Category Archives: Iowa State

Animals, Art, Event, Evie, Iowa State, Jen, Layla, Still Life, Street Photography

Renaissance Faire – Joust

November 11, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

A post on 11/11 that published at 11:11 AM (Central Time)? What does it mean? Absolutely nothing. Numerology is as much nonsense astrology and almost as much nonsense as trickle down economics. But nothing is as much nonsense as trickle down economics.

But happy Veterans Day. I don’t have a power rankings to coincide with Veterans Day. Maybe next year. I might be more about celebrating holidays in 2023. We will have to see what is in the stars.

This is the final collection of images from the Renaissance Faire I attended with Jen, Evie, Layla, and the twins. These are pictures of the joust, which was definitely the highlight of the day. The joust was definitely heavily scripted. Maybe not the joust part, but everything that surrounded it.

It was very professional wrestling. There was a bad knight. He wore Iowa Hawkeye colors, duh! There was a good knight. He wore Iowa State colors. Obviously.

After the jousting was done, the bad guys attacked the good guys and a fight broke out. Eventually the good knight prevailed and cut the throat of the bad knight. Fake blood sprayed everywhere. It is my deep regret that this took me completely by surprise and I did not get a picture of it.

However, if Evie dances at the Renaissance Faire again in 2023, I will definitely be ready for this fake blood explosion and will get a picture of it!

Here are the pictures of the joust (not on ostriches surprisingly):

People watching at a Renaissance Faire. It is fantastic!

Now that I have been to one, I know where better to sit and I know to get to the joust ring, plenty early. The next festival type pictures I will share will come from my trips to the Iowa State Fair. Probably. Maybe the Boone County Fair, but I don’t think I took many pictures at the Boone County Fair. It is a mystery. Like numerology.

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

STRONG

STRONG! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a STRONG picture? It is simply a picture of something that is STRONG. This one might be a bit more of an abstract theme than many. But remember there are all types of strength. Something or somebody can be physically STRONG. Things can smell STRONG. Food can have a STRONG taste. Many people are STRONG in their faith. There are plenty of ways to be STRONG. And there are many STRONG things out there.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Angie, Art, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Evie, Football, History, Iowa State, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Still Life, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 373 – DECORATION

November 7, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

REMINDER: This is the last week you can suggest themes for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. The one and only way to do that is to leave your suggestions in the COMMENTS section of this post. Do not email them to me or text them to me. The suggestions have to be left in the COMMENTS section of this post! So far only Andy has made any suggestions, but he also tried to question the definitive Candy Bar Power Rankings, so we’ll see what happen to his suggestions.

So was DECORATION a popular theme? Did Kio Dettman adhere to the Kio Dettman Rule? Did everybody adhere to the Kio Dettman Rule? Did Tamara Peterson make a comeback after having her 40 week streak snapped? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, October 31, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Mary Green – 2 weeks (3)
2-Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks
3-Sabas Hernandez – 3 weeks
4-Jesse Howard – 4 weeks
5-Sara Lockner – 6 weeks
6-Suzie Brannen – 10 weeks
7-Brandon Kahler – 11 weeks
8-Linda Bennett – 14 weeks (2)
9-Sarah Toot – 15 weeks (3)
10-Monica Jennings – 16 weeks (2)
11-Angie DeWaard – 19 weeks
12-Dawn Krause – 23 weeks (2)
13-Kim Barker – 29 weeks
14-Joe Duff – 31 weeks
15-Logan Kahler – 32 weeks (2)
16-Teresa Kahler – 41 weeks (2)
17-Carla Stensland – 41 weeks (3)
18-Michelle Haupt – 42 weeks
19-Micky Augustin – 43 weeks
20-Andy Sharp – 44 weeks
21-Bill Wentworth – 45 weeks
22-Cathie Morton – 49 weeks (2)
23-Elizabeth Nordeen – 50 weeks
24-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 52 weeks
25-Kio Dettman – 54 weeks (4)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Evie Gorshe

Will McAlpine – 1 week

Tamara Peterson – 1 week

Mike Vest – 1 week

Mary Green – 3 weeks

Mary Green

Becky Parmelee – 3 weeks

Sabas Hernandez – 4 weeks

Jesse Howard – 5 weeks

Sara Lockner – 7 weeks

Suzie Brannen – 11 weeks

Brandon Kahler – 12 weeks

Linda Bennett – 15 weeks

Linda Bennett

Sarah Toot – 16 weeks

Sarah Toot

Monica Jennings – 17 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 20 weeks

