Category Archives: Brog Frog

Sara’s Latest Graduation

Sara graduated a few weeks back and to celebrate, she had a massive shindig.

As my present to Sara, I set up a photobooth in her garage. here are a few pictures from that photobooth.


Sara already was the most educated person that I know, but now the gap is almost immeasurable.

Next week’s random Wednesday will be pictures from the Straw Poll.

Personal Photo Project of the Week #82


Happy Things
Happy Things

You may notice that many of the pictures in the future will be watermarked with the logo designed for me by Shawn. Just another feature of the new Store/Gallery.

More pictures from the Happy Things Series:


Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

Happy Things

One more reminder about the new Store/Gallery. Since I’m storing the pictures for “An Artist’s Notebook” there now, you can click on any of these images and see a larger image if you would like.

Also, once you are there you can Tweet the photo. You can Facebook Share the photo. You can even Facebook Like the photo with the handy dandy links provided at the top of the picture. You don’t have to, but you could if you wanted to.

RWPE Y2 #30 – NIGHT

I’ll just confess that my picture this week was not the intended picture. But I did what I could after I had some kind of memory card failure where I lost my original picture.

Here are the submissions for NIGHT:


WEEK 30 - NIGHT - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

IMAGE LOST
Dawn Krause

WEEK 30 - NIGHT - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest A

WEEK 30 - NIGHT - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest B

Next week’s theme will be:

LEADING LINES

A look back at last year’s submissions.

LEADING LINES – 2010

I am going on vacation next week, so next Monday at noon the theme for next week will publish, but none of the pictures will be published until I return from my sabbatical. Unless you get your picture in by Friday.

RWPE Y2 #28 – GAMES

There were a few submissions for GAMES. Here they are:


WEEK 28 - GAMES - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

IMAGE LOST
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 28 - GAMES - GERI DERNER
Geri Derner

WEEK 28 - GAMES - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

My picture may be confusing, but believe me, I only had time for one kind “game” this past week.

I’ve been to the Random Generator and it has spit out the following theme for this week:

 

FRAMING

 

Here is a look at last year’s submissions:

 


FRAMING

 

GENERAL HOUSEKEEPING NOTES

A few weeks ago, Shawn designed a logo for me. The logo looks something like this:


The logo is just one of the changes being made or have been made to the website. The following changes have been made:

  •  The logo has been added to the header.
  • 11 new header images have been created.
  • The weather forecast for Boone, Iowa has been added to the Calendar.
  • A miniature slideshow has been added to the sidebar of the About, Contact, Calendar, and Downloads pages.
  • I have (with the assistance and nudging of Shawn) created a Photography 139 Facebook page. In order to get my own URL, I have to have 25 people “Like” it.  You can help me in accomplishing this task by going to virtually any page (except the Store and galleries) and clicking on the little “Like” link located in the sidebar.
  • I have added a Google+ link to virtually every page on the website. So if you are on Google+ and like a Journal entry and want to share it with other people, you only need to click on the +1 icon in the sidebar and it will appear in your Buzz section.
  • At the bottom of every single journal entry (individual page),  there is a Tweet icon.  If you really like a journal entry, you can click on this icon and it will Tweet a link to this page for you.
  • On the Home page there is a slideshow tentatively entitled “Pictures of the Month”.  That title will change and it will eventually be a slideshow of my most recent photos.
  • Underneath my Twitter Feed in the Journal, I have added a link to make it easier for you to follow my numerous brilliant outbursts on Twitter by clicking the Follow icon.

These are changes that are coming down the pipe. Some are partially implemented. Some are not.

  • The Artistic Gallery and the Snapshots Gallery are being retired.  They will still exist, but I will not be adding new images to them and they will not be accessible through the Navigation Bar at the top of the website.  You will still be able to access them with a direct URL, at least for the foreseeable future. There just isn’t a reason to continue these galleries with the advent of the Store.
  • Pictures for Journal Entries will be housed in the Store, rather than in the galleries.  The benefit is that the images will be larger and you will be able to click on an image and get even a larger image.  This doesn’t cover all images.  Some of the images that are published in The Archives just aren’t big enough to utilize this enhancement.  The same goes for the Slice of Life pictures.  But virtually all other images will benefit from this new feature when it is implemented fully.
  • Email subscription deliveries will be handled by the website directly.  Currently, the website emails me and then I email everybody that has subscribed via email.   Last time I attempted this, there were some bugs in the system. However, this is an advantage to you because you won’t have to wait for me to crawl out of bed (or in the case of this weekend when I will be out of state), you won’t have to wait for my return to get your high quality Photography 139 content.  I should point out that I write my blogs up to 2 months in advance.  So if I’m struck by lightning and die at some point in the near future and you keep getting emails from me. It is an act of technology, I’m not talking to you from the other side. Of course, if you want to subscribe via email, you just have to drop me a line at bennett@photography139.com.

