

One more collection of images from Day 3 of my trip to Chicago to share.

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NOTE: WHILE NEXT MONDAY ISN’T A HOLIDAY IT IS THE DAY BEFORE A HOLIDAY, I MIGHT BE BUSY ON THAT DAY AND YOU MIGHT BE BUSY THAT DAY, SO MAKE PLANS FOR SUBMITTING ACCORDINGLY.

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


WEEK 407 - RETAIL
RETAIL

RETAIL! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

An astute observer that has a physical Photography 139 Calendar may notice that this week says MUSIC and not RETAIL. That was a typo that wasn’t caught by my proofreader. Mostly because I didn’t have my proofreader look over the calendar. So don’t take a music picture, unless it is at a music store. This theme was suggested by Elizabeth.

While this is the first time that RETAIL has been a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, it isn’t the first time that a similar theme has been used. Check out these submissions from the past for inspiration for this week:


WEEK 18 - STORE - SARAH KARBER
Week 18 – Sarah Karber

WEEK 141 - STORE - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Week 141 – Micky Augustin

WEEK 141 - STORE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Week 141 – Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 390 - STORE - SARAH TOOT
Week 390 – Sarah Toot

WEEK 390 - STORE - ELIZABETH NORDEEN
Week 390 – Elizabeth Nordeen

This is the last of the Friday Reminders. Nobody made a case for keeping them going, so apparently they won’t be missed.

Happy photo harvesting!

The Windy City: Day 3A

Day 3 of my work trip to Chicago was the last day I really got to take any pictures of consequence. Every day after this was mostly filled with boring work stuff. Including Day 4 which was like a 13 hour or so work day. So after we get through the pictures of Day 3, the rest of the days will just fly by. Probably.

I started Day 3 wandering around the streets around the hotel taking a little photography before the Computer Mine training session that lasted from like 8 AM to like 12 PM. Or at least it did for a few of us.


Chicago, Illinois
I love street art so much!

Chicago, Illinois

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You didn’t think I wouldn’t post some flowertography, did you?

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Well, did you punk?

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I didn’t know Chicago also had a Harlem until this moment.

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Almost… almost enough bird poop for me.

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Chicago, Illinois
Would you believe that Kim has never ridden on a train? Not even a subway?

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Chicago, Illinois

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Almost enough dirt, rust, and grime for me.

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More tulips in this flower bed than all of Orange City.

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I didn’t bring any of my normal flowertography lenses, but that is okay.

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This guy invited Tony to a party after inviting him to a party. Tony did not attend cause he is a fun hater.

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And maybe this conversation was the impetus for Tony to think about quitting smoking.

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4 hours of my life that… well you know. But Steve V. was pumped.

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In Miami we spent most of Day 2 trying to get machines working. In Chicago we only had to spend a couple hours tinkering with machines. Kim was pleased.

Chicago, Illinois
It took a long time for Lowell and I to find lunch, but eventually we stumbled across these food trucks.

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Like 6 of 8 were taco trucks.

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I love the mascot so much!

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Lowell fed these guys some of his street corn.

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And they couldn’t get enough!

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Chicago, Illinois

After eating, Lowell and I headed for Buckingham Fountain, but that is a tale for another day.

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


WEEK 406 - 'SCAPE
‘SCAPE

‘SCAPE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a ‘SCAPE picture? The “‘” in the theme name allows you to substitute in a few words. Your submission could be a LANDSCAPE or a WATERSCAPE or a CITYSCAPE.

Well for one thing, it is a great theme for me to remind you that you can include the town your picture was taken in or the county and I will include that with your submission.

Did you know that the first photograph ever taken was of a landscape?

“View from the Window at Le Gras” was captured by Nicéphore Niépce, in 1827. It features a very abstract view from Niépce’s window.

It would be another 12 years before somebody would think to take a “photograph” of a stupid human. I assume the 2nd picture ever taken was of a dog.

With this theme, you are literally touching the absolute deepest root of photography. Wow! That is powerful to think about. But maybe you are still confused about what LANDSCAPE photography is. Here is a definition from the Wiki:

Landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky and waters, at a distance—though some landscapes may involve subjects in a scenic setting nearby, even close-up, and sometimes at night.

Photography of artificial scenery, such as farm fields, orchards, gardens and architecture, may be considered “landscape” photography as well. Even the presence of man-made structures (buildings, roads and bridges, etc.) or art (such as sculpture) may be considered “landscape” if presented in artistic settings or appearing (or photographed) in artistic style.

Further, landscape photography is typically of relatively stationary subjects—arguably a form of “still life.” This tends to simplify the task, as opposed to photography of kinetic or live subjects. However, landscape photography often overlaps the activity of wildlife photography and the two terms are used somewhat interchangeably; both wildlife and landscapes may be elements of the same picture or body of work.

This isn’t the first time that ‘SCAPE or something similar was a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Here is a look back at a few submissions from years past to inspire you:


WEEK 60 - LANDSCAPE - CARLA STENSLAND 3
Carla Stensland – Week 60

WEEK 111 - LANDSCAPE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett – Week 111

WEEK 111 - LANDSCAPE - SARAH KARBER
Sarah Karber – Week 111

WEEK 165 - LANDSCAPE - JESSE HOWARD
Jesse Howard – Week 165

WEEK 223 - LANDSCAPE - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin – Week 223

Nobody objected to me killing off the Friday reminder. So next Friday will be the last Friday reminder. Then it will go the way of the dodo bird.

Happy photo harvesting!

THE WINDY CITY: DAY 2B

Last time we left off with The Windy City Chronicles Lowell, Tony, and I had just arrived at Wrigley Field. Due to rain, the game had been postponed an hour. This gave us some time to walk around Wrigley Field and take in the ambiance of Wrigleyville.