Angie DeWaard

Dawn Krause – 24 weeks

Dawn Krause

Kim Barker – 30 weeks

Joe Duff – 32 weeks

Logan Kahler – 33 weeks

Logan Kahler

Teresa Kahler – 42 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Carla Stensland – 42 weeks

Carla Stensland

Michelle Haupt – 43 weeks

Micky Augustin – 44 weeks

Andy Sharp – 45 weeks

Andy Sharp

Bill Wentworth – 46 weeks

Cathie Morton – 50 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 51 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 53 weeks

Kio Dettman – 55 weeks

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett – 477 weeks

30 participants! That is a great week! So close to getting that 30 participant average!

Had submissions from (assumptions here): Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa.

I took my picture about 15 miles from my front door.

There weren’t any milestones reached this week, but there also weren’t any streaks snapped. So it is all good.

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:

STRONG

STRONG! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

For example, the theme reveal image is a picture of the Zodiac in the north entry way of the Memorial Union at Iowa State University. This picture is of something STRONG in a few ways. It is a picture of a bull. Bulls are STRONG. The bull is the zodiac symbol for Taurus. If you know a Taurus, they are very STRONG headed*. This zodiac symbol at Iowa State is of STRONG construction. It also represents a STRONG superstition held by the Iowa State community.

You don’t know about this superstition? Read a little bit about the history of Iowa State’s zodiac:

Architect/designer William T. Proudfoot chose to incorporate the ancient symbols of the zodiac into the north entry floor — classic Greek/Roman mythology for a classic-Greek/Roman-style building. In the 20’s, the zodiac was not as well known as it is now. Proudfoot planned for intentional wearing away of the bronze forms by placing them above the surface of the floor – to be sculpted further by building users until, eventually, they would be the same level as the floor. We know that by 1929, students had decided that if you stepped on the zodiac, it was unlucky – that you’d flunk your next test. Rumor has it that the students created this “curse” because they liked the raised effect of the zodiac and they wanted to preserve the zodiac signs even though it went against what the architect originally intended. Now most students, hedging their bets, walk around. If you accidentally invoke the curse, you can throw a coin in the fountain to take it away!

Information is from Iowa State’s Memorial Union website.

If you are wondering, I’m not a superstitious person. But I am a littlestitious. I’ve been graduated from Iowa State University for 20 years. I don’t take tests these days, but I still walk around the zodiac when I’m at the Union.

While thinking about possible subjects for your STRONG photo, meditate on the following quote:

I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.
-Maya Angelou

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of STRONG in this place that is filled with my every day strength next Monday.

*This is not to be seen as any kind of endorsement of astrology, which is complete and utter nonsense.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Christianity, Elizabeth, Flat Earth Joe, Flowers, Iowa State, Logan, Naima, Nature, Photo of the Day, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Still Life

Fat Mum Slim – October 2022

November 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I’m kicking the decision on Formal Portrait Sunday down the road for at least one more week.

I wasn’t necessarily pleased with the overall body of work I put in during September for the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I tried to make October a better month for the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I believe at the aggregate level, I accomplished just that.

Here are the October images:

October 1 – White

October 2 – Black

October 3 – Green

October 4 – Red

October 5 – Orange

October 6 – Blue

October 7 – Yellow

October 8 – Purple

October 9 – Aqua

October 10 – Pink

October 11 – Grey

October 12 – Brown

October 13 – Pop of Colour

October 14 – Stripes

October 15 – Floral

October 16 – One Colour

October 17 – Two Colours

October 18 – Pattern

October 19 – Black and White

October 20 – Rainbow

October 21 – My Fave Colour

October 22 – Matching

October 23 – Natural

October 24 – Dark

October 25 – Light

October 26 – Pastel

October 27 – Bright

October 28 – Gold

October 29 – Fresh

October 30 – Mellow

October 31 – Dots

I should thank Elizabeth, Flat Earth Joe, Scottie D. and Logan for assists on at least one of these pictures for the month. My lack of doing much in October didn’t hurt this project. I will probably have a pretty lazy November as well, but I hope to do some good work this month as well.

