Category Archives: Contests

In Joy or Sadness

REMINDER

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

I have selected 60 images for you to consider. To simplify things, I have split the 60 photos into 6 sets of 10. If you wish to exercise your enfranchisement, clicking on the link below will take you to Poll #1. Vote for one of those pictures and then move onto the next poll, until you have voted in all six polls.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

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In joy or sadness flowers are our constant friends.
-Kakuzo Okakura

One of my favorite places at the Iowa State Fair is the Discovery Garden. Many people that have attended the fair with me know that at some point we will part company and I will spend close to an hour there. Sometimes people choose to just wait me out. It is a foolish idea, unless you are in need of rest and have some delicious fair food to put into your belly.

Here are some pictures from last year’s trip to the Iowa State Fair:


Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

Iowa State Fair - Discovery Garden

I have one more set of Iowa State Fair flower pictures in the hopper. Don’t worry, I’ll feed you baby birds!

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Entry Selection Process

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

I was told that voting for the Boone County Fair was too complicated. A computer guy even told me it was a tough nut to crack. Therefore, I have made the process as easy as I can conceive this time. I had the QA guy from the Computer Mine Beta Test for me. Thanks Micky!

I have selected 60 images for you to consider. To simplify things, I have split the 60 photos into 6 sets of 10. If you wish to exercise your enfranchisement, clicking on the link below will take you to Poll #1. Vote for one of those pictures and then move onto the next poll, until you have voted in all six polls.

The winner of each poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

If you want to study up beforehand, keep scrolling down to see the nominees here:

POLL 1 – PHOTOSHOP

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 2 – PHOTOJOURNALISM

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 3 – NATURE (FLOWERS)
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 4 – NATURE (ANIMALS)
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 5 – HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY (GROUP 1)
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

POLL 6 – HIDDEN TREASURES OF BOONE COUNTY (GROUP 2)
2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#1

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#2

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#3

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#4

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#5

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#6

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#7

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#8

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#9

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
#10

Thank you in advance for your time and your opinions!

Boone County Fair 2018 Results

I was involved in 2 contests at the Boone County Fair this year. Now that the fair is in the past and I’ve had adequate time for reflection, I think it is a good time to share the results from the contests I entered.

First, the Open Class Photography Contest. You may recall that I had people vote to decide what pictures I entered. These are the five that were voted in and what they received:


Boone County Fair - 2018
Blue Ribbon

Boone County Fair - 2018
Blue Ribbon

Boone County Fair - 2018
Blue Ribbon

Boone County Fair - 2018
Purple Ribbon

Boone County Fair - 2018
Red Ribbon

Purple is the best. Red is the second worst, I guess. You can also get a white ribbon. I figured the reflection picture would resonate well with the Boone County Fair “judges”, because there is no obvious photographic technique. The subject is debatable. It doesn’t follow any rules for composition. To some degree, it is hard to tell what is in focus. It is a terrible photo contest photo. But it is a cool looking photo. You could print that up (perhaps on metal) and put that on your wall.

I reiterate, that I don’t enter photo contest to win ribbons. I just like to have pictures be seen. Whatever prize comes or doesn’t come, so be it.

I will run a similar program to pick out the pictures to be entered in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. It will be slightly different because people struggled to figure out how to use the website, so I will try to make it as not tech savvy as I can. None of these pictures, nor the pictures from the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon will be eligible to be in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

That is my rule, not theirs. I never enter a photo in more than one photo contest. I will be bagging these photos up and be putting them in the Photo Contest trunk in the next couple of days. The trunk is running low on space, so I will be needing to upgrade or get another trunk in the near future.

Look for your chance to vote at the beginning of August.

The other contest I entered during the Boone County Fair was the Farm Bureau Cookoff. Technically Scottie D.’s name is the name on the entry, but this was a Baby Got Rack entry. Although, let us face it. Scott is the talent of Baby Got Rack.

There was a bit of confusion with the contest as the rules had changed quite a bit from previous years and also, were not well written. At our team meeting on the Thursday before the competition, there was much discussion about not even entering the contest.

According to the new rules, set up was at 1 PM and judging was at 4 PM. That is not enough time to smoke a piece of meat. It takes a minimum of 1 hour to get the fire going and the air circulation to where you want it. Then the quickest meat to smoke is pork loin. It needs to smoke for 2 hours. 1 hour 45 minutes at the least. Then it needs to rest for at least half an hour, otherwise all the juices will be lost when you cut into it.

There just isn’t time!

We thought about just showing up and winging it. We had once made a Chili Cheese Dog Pizza on a whim. It was delectable. It was delicious. We have never made it since.

On Friday, Scott talked to the people running the contest and they told him that we were allowed to show up and set up at 8 AM. That is enough time to do a rack of ribs right.

