This post is somewhat bittersweet as these pictures were taken before my Mom’s diagnosis and while she was still being treated by the incompetent doctor. However, I want to remain positive and since things are progressing positively, there is no reason to dwell on the negative.

When she saw these pictures she was surprised by how thin she was in them, so we will be retaking these pictures again in the Spring after she has been able to put some weight back on and before Johnathan leaves for the Air Force.

Probably sometime around the time of Onion Ring Night.

On the Sunday before Labor Day I hosted a little Bennett Family Reunion. Although none of the Fort Dodge Bennetts attended, I think it was a rousing success. It was the first reunion of its kind in at least 20 years. I hope that we can have another one next year.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

Just a couple notes. This was Naima’s first family function and she handled herself wonderfully for only having been in her new home for 5 days. Amazingly, she had yet to discover human food. That turned out to be a short lived nirvana though.

Also, I only wore that horrible Chiefs shirt to honor my cousin Jordan who is the most realistic Chiefs fan I know. So thanks for giving me that shirts Mr. Baier. It was a hit.

Today is the birthday of my eldest sister, so happy birthday to her!

The following images came from:

Backup/Old My Pictures/Real to Life/Black & White

Real to Life was 1 of the many photo “business” names I have considered over the years.

I’m guessing at some point I considered these to be some of my best or most interesting black & white pictures.

Sugar Ray Hiatt


1 of the first black & white pictures I ever took.


This picture was taken with APS. Remember APS? I didn’t think so.


This dead tree was near the Grand Canyon. I always liked the idea of photographing dead trees. Don’t know I’ve ever taken a good picture of a dead tree.




Brandon and Johnathan during Easter


The Old Nuclear Library Photo


Clinton, Iowa


Also in Clinton


Best Dog Ever




Rick Poore’s hat, glasses, and cigarette. If you look closely you can see Rick and Paul Golden in the reflection. Me too.

Next week’s folder:

Backup/Old My Pictures/Real to Life/Color

This also seems to be a pretty random collection of photos. Some of these pictures were taken by Teresa.

These pictures come from:

Backup/Old My Pictures/New Photos

Sadly My Photoshop Skills Haven’t Improved


This is the 1st picture I ever had accepted to the State Fair.
















This autographed picture was given to me by Steph. Simon Estes pulled it out of his trunk when she asked for it.

Next week’s folder will be:

Backup/Old My Pictures/Photoshop

Seems like most of my folders have a subfolder named New Folder. This New Folder contains some pretty random pictures. Some of these were taken by Carla.

This week’s folder:

Backup/Old My Pictures/New Folder

Next week’s folder will be:

Backup/Old My Pictures/New Photos

There are 3 very special people that were born on July 12 and they are each worthy of their own individual birthday photo tribute. So I will start from youngest and go to oldest.

Here is my photo birthday tribute to Logan:

It is time once again for me to to do a random look at some of the statistics on the website.

First up is what are the 10 Most Popular Images in the Artistic Gallery.

This one is actually somewhat of a shocker. A picture of Brandon has went from nowhere to be the most popular picture and the long time reigning champ Outburst of the Soul has fallen all the way to a tie for 6th Place. Although admittedly, I think spammers might have something to do with the rather large shakeup in the standings.

1. Brandon Senior Picture


2. Johnathan Senior Picture


3. Battered School Bus – Hamlin, Iowa


4. Self-Portrait


5. Jen Between Sets of an UnHingd Show


6. UnHingd Publicity Still


6. Outburst of the Soul


8. 1900


8. Becca – Senior Picture


10. Abandoned Piano – McCallsburg, Iowa

There has also been quite a shakeup in the Snapshots Gallery Top Ten.

Here are the 10 Most Popular Pictures in the Snapshots Gallery:

1. Me White Trashing It


2. ISUCFVMB


3. Alexis Cheerleading


4. Shannon and I at an Inebriated Saints Show


5. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto


6. Logan’s Tree-man


7. Jesse and I at the Surf Ball Room


8. Jesse Endorsing the Bob’s Dog


8. 2010 ISU Spring Game


10. Shannon Reading Map at Backbone


10. Jesse and I in Clinton

Finally, a look at the Top Ten People to either contribute or be written about in An Artist’s Notebook.

1. Jesse – 163 – (+20)
2. Jay – 151 – (+7)
3. Shannon – 146 – (+6)
4. Derrick – 123 – (+6)
5. Teresa – 109 – (+13)
6. Jen – 107 – (+6)
7. Willy – 101 – (+8)
8. Sara – 96 – (+8)
9. Vest – 80 – (+19)
10. Dawn – 73 – (+9)

Wondering who the biggest movers were outside of the Top Ten?

1. Dad (+19)
2. Carla (+14)
3. Jill (+10)

In case you were interested in what the standings looked like 100 posts ago:

These pictures come from the following folder: Backup/Old My Pictures/Family/2004 McHose

I think these pictures are fairly self explanatory.

Next week’s folder will be: Backup/Old My Pictures/Family/Teresa & Ernie

These pictures come from: backup/Old My Pictures/Family/2004 B&W

One of the things I take from these pictures is that I have progressed in my knowledge of lighting quite a bit.

Plus I owned a pretty terrible scanner.

Next week’s folder: backup/Old My Pictures/Family/2004-McHose