Category Archives: State Fair

Animals, Flowers, Jay, Jeff Daniel, Macro, Mom, State Fair, Teresa, Yin

08-19-08

November 24, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder called 08-19-08 are from a trip to the Iowa State Fair.

Here are a few of them:

There are many more pictures than this from my 2008 trip to the Iowa State Fair. You can check them out by clicking on the link below:

2008 – Iowa State Fair

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” blog to their original glory:

State Fair Flowers

State Fair Olla Podrida

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Jen and Derrick’s wedding.

9 Emotions Project, Alexis, Anders, Andy, Animals, Baby Got Rack, Baier, Bethany, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Carla, Colleen, Derrick, Elainie, Flat Earth Joe, Iowa State, Jay, Jesse, Johnathan, Jorge, Laura, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Mom, Nader, Naima, Nate, Nora, Russell, Sara, Shannon, State Fair, Tenderloining, Teresa, Tim, Willy

Blessings – 2018

November 22, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving! It is the time of year where we are supposed to count our blessings.

I thought I would share a few of my current blessings:

I am blessed with a great family!

I have plenty of friends that share my love for the Cyclones!

I have a job I don’t hate going to, where I work with several people I don’t want to punch in the face.

I have an amazing church family!

I have an amazing friends family!

I’m blessed to share my life with Naima!

This is really just a handful of the blessings in my life! But I’m already getting this out late, so I’ll cut if off here. I’ll just end with a passage from a Rob Bell NOOMA video that really spoke to me:

“So the verse in First Timothy, it says command those that are rich to not put their hope in wealth… and then it goes on and it continues… and it says, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

That phrase, a God that richly provides us with everything. All that we have is a gift.

Food. It is a gift.

Clothes. Gift.

Roof. Gift.

That breath you just took. It’s a gift.

Now there are some that will say: No, you don’t understand. I’ve worked for what I have. I deserve it. It is mine. But like it says in the book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 8: You may say to yourself, my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your God, because it is God that gives you the ability to produce wealth.”

I thank God for the embarrassment of riches in my life!

Black & White, Jesse, Nader, Night, Photo Journal, State Fair, Street Photography, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 79

October 26, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

I took Page 78 of the PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT on the morning of the Barbecue Contest of the Iowa State Fair.

I came back to the Iowa State Fair on the last day of the fair to take the companion picture.

Page 78 was to “Photograph a place that’s nondescript during the day…”

Page 79 – …but comes alive at night.

Only one picture can be physically adhered into the physical copy of THE PHOTO JOURNAL, but I did take several other pictures that night.

Nader and Jesse were photo assistants for this photo shoot.

Next time we check in with THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, we will probably check in with Page 40.

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This is you weekly reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is COLORFUL.

COLORFUL

A COLORFUL picture is a picture of anything that is COLORFUL.

Happy photo harvesting!

Black & White, Photo Journal, Photoshop, State Fair, Street Photography, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 78

October 19, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

While I was at the Iowa State Fair, I came across a great subject for Page 78 and Page 79 for THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT.

On my first trip to the Iowa State Fair I took the picture for Page 78. I’ll share those pictures today and you’ll have to wait for Page 79:

Page 78 – Photograph a place that’s nondescript during the day…

I visited the midway early on the morning while Baby Got Rack’s meat was smoking.

Only 1 picture can be physically adhered into the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL. Here are some that will only exist in the digital world:

Next Friday we will definitely check in with Page 78.

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This is your reminder that the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme this week is COLLECTIBLE:

COLLECTIBLE

A COLLECTIBLE photo is a photo of anything that people collect.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Art, Carla, Iowa State, Mom, Music, State Fair, Street Photography

Some Iowa State Fair

October 4, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

After Baby Got Rack dominated the Iowa State Fair barbecue competition I chose to hang back at the Iowa State Fair and meet up with my Mom and Carla.

Here are a few pictures from the Iowa State Fair and that afternoon:

I have plenty more pictures from my Iowa State Fair adventures.

Jesse, Music, Nader, Night, Russell, State Fair, Street Photography

I Want My Mummies

September 20, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Seemed like a good time to share some of my pictures from the Iowa State Fair this year.

I made two trips to the Fair. 1 with Baby Got Rack. The other on the last day of the Fair with Jesse and Nader to pick up my 2 photos that were displayed at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. Russell even met up with us briefly.

Fortune smiled upon me with the scheduling of events at the Iowa State Fair. One of my favorite bands was playing on one of the free stages and the date happily coincided with the last day of the Fair, so I didn’t have to make a special trip to see Here Come the Mummies.

If you haven’t heard of Here Come the Mummies they are a funk group where everybody in the band dresses like a mummy. You can see how they appeal to my particular set of tastes.