The other major change was the limitation of only being able to enter 2 categories.

At the Thursday meeting we must have went around in circles for hours about what 2 categories to enter. When the 1 PM rule disappeared, the answer became clear:

+Combination
+Pork

Here are a few pictures from Baby Got Rack’s day at the Boone County Fair:


Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018

Baby Got Rack - Boone County Fair 2018
Photo Cred: Dawn Krause

We took 1st Place in Combination.
We took 2nd Place in Pork.

That means that we will be going to the Iowa State Fair to compete on Tuesday, August 14th. If you are at the Fair that day, I would encourage you to come by and root us on. Judging will be at 10 AM.

After that, your next chance to try Baby Got Rack Barbecue will be at Pufferbilly Days. After that, you will have to wait until my birthday. Incidentally, the theme of my 2019 birthday party is going to be cargo shorts. It was going to be cargo shorts and jorts, but I have been told that jorts are considered stylish now. I don’t believe it, but I can’t take the risk!

Tenderloin Appreciation Society – Winterset Field Work – Solo Mission

Welcome to a bonus “An Artist’s Notebook” blog. A couple things before we get into the meat of this blog.

#1. Today Baby Got Rack will be competing at the Boone County Fair’s barbecue competition. They changed the rules from previous years. We are only allowed to enter to categories. We will be entering the Pork category with a tasty pork loin. We will also be entering the Specialty category with nachos. I believe the awards are announced around 4. Since you will already be there to watch the pig races, you might as well stop by Baby Got Rack’s area. There might be free samples.

#2. You can also duck into the Community Building to see the photos I entered in the photography contest. I think those usually go on display around 12 pm or so.

#3. Tomorrow night is The Union Street Movie Club’s monthly movie night. This month will be a triple feature. The B movie will be CHOSEN SURVIVORS. The feature will be AMERICAN MOVIE. Then we will conclude with the bonus of watching COVEN. Due to showing 3 movies, the projector will roll right at 6 PM. Don’t be late! We will be having pizza to celebrate Jay’s birth and Jay will be bringing a cake to celebrate America’s birth. It is going to get a little crazy.

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Later today I will be releasing a blog that will include pictures from the first time The Tenderloin Appreciation Society sat in judgment upon somebody’s tenderloin offering. Because of that, I can’t sit any longer on when I made a solo trip down to Winterset to evaluate a tenderloin.

I had been trying for months to get Scottie D. to commit to go down to Winterset to the Northside Cafe to evaluate their tenderloin. It placed second to the Webster City tenderloin in Iowa Pork Producers Tenderloin Contest in 2017. Only, I couldn’t get Scottie D. to commit. It was almost as if his love for the tenderloin was waning. I became concerned.

Back in May I took my birthday off from work. Nobody was around, so I decided to make a solo trip down to Winterset for lunch, even though I don’t actually like lunching alone.

Here are some pictures from the experience:


Tenderloining at Northside Cafe
The Afton Bridge Pork Tenderloin

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe
Lightly toasted bun.

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe
Chomp. Chomp.

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe
A flattering angle.

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe
Last couple of bites.

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe

Tenderloining at Northside Cafe

For starters, let me say that Northside Cafe is cool, old and historic restaurant. It is probably a bit too fancy of a restaurant for a tenderloin to fill at home, but not too fancy to feel completely out of place on the menu.

My biggest complaint by far would be the service. I arrived at the restaurant a hair before noon and it took at least five minutes before I got seated. Even though I was the only person waiting to be seated.

Then after I ordered it took well over an hour before I got my food. They had forgot to make it.

My waitress, who was very nice and friendly. Stopped by at about the 65 minute mark of waiting and said, “You haven’t got your food yet, have you?”

That would be a negatory, Ghost Rider.

She apologized profusely and I got my food about 15 minutes later.

They were kind enough to give me my meal for free. So it wasn’t all bad.

THE VERDICT

THE GOOD

  • The meat to bun ratio was nearly dead on. Could have used a touch more meat, but awful close to the golden ratio.
  • A good thick cut of meat. Not one of those flat pork fritters masquerading as a tenderloin.
  • A good thick breading.
  • The bun was toasted. Clearly a homemade bun. Not something that came frozen off a truck.
  • It is a clean restaurant with friendly service.
  • You can get old-fashioned sodas there.
  • The standard tenderloin does not include a tomato.
  • They made up for poor service by comping the meal.
  • They serve Picket Fence Ice Cream.

THE BAD

  • The standard tenderloin does have lettuce.
  • While juicy, the tenderloin did not have all that much flavor.
  • The breading on the onion rings was very floury tasting.