Post No. 1,101

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 Galler.

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.


Brandon Kahler Senior Pictures
1. Brandon Senior Picture

Johnathan Stensland Senior Pictures
2. Johnathan Senior Picture


3. Battered School Bus – Hamlin, Iowa


4. Self-Portrait

Jen Smoking
5. Jen Between Sets of an UnHingd Show

UnHingd Publicity Still Alpha
6. UnHingd Publicity Still

2006 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - Outburst of the Soul
6. Outburst of the Soul

2008 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon - 1900>
8. 1900

Rebecca Peterson
8. Becca – Senior Picture

Piano Ruins
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:


Iowa State vs. Nebraska
1. Me White Trashing It

Iowa State vs. Nebraska
2. ISUCFVMB

Be Aggressive!
3. Alexis Cheerleading

Inebriated Saints Concert
4. Shannon and I at an Inebriated Saints Show

The Big Jesus Road Trip
5. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto

Mother's Day - 2009
6. Logan’s Tree-man

The Big Jesus Road Trip
7. Jesse and I at the Surf Ball Room

The Big Jesus Road Trip
8. Jesse Endorsing the Bob’s Dog

Iowa State Spring Game - 2009
8. 2009 ISU Spring Game

Shannon at Backbone State Park
10. Shannon Reading Map at Backbone

Eastern Iowa Road Trip - 2006
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:

Journal Entry One-Thousand

Post No. 850

Every 100 or so posts, I like to make a list of the most popular pictures on this blog.

Here is the list of the 10 most popular photos in the Artistic Gallery.


Outburst of the Soul
1. Outburst of the Soul


2. Self-Portrait


3. Jen Relaxing Between Sets

Grizzly McAlpine
4. Grizzly McAlpine


5. Rebecca – Senior Pictures


5. UnHingd Publicity Photo

Piano Ruins
7. Abandoned Piano – McCallsburg

Obama at Mike O'Brien's House
7. Obama

Obama at Mike O'Brien's House
7. Obama

Boone County Fair Photo Contest - 2008
Campanile Self-Portrait

06-11-08
7. Alexis – US 30 Flood

The 10 Most Popular Pictures in the Snapshots Gallery.


The Big Jesus Road Trip
1. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto

The Big Jesus Road Trip
2. Jesse eats a Bob’s Dog

The Big Jesus Road Trip
3. Jesse and I at the Surf Ballroom

The Big Jesus Road Trip
4. Jesse Kissing the Blarney Stone in Emmetsburg

Shannon at Backbone State Park
5. Shannon reading map in Backbone

Eastern Iowa Road Trip - 2006
5. Jesse and I in Clinton

The Big Jesus Road Trip
5. Jesse in the Surf Ballroom

Bonne Finken
5. Jen and Shannon making a deal at a Bonne Finken Concert

Bonne Finken
5. Cousin Amy, Sara and Jen at a Bonne Finken Concert

Bonne Finken
5. Sara and Jen at a Bonne Finken Concert

Eastern Iowa Road Trip - 2006
Robert checking out the view in Balltown

If you want to see how this list has changed since the last time I posted it follow this link:



Number 750

I will check this out again in another 100 Journal Entries.

One other thing…

If you would like a Username and Password for either of the galleries, send me an email with what you would like your username and password to be, and I will get you set up.

Having an account to the Galleries allows you to Rate, Favorite and Comment on Pictures. Plus, it allows you access to the “Secret” Albums.

Vacation Day 4 – Cotton Candy

I was set on going back to the Cyclone State on Tuesday night after visiting Faust on his day off, but Bethany and Becca requested that I stay one more night. I had no plans for Wednesday (Sara’s attempt to convince me to go to Iowa City failed since she couldn’t produce a single credible theory on why it would be fun for me to sit around while she put stitches in a pig’s foot), so I agreed to come back to Eagan after my visit to Mankato.

Nate, Becca and Bethany live a couple blocks from a donut store by the name of Puffy Cream Donuts. After I woke up and showered, I hit the open road to Mankato after picking up some cream filled goodness at Puffy Cream.

When I got to Mankato I stopped at Target so I could buy some extra clothes for the extra day in Minnesota.

I arrived at the Faust home and we discussed potential new coaches for the Cyclones.