Legend has it that the Nashville based band is filled with Grammy award winning artists that dress like mummies to conceal their identity; for fear of the band members violating their current record contracts.

I don’t know if this is true, but their high level of musicianship would make a pretty strong case for it being true. I don’t know too many other rock/funk concerts where you would see a badass flute duel and it would make 100% total sense.

Before I go on first dates, I like to send my date a copy of PANTS to listen to. It is the easiest way to insure that there is no second date. Also why my Tinder profile is so unpopular.*

Here are some pictures from an awesome (but one of the wettest I’ve ever experienced from the standpoint of water) rainy night with Here Come the Mummies:

We didn’t stick around for the concert as long as I had hoped. Hopefully Here Come the Mummies comes back to Iowa in 2019 so I can have the full experience.

*This is all a lie. I don’t go on dates. My Tinder profile is very popular.

Candid Portrait, Ernie, Logan, Photo Journal, Photoshop, State Fair, Teresa, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 52

August 24, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

It is your weekly reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is COMPETITION.

A great theme! One of the best ever! But what is a COMPETITION photo? It is a picture that shows any kind of COMPETITION. COMPETITION can be between teams or individuals or with the self. A COMPETITION photo could show the results of a COMPETITION. Interpret the theme any way you see fit!

COMPETITION

Happy photo harvesting!

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A few weeks back, Ernie was in town visiting Teresa. I felt he would be a good subject for Page 52 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 52 – Capture someone’s subconscious.

The idea of this picture was thus:

“By giving your subject something to do they become less aware of the act of being photographed.”

Ernie is playing solitaire. I setup my camera on a tripod and triggered the camera with my phone, while I was pretending to look for something on my storage shelves. Hopefully Ernie didn’t realize I was taking the pictures. I told him the purpose of the project after the photo shoot. When I told him we were done, he did seem a bit surprised.

My one regret is that I didn’t give him a toothpick. It looks like he could have used a toothpick to chew on.

Here are a couple of other photos from the photo shoot:

I’m not sure what page we will hit up the next time that we hit up THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT. I have about 4 or 5 of these done and ready to roll. I mean they aren’t edited yet, but I’ve taken the pictures.

I’m trying to include as many different people as possible in this project. If you’re looking to volunteer, you know where to find me. Right now, I could use a person that does yoga.

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Incidentally, part of the reason that Ernie was back was to help get Teresa’s house on the market. Click on the link below to see’s Teresa’s real estate listing:

BUY TERESA’S HOUSE

Logan took the photos for the real estate listing.

Andy, Animals, Cathie, Flowers, Jesse, Kim, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Photoshop, Shannon, State Fair, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 153 – ANIMAL

August 20, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

ANIMAL seemed to really bring out the creative impulses of a lot of people. Plenty of ANIMAL submissions!

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

Kim Barker

Micky Augustin

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Mike Vest

Cathie Raley

Jesse Howard

A solid week of submissions!

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:

COMPETITION!

COMPETITION! What a great theme! But what is a COMPETITION photo? A COMPETITION photo is any photo that deals with competing. It could be a race. A football game. A board game. It could be people preparing for competition, like practice or working out. People don’t just compete against other people. They compete against time. They compete against themselves. Humans aren’t the only beings to compete either.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. 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.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. 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.

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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 competitive Monday.

Animals, Black & White, Contests, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Kalista, Kelly, Nature, Photoshop, Saydie, State Fair, Taylan, Underwater, Willy

The Howards: 2016 – Chapter 1

August 19, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

By the time this gets published, I’ll probably be making the trudge up Expo Hill towards the Cultural Building to pick up my photos from the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon.

If you didn’t get a chance to duck into the Cultural Building to check out my photos, that is fine. That is dandy. Here are the 4 pictures I entered. 2 were accepted for display. 2 were not.

Not selected for display.

Selected for display.

2 pictures for display was a solid showing. You never know what the judges will like. I was surprised that Willy’s eye was selected for display. I thought of the 4, it had the worst chance to make it. I guess you never know.

A few statistics from the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon:

1018 Photographers Entered
3201 Photographs Entered
Photographers from 20 other states entered
863 Adults Entered
466 of adults who entered have at least one photograph on display
27% of the photos entered were exhibited

I should start planning for next year, but that hasn’t really been my style, yet.

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Starting on the 3rd to last photo shoot from 2016 to have the 2016 backlog cleared up.

This collection is from the Howard Family Photo Shoot:

I told all the people that missed Saydie Sundays that she would be back. For at least one more week after this, even!