THE UGLY

  • Having to wait almost 90 minutes for food is awful. Especially when the restaurant is not busy and the food item you order takes 10 minutes to fix.
  • While they served a limited selection of old fashioned sodas, they served Coke products.  Mill Stream Root Beer, which isn’t a great root beer.

THE FINAL WORD

The Northside Cafe serves a good, but not great tenderloin. I would gladly eat it again, but I would not pursue it. It does not belong in the Tenderloin Pantheon with Nick’s or Cole’s or The Country House. However, it certainly isn’t a garbage tenderloin like The Lucky Pig or Gramma’s Kitchen or Thunderhead Sports Bar & Grill.

The Northside Cafe is a cool historic restaurant though. I would definitely like to eat there again at some point. They acknowledged their mistake with the poor service and they made amends.

NEXT UP

About a month after I went to The Northside Cafe, Scottie D. emerged from his hiatus and we supped at Roosters in Boone. That review will be published in about 2 weeks, give or take.

Maquoketa Caves State Park: Chapter 1

An announcement!

Today is the beginning of the Boone County Fair. On Saturday, Baby Got Rack will be competing in the Barbecue Competition. You should come out an support us. I think we will be there pretty much all day. I think judging is at 4 PM.

See you there!

You can also check out the photos I entered in the Boone County Fair Photography Contest.

+++++++

Jay, Willy, and I hopped in the car and went on a road trip to Maquoketa Caves State Park. At this point, I’ve published every ancillary photo from the trip, but not the pictures from the actual Caves State Park.

I begin that process now.

It was a brutally hot and humid day. Spending time in caves was very refreshing. However, the day had the worst photographic conditions you can imagine. The lighting was brutal.

I soldiered on though.

Here is the first batch of pictures from Maquoketa Caves State Park:


Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip
Photo Cred: Jay Janson

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip
Photo Cred: Jay Janson

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

Maquoketa Caves Road Trip

More pictures from this epic adventure coming your way soon!

Without Troubling a Star

All things by immortal power. Near of faR, to each other linked are, that thou canst not stir a flower without troubling a star.
-Francis Thompson

This post signifies the final batch of photos from Donna’s flower garden. However, before we get into that, I need to make an announcement.


Results for 2018 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon

I got two pictures into the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon this year!

A few things I want to clarify:

#1. The Iowa State Fair Photo Contest and the Boone County Fair Photo Contest are not connected. They are completely independent and couldn’t be more unrelated. The Iowa State Fair Photography Salon is one of the hardest photo contests in the country. People from all over enter it. They only display 20% of the pictures that are displayed. Full-time professional photographers often don’t get photos in. Past judges don’t get photos in. The judges change every year, so it is impossible to guess what the judges are looking for every year. I pick the photos I enter into that contest. It is the contest I take seriously, even though I know it can be very arbitrary.

#2. Therefore, the photos I entered were not the same photos that I had people voting on last week. Those photos are for the Boone County Fair. The Boone County Fair doesn’t start for another week. I will enter the photos that people voted on July 21.

#3. I have a rule that I don’t enter a picture in more than one photo contest. Therefore, none of the pictures I entered in the Iowa State Fair were in the list of 50 pictures that people could vote on for the Boone County Fair.

#4. I don’t know what pictures were selected. You are allowed to enter up to 4 pictures. I entered 4, but I Don’t know what 2 were accepted for display. 2 of the 4 entered I haven’t released yet for public consumption. No real reason for that, other than I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

#5. I’ll get to find out what two got accepted for display when I go to the Photographer Reception. I think that is the Sunday before the Iowa State Fair, but I haven’t really looked into that yet.

#6. Finally, if you go to the Iowa State Fair and want to see the pictures in person, the Photography Salon is on the top floor of the Cultural Building. You can ask the attendants where pictures by certain photographers are and they will show you, if you don’t want the challenge of trying to find them on your own.

#7. In about a month I’ll unveil the process of picking the photos for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. It will be similar-ish to the way we did the Boone County Fair Photo Contest, but with some slight tweaks.

I’m pretty stoked. Glad I came out of Photography Contest Retirement!

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Here are the rest of the flower pictures:


Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Don’t worry Russell, there is plenty more flower pictures in the backlog!

Freedom and Flowers

With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?
-Oscar Wilde

Before we get into the meat of today’s blog, we need to start with…


Iowa State 14 TCU 7
Happy 4th of July!

I hope you had an continue to have an enjoyable 4th of July!

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Time to hit up the back log and publish more pictures from Donna Jones’s flower bed!


Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

There are more of Donna Jones’ flowers in the hopper. For those of you that are fans of “flower porn” as Micky likes to call it.

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The votes have been tabulated and these are the photos that I will be entering in the Boone County Fair:


No. 8
#1

No. 45
#2

No. 43
#3

No. 12
#3

No. 21
#5

Technically there was a frog picture that got more votes than the picture of Shorty, but I’m not going a photo contest without entering a black & white image.