Chicago, Illinois
I don’t care about the Cubs one way or the other, but I hate the Dodgers.

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It would be pretty sweet to watch a Cubs game from a roof top.

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Apparently the souls of the children Harry Caray murdered?

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Would also love to watch a game from the bleachers.

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More expensive to watch a game from there than from inside Wrigley Field.

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A beautiful view.

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Majority of concession stands at Wrigley were self-serve, which kinda sucked.

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I never actually had a Chicago Dog in Chicago.

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My Savannah Bananas shirt made me popular with every usher in the stadium, except the one in our section.

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The salespeople showed up about halfway through the 3rd inning. They left about halfway through the 4th inning. At least that is what it felt like.

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Still one more collection of images to share from Day 2 of my work trip to Chicago.

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NOTE: THERE ARE SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS WEEK’S THEME, SO MAKE SURE TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THEM. JUST DON’T SKIM BY THEM. NOT THAT ANYBODY DOES THAT. EVERYBODY HANGS ON MY EVERY WORD.

This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SLICE OF LIFE.


WEEK 404 - SLICE OF LIFE
SLICE OF LIFE

SLICE OF LIFE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a SLICE OF LIFE image? This is where I normally give you kind of a broad definition of the theme, but not this week. For those that don’t know SLICE OF LIFE is the name of the postcard company that my Dad started and ran out of the basement darkroom in our house.

Here is the Trade Name documentation he filed in March of 1984:



He passed away in December of the same year.

He specialized in black & white postcards of local interest. Here is this week’s assignment. It is to take a picture that you could see being used on a postcard. Now back in the day, they used to take pictures of all sorts of things and put them on postcards. So don’t think that there is nothing in your area that would make it on a postcard. It could be a building that is interesting looking or has a historical significance. It could simply be a pretty scene. Back when I was doing THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT, sometimes they took pictures of downtown intersections and put those on postcards.

While I will require your submission to be a postcard like image, meaning don’t try to “interpret” Slice of Life to mean something different, I will only strongly encourage you to submit the picture in black & white and also only slightly encourage you to throw some text on the image, if you have the editing skills or software.

There is one more thing. The is the one and only theme where if you write a SHORT description of your image (like you would see on the backside of a postcard) that I will include it along with your submission.

Here are some examples of my Dad’s postcards that will hopefully inspire you (excuse the low quality of the scans):


Slice of Life Postcards

Slice of Life Postcards

Slice of Life Postcards

Slice of Life Postcard

Slice of Life Postcard

I don’t manipulate the order of themes for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I put the 52 themes in a random generate it and then I have it generate the theme the number of times as there are letters in the name of my favorite person at that moment*. EXCEPT for this theme. This theme I put this week specifically. This week is my Dad’s birthday. So it seemed apropos to put the theme that is an homage to him during this week.

Happy photo harvesting!

The Windy City: Day 2A

Day 2 in Chicago was the first day where I actually had to work. Kim was setting up things at the convention center in the morning and let us know when to head over to do our thing. Tony, Lowell, and I got breakfast at the hotel and then walked around the neighborhood a little bit. We scouted out the location of Garrett’s Popcorn and then looked for a mailbox that was closer than the one I had found the night before.


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I wish more things in Iowa were covered with stickers.

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There was supposed to be a mailbox in this building but it was closed.

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I’ll do my best sidewalk sticker.

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Here’s the best part. In the convention center there was a mailbox. Problem solved.

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The Computer Mine Booth. Kim got a guy fired for smoking a joint while putting our booth together. Narc.

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And that made us popular with the rest of the union guys.

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Computer Mine Booth, reverse angle.

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Hooking the HDMI cables up to these monitors and then getting these monitors mounted, what dreams are made of… I meant nightmares.

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Tony’s thinking pose.

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Home the next several days.

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The reception desk.

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The closet. Where union guys go to change pants and miners go to hide from customers.

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The snack selection. Tony, Lowell, and I crushed those Slim Jims. Not sure anybody else got any.

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Hello Kim!

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Only slightly smelled like pot.

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After we were done, we headed outside to catch an Uber.

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It took us about 15 minutes to get to the convention center on the shuttle in the morning.

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It took over 30 minutes to get back to the hotel.

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Which sucked because we were going to a Cubs game that night and we were in a time crunch.

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Our Uber ride back to the hotel.

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The ride from the hotel to Wrigley Field was about 45 minutes. We got there 30 minutes after the game was supposed to start.

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Which ended up being okay, because the game started an hour late.

Still plenty more pictures from Day 2 to share. Most of them from Wrigley Field.

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


WEEK 403 - TEXTURE
TEXTURE

TEXTURE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! Also, this theme was suggested by Sarah Toot.

But what in Wes Wallace is a TEXTURE image? Well, let’s start with the definition of TEXTURE: the structure, feel, and appearance of something (as a fabric) the smooth texture of silk. wood with a rough texture. In photography that means: the visual depiction of variations in the color, shape, and depth of an object’s surface. What you are trying to do here is to convey the feel of the surface of an object through photography.

This is not the first time that TEXTURE has been a theme. Here are some past submissions for TEXTURE that might get your creative juices going:


WEEK 17 - TEXTURE - ANGIE DEWAARD 1
Angie DeWaard – Week 17

WEEK 227 - TEXTURE - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland – Week 227

WEEK 227 - TEXTURE - SARAH KARBER
Sarah Karber – Week 227

WEEK 227 - TEXTURE - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson – Week 227

WEEK 227 - TEXTURE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett – Week 227

Happy photo harvesting!