My dream has always been that Iowa State rights the wrong it made several years ago and brings back Eustachy. I know this was a pipedream, but there are several great options out there. It was exciting to think about what guy Pollard would bring to Ames to return the Cyclones to glory.

We went to Mr. Goodcents for lunch. I hadn’t eaten at Mr. Goodcents since the one in Ames closed down while I was still in college. The sandwiches are no longer as epic in scope as they were all those years ago, but it was definitely still very tasty and I wasn’t disappointed. Not like how disappointed I am with the horrible joke that is masquerading as Panchero’s across the street from the Computer Mine.

At 2:30 we walked over to Jackson’s school to pick him up. I got to admire some of his artwork and look around his school.

As we returned to the Faust abode, I checked my email on my phone. I wasn’t expecting any messages of great consequence, I was just trying to hammer out lunch plans for Thursday with Shannon, but then I got an email message from The Swell Season updating their Summer tour schedule. They are coming to 1st Ave in July! Hallelujah!

After further discussion about who Iowa State could get as a coach, Nicole came and picked us up to get cotton candy!

The residence hall where she works was trying to get the students to leave their dorm rooms by serving cotton candy, popcorn and playing approved music. I don’t know how well it worked on the students, but it worked on Jackson, Faust and I.

On the way over to Minnesota State’s campus, Jackson flexed the golden pipes and wowed me by singing along word for word with the Justin Bieber CD playing on the stereo.


Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy
A portion of the day was following Jackson while he ran through the hallways of the dormitory.

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy
Jackson has yet to develop his dad’s patented “Leaning Weiner” shot.

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy
Now I’ve been able to school two generations of Fausts on the court. Plus Faust and I did relive some old Saturday Morning Basketball memories. Including how he felt that he owned The Salmon on the court. Hmmm… two friends that think they own The Salmon.

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy
Jackson nailed somewhere between 3-5 shots depending on how he retells the story.

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy
Faust manning the popcorn machine.

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy
Jackson and his Mr. Freeze

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy
Fronting for the Cyclones in Maverick Country

Vacation Day 4 - Cotton Candy
Faust Knocking Down Cotton Candy Goodness


Shortly after we got back to the Faust Estate my phone rang. It was Jesse.

“We just hired a new coach. Fred Hoiberg.”

I was instantly pissed. Are you kidding me? We just hired some guy because he is super popular with the fan base even though he has NO coaching experience on any level. Was this the cheapest publicity stunt ever?

Full disclosure: I’m not and never was a ravenous Fred Hoiberg fan. He was a solid player and a nice story. His teams were okay and they went to the tournament, but they were not my teams and I could not stand their style of play. They were soft. I was and always will be a Dedric Willoughby fan. He actually won a championship. I’m sure if Pollard would have announced that Willoughby was the new coach and he was filling out his staff with Jacy Holloway, Kenny Pratt and Shawn Bankhead I would have jumped for joy. Hoiberg doesn’t do it for me like he does it for the grand majority of Cyclone nation.

Jesse and I vented our anger. Then Faust and I vented our anger.

I sent text messages to Baier, Bill, Russell, Andree, Derrick and Schmidt.

Bill wrote back:

“Fred? As head coach?”

“Yep.”

“Does he have any coaching experience?”

“None. Not at all.”

“Not good at all”

Andree wrote back:

“I guess he didn’t even entertain the idea of hiring Larry back. Well, here’s hoping Hoiberg’s NBA connections can help with recruiting. Was Pollard expecting another Paul Rhoads or something? He’ll be fired next year. This is a cheap move by hiring Ames favorite son to get fans off his back. Idiot!”

“It might be a popular move. I guess we can hope this works out.”

“Popular or not Hoiberg has some cache in Ames. Maybe he can sell to future recruits: “I got all the GMs phone numbers. If you got the chops, they’ll take my call.”

Then I got a call from Baier. We vented. Then I got a call from Russell. We vented.

Then I got a text from Schmidt.

“They are reporting The Mayor as our next coach.”

“I feel that we are worse off now than we were on Sunday with McDermott as our coach.”

“Typical Chris response that I expected!”

“Maybe he is a quick study.”

“We won’t know for three years. Its the Hall of Fame coaching staff!”

Then Derrick called. Of everybody I talked to he seemed the most optimistic that this might work. Although he had just got off the phone with Shawn and Shawn was extremely negative about this hire. But we didn’t get a full conversation because some customer came into the store and he had to “work”.

Faust and I discussed this move for quite a bit longer. Then I headed backup to Eagan.