Thanks to the people that voted: Sarah Karber, Michelle, Micky, Vest, Mom, Teresa, Shannon, Kio, Aunt Linda, Jordan, Andy, and all of the fellow SmugMuggers that voted.

If you want to see the photos in the flesh (so to speak) they will be on display at the Community Building at the Boone County Fairgrounds. on July 21 and 22.

Baby Got Rack will also probably be competing on July 21. So mark your calendar!

We will do something similar when it comes to the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

The 9 Emotions Project – Bethany

Reminder, tonight at midnight is the deadline to vote on what pictures I enter at the Boone County Fair Photo Contest. Click on the link below to vote:

If the website isn’t working for you, email/text me your votes.

BOONE COUNTY FAIR PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY SELECTION

You must have a Facebook account or a Google+ account to vote. You vote by leaving a comment on a photo. You can vote for up to 5 photos.

If the website isn’t working for you, email/text me your votes.

Here are the currently leaders:


No. 43

No. 8

No. 9

No. 12

No. 45

There are several pictures that are tied for the last 2 spots.

+++++++

Bethany was the most recent victim… subject of THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT. She is the 23rd person to participate in the project. I always have my eye on the next person to participate in the project. I can think of at least 3 people that have claimed that they were interested, but have yet to full under the aperture blades.

If you want to be #24, just contact me and we will get you on the calendar.

Bethany’s sitting was unique in the fact that I was experimenting with a new lighting set up for her session. She was a good sport.


9  Emotions Project - Bethany
Bethany – The 9 Emotions

In case you have forgotten, these are The 9 Emotions:


Bethany - Joy
Joy

Bethany - Sadness
Sadness

Anger - Bethany
Anger

Bethany - Amusement
Amusement

Bethany - Fear
Fear

Bethany - Jealousy
Jealousy

Bethany - Surprise
Surprise

Bethany - Sympathy
Sympathy

Bethany - Boredom
Boredom

Hopefully I’ll publishing #24 very soon.

If you want to see past THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT subjects, click on the link below:

THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT

Maybe you’ll be inspired!

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 146 – BLACK

If you are having difficulty leaving a comment, just email/text me the numbers.

Reminder, you have until Tomorrow at midnight to vote on what pictures I enter at the Boone County Fair Photo Contest. Click on the link below to vote:

BOONE COUNTY FAIR PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY SELECTION

You must have a Facebook account or a Google+ account to vote. You vote by leaving a comment on a photo. You can vote for up to 5 photos.

If you are having difficulty leaving a comment, just email/text me the numbers.

As of this writing, there have been about 25 votes. Here are the currently leaders:


No. 43

No. 45

No. 8

No. 11

No. 12

If future votes don’t change things, these will be the 5 photos that I enter in the Boone County Fair Photo Contest.

+++++++

It would seem that BLACK inspired a few people to crack out their cameras this weekend.

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


WEEK 146 - BLACK - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 146 - BLACK - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 146 - BLACK - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 146 - BLACK - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 146 - BLACK - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 146 - BLACK - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 146 - BLACK - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole-Foley

WEEK 146 - BLACK - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 146 - BLACK - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 146 - BLACK - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 146 - BLACK - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 146 - BLACK - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

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:


WEEK 147 - HANDS
HANDS!

HANDS! What a great theme! But what is a HANDS picture? A picture that features HANDS! That is it! But remember that there is more than one definition of the word HANDS.

I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

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 handsy Monday.

Congratulations Saydie – Epsilon

Reminder, you have until next Tuesday at midnight to vote on what pictures I enter at the Boone County Fair Photo Contest. Click on the link below to vote:

BOONE COUNTY FAIR PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY SELECTION

You must have a Facebook account or a Google+ account to vote. You vote by leaving a comment on a photo. You can vote for up to 5 photos.

As of this writing, there have been about 20 votes. Here are the currently leaders:


No. 43

No. 45

No. 8

There are several pictures that are tied for the last 2 spots.

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Time once again to check in with everybody’s favorite 2018 high school graduate, Saydie!

Here is a quote from Maya Angelou I came across that is good advice for young people getting around to taking on the world:

I encourage you to live with life. Be courageous, adventurous. Give us a tomorrow, more than we deserve.

Despite all the current evidence to the contrary, I still believe in tomorrow and I hope it is a better tomorrow than we currently deserve.

More images from Saydie’s senior picture photo shoot:


Saydie Howard

Saydie Howard

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Saydie Howard

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Saydie Howard

Saydie Howard

Saydie Howard

Saydie Howard

Saydie Howard

We are over halfway through the Saydie pictures now. I’m already sad to see them go.