Remember you can follow along with this project on the daily by following my Fat Mum Slim Insta:

@fmsbennett

Here are the November themes:

1. A Collection
2. A Book Cover
3. A Shop Front
4. A For Sale Sign
5. A Bridge
6. A Fence
7. I Didn’t Make This
8. Throw It
9. An Unmade Bed
10. Power Lines
11. An Arrow
12. In My Pocket
13. A Closed Sign
14. A Flock of Birds
15. Hand Shadows
16. Running Water
17. Wrinkles
18. An Empty Table
19. Rocks
20. Afternoon Light
21. Half Full
22. Graffiti
23. An Ugly Food
24. A Tall Building
25. A Spider Web
26. A Funny Shape
27. A Splash
28. Something Hidden
29. A List
30. A Family Member

I think there are some interesting themes in there.

Carla, Dahlia, Derrick, Elainie, Iowa State, Johnathan, Nader, Naima, Sabas, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Teresa

Selfie Project – October 2022

November 2, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Looking at my SELFIE PROJECT pictures from the month of October, I’m not sure I had a very active October. Seems like I barely left my house. I’ll try to be more active in November.

Here are some of my favorite selfies from THE SELFIE PROJECT in October:

October 1

October 2

October 4

October 5

October 6

October 7

October 8

October 10

October 11

October 12

October 14

October 15

October 16

October 17

October 19

October 20

October 21

October 22

October 23

October 25

October 27

October 29

October 30

I didn’t take any extra selfies this much. I might do better in November. There are no promises.

Animals, Automobiles, Iowa State, Logan, Music, Politics, Pufferbilly Days, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

Pufferbilly Days Parade – 2022

October 7, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

This year was the first year I made it to the Pufferbilly Days Parade where I wasn’t in it, since I don’t know when. At least a decade. I decided I better photograph it.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the parade:

There is generally nothing I find more boring than a parade, except for maybe fireworks. But I got enough enjoyment from going. At least from seeing the people I knew that were in it.

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

VIOLET

VIOLET! What a great theme for year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a VIOLET photo. It is simply any picture where the color VIOLET (or purple if you will) plays an important part of the composition. It can be a picture of something that is VIOLET. Or it can be surrounded by VIOLET. Heck, you can crack out a VIOLET filter and make everything VIOLET.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Automobiles, Black & White, Brandon, Flowers, Football, Iowa State, Naima, Nature, Photo of the Day, Politics, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, Self-Portrait, Still Life

Fat Mum Slim – September 2022

October 5, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Another month done in the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I have to confess that I spent some time on the struggle bus this month. I don’t know if I lost some steam or if I just want feeling some of the themes. Being sick for a few days in September didn’t help either. With that being said, I think there is still some good work in there.

Here are the September images:

September 1 – Something I Saw

September 2 – Plastic

September 3 – Paper

September 4 – Somewhere I Went

September 5 – Hobby

September 6 – Green + Blue

September 7 – Before Bed

September 8 – An Emotion

September 9 – Opposites

September 10 – I Can Hear…

September 11 – Paint

September 12 – Symmetry

September 13 – Tasty

September 14 – Odd One Out

September 15 – A Food Shop

September 16 – 12:34

September 17 – Lucky

September 18 – Car Park

September 19 – What’s on TV

September 20 – Texture

September 21 – Nature

September 22 – Tree Trunk

September 23 – Crunchy

September 24 – I Can Smell…

September 25 – Laneway

September 26 – The Moon

September 27 – Open Door

September 28 – My Culture

September 29 – Not My Style

September 30 – Sentimental

As you can tell, the woman who runs this challenge is Australian and there were some terms in there I had to look up, cause I had no clue what a laneway is.

Remember, you can follow on for my daily posts on the dedicated Instagram Account.

@fmsbennett

These are the themes for October:

1. White
2. Black
3. Green
4. Red
5. Orange
6. Blue
7. Yellow
8. Purple
9. Aqua
10. Pink
11. Grey
12. Brown
13. Pop of Colour
14. Stripes
15. Floral
16. One Colour
17. Two Colours
18. Pattern
19. Black and White
20. Rainbow
21. My Fave Colour
22. Matching
23. Natural
24. Dark
25. Light
26. Pastel
27. Bright
28. Gold
29. Fresh
30. Mellow
31. Dots

Some good ones in there. Should be a good month!

