Category Archives: Life

Animals, Art, Candid Portrait, Logan, Nader, Politics, Self-Portrait, State Fair, Street Photography, WPC - Reminder

ISFRXOII

March 6, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Even though it is barely March, it is about time that I start turning my thoughts to the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. I hope to be more current with my images by the time I actually have to make a decision, but I am pretty sure I know of at least one picture I’m going to enter. Even though, I currently can’t remember that picture. I just remember taking a picture and thinking, I’m going to enter that in the Iowa State Fair. Could be a false memory planted by my therapist. Since, after all, having a therapist is a false memory placed by parts unknown.

Today’s collection is of pictures I took on the last day of the Iowa State Fair with the Sony RXOII. Nader went with me and Logan met me down there.

This is just the beginning of the pictures from last year’s Iowa State Fair.

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

JUNK

Remember, that there is a difference between JUNK and garbage. Also remember, there are many definitions of the word JUNK.

Happy photo harvesting!

Birthdays, Holidays, Jay, Jonah, Laura, Nate, Nora, Still Life, Willy

The 4th

March 5, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start today’s post by wishing a big happy birthday to Laura! I’m sure today she will have her hands full trying to corral Baby Tri-Force and she will be loving every second of it!

Here are some Laura pictures:

I hope it is a great birthday!

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On the 4th of July I got together with Willy and Jay and grilled out and set off some smoke bombs and then photographed them going off. Here are some pictures.

The 4th of July is a Saturday this year. I love holidays that are also on weekends!

Andy, Animals, Birthdays, Naima, Nature

Dickcisselin’

March 3, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Need to start today by wishing a happy birthday to my mission trip and youth group buddy Andy! 5 or 6 years ago or however long it was when we first went to Martin, South Dakota together I never would have guessed how good of friends we would end up becoming.

Here are some pictures of Andy:

Happy birthday Andy!

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Hitting up that 2019 backlog again. These are pictures I took out at Dickcissel Park in June.

Only like 40 some days of pictures left in the 2019 backlog.

Animals, Christianity, Faust, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Grandma, Jay, Jesse, Macro, Mom, Nature, Road Trip, Teresa, Vacation

2009-09-09

February 29, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 2009-09-09 are from two road trips I took back in 2009. One was a trip with my Mom, Grandma, and Teresa to Kalona. Kalona has always been one of my favorite places to visit. It has been too long since I have been there, that is for sure.

The second road trip was one I took with Jay and Jesse to visit Faust up in Mankato. It also has been too long since I have visited Faust. I don’t lack proper motivation. Mankato has a sweet Godzilla statue that I still haven’t seen.

Here are some pictures from those road trips:

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 Stuff – One

Vacation Stuff – Two

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve some family photos I did for Jim’s lady friend Pam.

Animals, Birthdays, Flat Earth Joe, Flowers, Logan, Macro, Micky, Youth Group

Alas, Poor Yorick!

February 26, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I have to start today’s post off by wishing the happiest of birthdays to Micky! I’m not sure how old Micky is now, but I hope he is at an age where he start to gain a refined taste in pancakes. Micky is one of the best outdoorsman I know, if he ever conquers his fear of snakes, he could even be the best.

Here are some pictures of Micky:

Happy birthday Micky!!

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You are probably wondering what Micky would like for his birthday. The answer is pretty obvious, since it IS Ash Wednesday.

Micky would like you to come to the Heart of Boone Youth Fellowship Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser for our trip to Indianapolis!

It is all the spaghetti you can eat and you get to name your own price. Starts at 6. Ends at 7. At the Boone First United Methodist Church in the Fellowship Hall in the basement.

Why is this what Micky wants for his birthday? Because a funded mission trip gets me out of the office for an entire week! A full week he doesn’t have to deal with me at work. I know! I can feel people scrambling for their checkbooks right now!

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Since Micky is a truly great outdoorsman, I think the type of pictures he would like to peer at on his birthday are from when the family stopped at Jester Park after post-worship lunch some Sunday in August.

I just don’t make it to Jester Park enough.

Candid Portrait, Football, Holidays, Iowa State, Self-Portrait, Work

2009-09-02 & 2009-09-04

February 22, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folders 2009-09-02 and 2009-09-04 are from two separate but nearly equally great events.

A couple of the pictures are from Alligator Shirt Day. A holiday that I invented back in 2009, but then forgot to honor on a yearly basis. You can bet dollars to donuts that on the 2021 Photography 139 Calendar, you will find Alligator Shirt Day in it. Just one of the changes you will see in the 2021 calendar as I will make it an even more personal project, since I don’t sell them any longer.

The other event is the Iowa State football game against North Dakota State. Back then, I didn’t realize that North Dakota State had one of the most annoying fanbases in the world. A pretty big accomplishment for a nothing university in a town that nobody would’ve heard of if the Cohen brothers didn’t name a movie after the town and then set the movie in Minnesota.

Here are some pictures:

Iowa State defeated the North Dakota State 34-17 on that evening.

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:

Alligator Shirt Day

North Dakota State

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a couple of road trips I went on.

Jesse, Road Trip, Self-Portrait

Birthday Road Trip – Pixel 2 Pics

February 20, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

This is the last collection of pictures from my Birthday Road Trip. This collection is the collection of cruddy cell phone pictures I took with the trusty Pixel 2. A phone that is almost paid for, so it will surely die very soon.

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

We lunched at Mabe’s Pizza. It was okay, but certainly wasn’t great. Somebody with a less refined pizza palette probably would have been bonkers for it though.

Now I should start planning in earnest for this year’s birthday road trip. Less than 3 months to go!

Art, Christianity, Formal Portrait, History, Jesse, Road Trip, Youth Group

Birthday Road Trip – Misc.

February 19, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Hey! Guess what? One week from today is Ash Wednesday! Do you know what that means? It means that it is another chance to come support the Youth Group’s Mission Trip to Indianapolis!

We will be holding a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser from 6-7 PM at the Boone First United Methodist Church. You can come down there and slop down some delicious spaghetti for whatever price you deem acceptable. Just throw some of your spare scratch in the donation basket and knock down as much spaghetti as your heart can take. Some garlic bread too!

All the information you need is right there. Hope to see many of you there!

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This is the second to last collection of images from my Birthday Road Trip. This is a collection of some random stops and places that just didn’t quite have enough pictures to warrant their own post. Places like Fort Atkinson and The Small Church near Festina.

The last collection of images from my Birthday Road Trip are the cruddy cell phone pictures I took that day.

Black & White, Jesse, Nature, Road Trip

Birthday Road Trip – Dunnings Spring Waterfall

February 16, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I’m not 100% sure if the waterfall featured today is the Dunning’s Spring Waterfall or the Dunnings Spring Waterfall. I have seen it spelled both ways by multiple reputable organization. This is the type of thing that keeps me up at night.

The Dunnings Spring Waterfall in Decorah was the main goal of my birthday road trip. I had visited it once a few years back and I have always been completely unsatisfied with my pictures of it. It was a goal of mine to get back there and take at least one picture of it that I liked.

Here are my attempts:

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Jesse fell down the side of the waterfall and cut himself. But he kept the camera equipment he was carrying protected, so good work on his part!

I have a couple more sets of pictures from the Birthday Road Trip still to share. Kind of a miscellaneous set of pictures and the some cruddy cell phone pictures.