Baby Got Rack, Contests, Event, Macro, Melissa, Michelle, Scottie D., Shannon, State Fair

Baby Got Rack Takes the Iowa State Fair

August 19, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

A reminder that today is the last day of the Iowa State Fair. If you are going, you should make your way to the Cultural Building to see the pictures that I had accepted for display. They will come down at approximately 8 PM. Also, I will be at the Iowa State Fair today, if you want to try to look me up.

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On Tuesday, Baby Got Rack went to the Iowa State Fair to compete in the Iowa State Fair Farm Bureau Cookoff.

Baby Got Rack earned their way there by winning the Combination category at the Boone County Fair. The Combination category is any dish that combines 2 or more meats. We won with Scottie D.’s famous Mediterranean Pizza and his Barbecue Pizza.

Baby Got Rack took a little bit of a different formation this year. House dropped out this year. A couple of other people auditioned for roles on the team, but only one person stepped up to join Baby Got Rack. That was Bryon Porter.

I will also add that Baby Got Rack’s guardian angel, Melissa also increased her role with the team this year. In year’s past she had stayed mostly in the background. Running the books and being in charge of procurement. This year she also was in charge of making the pizza crust.

I can’t lie. At the Iowa State Fair they both did more work than me, probably. It looks like once again there is no Pufferbilly Days Barbecue Contest. We had heard rumors that it was a done deal at the Boone County Fair. But those rumors ended up being lies. Dirty, dirty lies! At least as of this writing, there is no listing for a Barbecue Contest on the Pufferbilly Days website.

Sorry people that were planning on coming to visit us on the Sunday of Pufferbilly Days. Tuesday might have been your last chance to see Baby Got Rack in action until at least May. When Baby Got Rack will cater my birthday party. If I have it. Which currently, everything trends to that happening.

Since I knew this was probably the last time Baby Got Rack would gird its loins for the field of barbecue battle, I took as many pictures as possible. Here are some of my favorites:

Unloading.

Baby Got Rack’s Latest Superstar

Fire!

4 AM came early for this guy!

Injecting the Pork

When you’re this stylish, you take a selfie!

4 AM also came early for this guy!

Applying BGR’s Proprietary Rub

That is a good looking piece of meat!

Seasoning the chicken!

Melissa is also our Interior Decorator.

Lots of competitors!

Strictly speaking, this isn’t a team competition. Scottie D.’s name is the only one you’ll see in the record books.

Bryon rocking the swag!

Checking the meats! Arby’s got nothing on BGR, on so many levels.

Cutting up the pizza toppings.

Is that 2 types of bell peppers? I’ll never tell!

Melissa, making magic.

Magic!

Crust!

Time to let the meat rest!

Delicious!

Mmmmm… Pork!

I love our chicken. It still might be my favorite thing we make.

Seasoning Up!

Spreading the Sauce!

(Wipes drool off of keyboard.)

Cheese!

Sean! This guy is the chicken master, but he entered pork. He got 2nd place in Pork.

Starting to look like pizzas!

Barbecue Pizza

Mediterranean Pizza

They gave everybody that came a Participant Ribbon*. Some people put it up. We put it away. BGR doesn’t come to “participate”. BGR comes to dominate!

Pizza. Macro.

The crowd starts to swell around our booth.

Pizza on the grill.

Picking out pieces for the judges.

Next year, we will have our own hashtag!

Piece for the judges.

Category Judges.

Scottie D. working his magic.

Giving the judges a sample of the meats.

Everybody loves this pizza!

The Showmanship Judges.

Ed Wilson gave Scottie D. a fist bump.

Scottie D. was briefly on the news that night.

There was one pizza catastrophe, but people didn’t care, They wolfed it down!

People love free samples, but not everybody is what I would call appreciative.

Scottie D. being interviewed for the pseudo-radio broadcast.

More free samples!

The Grand Champion Judges.

This is our favorite judge.

The Secretary of Agriculture.

We won our Category.

Baby Got Rack Team Picture. Melissa refused to be in it for some reason.

There are plenty more pictures from the day’s event. If you want to peruse them, you should click on the link below:

BABY GOT RACK – 2018

That is probably all she wrote for this year’s Competitive Barbecue Season. I’m sure Baby Got Rack will be back in 2019, unless Scottie D. decides to open up a restaurant instead of all this small fish stuff. Many people wanted to know where our restaurant is and we had to break their heart.

Special thanks to everybody that came down to see us and support us:

Shannon
Barb Shedd
Michelle’s Parents

BGR out! Mic drop.

*I’m not one of those people that freaks out about giving out “participant” ribbons. I don’t suffer from the disease of toxic masculinity. If you want to give kids participant ribbons, it isn’t making them soft. It isn’t making them less competitive. It might even people helping their self-esteem. Which is fine by me.

HOUSEKEEPING

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