Nate and I went to Houlihan’s for supper and then we came back to the house. I watched Weeds with Becca until about 2 in the morning and then I went to bed.

Much of my anger over the Hoiberg hiring had subsided and I was able to go to sleep rather quickly

Day 4 of vacation was still pretty great, despite the surprise Hoiberg hiring!

Number 750

This is entry number 750 in this online journal. I’d like to take a little bit of time to archive some data. It is one of my peculiar imbecilities that I love meaningless statistics. Therefore, consider these statistics:

Every journal entry falls into at least one of sixteen categories. This is how many journal entries have fit into each one of these categories:

  1. Photography – 295
  2. Friends – 269
  3. Life – 238
  4. Family – 98
  5. Religion – 63
  6. ISU Football – 41
  7. Jaycees – 40
  8. Movies – 39
  9. Blogging 33
  10. Sports – 25
  11. Work – 25
  12. House – 24
  13. Writing – 23
  14. Comedy – 20
  15. Politics – 17
  16. History – 12

If you measure popularity by how many times a picture is viewed, these are the 10 (or so) most popular pictures in my Artistic Gallery.



#1. Outburst of the Soul (26 Views)


#2. Untitled (23 Views)

Grizzly McAlpine
#3. Grizzly McAlpine (22 Views)

Obama at Mike O'Brien's House
#3. Untitled (22 Views)

Obama at Mike O'Brien's House
#5. Untitled (21 Views)


#5. Jen Smoking (21 Views)


#7. UnHingd Publicity Still (20 Views)

2007 - Living History Farms
#8. 1900 (19 Views)

ACTORS
#8. Untitled – (19 Views)

Boone County Fair Photo Contest - 2008
#10. Campanile Self Portrait – (18 Views)

06-11-08
#10. US30 East of Ogden – (18 Views)

I know these numbers are somewhat controlled by the length of time a picture has been in the Artistic Gallery, but I am pleased by the number of black and white images that are high in popularity.

But it begs the question, what is the most popular subject in the Snapshot Gallery. What do people like to see from the “Daily Grind of My Existence”?


The Big Jesus Road Trip
#1. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto – (25 Views)

The Big Jesus Road Trip
#2. Jesse with a Bob’s Dog – LeMars, Iowa (23 Views)

The Big Jesus Road Trip
#3. Jesse and I in backstage of the Surf Ball Room – (21 Views)

Shannon at Backbone State Park
#4. Shannon reading a map on our first road trip to Backbone. (19 Views)

Iowa State vs. Texas A&M
#4. Sumrall catching a pass against A&M. I think this picture is so popular because it was a popular picture to get spammed when I was having spamming problems with the galleries.

The Big Jesus Road Trip
#6. Jesse at the Surf Ball Room – (18 Views)

The Big Jesus Road Trip
#6. Jesse kissing the Blarney Stone – (18 Views)

Eastern Iowa Road Trip - 2006
#8. Jesse and I in Clinton on The Eastern Iowa Road Trip – (17 Views)

Bonne Finken
#8. Jen and Shannon making some kind of deal at Bonne Finken – (17 Views)

Bonne Finken
#8. Cousin Amy, Sara and Jen at Bonne Finken – (17 Views)

Eastern Iowa Road Trip - 2006
#8. Jesse and Jay on The Eastern Iowa Road Trip – (17 Views)

Eastern Iowa Road Trip - 2006
#8. Robert enjoying the view of the Mississippi River in Balltown – (17 Friends)

The Big Jesus Road Trip
#8. Jesse videotaping Big Jesus – (17 Views)

The Big Jesus Road Trip
#8. Jesse and I at the Sgt. Floyd Memorial – (17 Views)

I think what I have learned from this exercise is that people like to see Jesse and I having adventures. I think I’ll have to look into us having a few more adventures in 2010!

I will have to check back in on this when I hit journal entry number 1,000.

The Wedding of the Year (Part 3)

As Shawn and I were called to perform our secondary duty of ushering, I handed my camera to Kelly. She took the following pictures before the battery on the camera gave out.


Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

I was so completely drained from this wonderful day that I didn’t wake up until 1:30 on Sunday afternoon. It was probably a good thing that I limited my dancing at the reception. It is possible that I could still be sleeping.

The Wedding of the Year (Part 1)

I didn’t take many pictures from The Wedding of the Year because I was quite busy being a triple threat: Groomsman, Usher and Reader Guy. However, I did manage to snap off a few photos here and there.


Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

Gorshe Wedding

I take many a memory away from an absolutely incredible day, but I’m going to keep those memories, joys, and highs for myself.