Art, Bill, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Derrick, Evie, Flat Earth Joe, Football, Iowa State, Jay, Jesse, Jorge, K.J., Kio, Nader, Naima, Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Teresa

Selfie Project – September 2022

October 1, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I knew September was not going to be as busy as August, but looking at these pictures it is hard not to wonder if I ever left my house. Being sick for about 4 or 5 days didn’t help, but really… I’ll try to do better in October.

Here are some of my favorite selfies from THE SELFIE PROJECT in October:

September 1

September 2

September 3

September 4

September 5

September 7

September 8

September 9

September 10

September 11

September 13

September 14

September 15

September 17

September 18

September 19

September 23

September 24

September 25

September 28

September 29

While there can only be one picture to represent every day, thought I would share some of my favorite alternates from September.

SELFIE PROJECT - ALTERNATE - SEPTEMBER 2022

I will try to be more active again in October, but I make no promises. Maybe the slacker lifestyle agrees with me?

Bill, Brandon, Derrick, Flat Earth Joe, Iowa State, Jesse, Jorge, K.J., WPC - Reminder

Taco Tailgate – 2022

September 30, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday before the Iowa State-Baylor football game we rekindled the old tradition known as Taco Tailgate. It was in the new lot (D1), but it was still as great as ever. Here are some Taco Tailgate pictures:

We don’t have the most elaborate setup, but we get to tailgate so rarely. However, we might tailgate again later this year and there will be more things added to the setup. More and more.

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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO PROJECT theme is RUINS:

RUINS

RUINS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a RUINS photo? It is simply a picture of something that has been abandoned, forgotten. Something that is rusting. Dilapidated. No longer being properly maintained. Or improperly maintained. This is one of my Top 5 favorite themes! It can be an old building. An old car. Just for examples. But there are a lot of things out there that have been abandoned. Forgotten. That are wasting away. Waiting for you to immortalize them through the art of photography.

Happy photo harvesting!

Football, Iowa State, Music, Street Photography, WPC - Reminder

Iowa State 42 SEMO 10

September 9, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday was the first Iowa State football game of the season. Signifying the beginning of fall and the end of summer. Iowa State bested their FCS opponent 42-10. But I didn’t actually take any pictures of the game. I’m a littlestitious when it comes to taking a camera into the game, so this year I don’t know that I will at all. Perhaps for the Oklahoma game since, they will never sully the confines of Jack Trice Stadium again.

Instead, this year, I’m going to try to take more pre-game pictures. Our parking spot moved again this year. We are now in lot D-1. Last year we were in G-7. That lot is now the RV lot and it is completely unique. No other college football stadium has a lot like it in the entire country. It is setup like campsites with electricity ran to each spot. I don’t have an RV, but you combine that with the fact that the RV lot has easy access to the new pedestrian bridge. Makes me wish I had an RV. Other than, I have no place to park it, they get horrible gas mileage, and I don’t want to drive one. But other than that, sign me up for the RV lifestyle!

The plus about the new parking situation is that we are close to most of the pre-game festivities. The Spirit Walk and The Steps Concert. I didn’t get to either one to get a prime spot to take pictures, but I still took quite a few.

Here are some of my favorites from the day:

Iowa State vs South East Missouri - 2022

Too look at the rest of the pictures from the day, click on the link below:

Iowa State Cyclones – 2022

I hope to get there a little earlier for the Ohio game in a couple weeks, but my arrival time is somewhat at the mercy of Derrick’s work schedule. So we’ll see how that goes.

Go State!

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

GREEN

GREEN! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a GREEN image? Are you seriously asking that question? It is an image of something that is GREEN or GREEN plays a major part of the composition. That is it.

Of course, there is more than one definition of the word GREEN.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andy, Angie, Bill, Brandon, Cathie, Dawn, Derrick, Elizabeth, Evie, Iowa State, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Pastor Sarah, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Steve, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 364 – COLORFUL

September 5, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Happy Labor Day! A day to pay tribute to the contributions and achievements of American works and the millionaires and billionaires that exploit them.

COLORFUL could prove to be a very popular theme. Despite it being a holiday today, I have a good feeling about the participation rates for COLORFUL. You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, August 29, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

+ Suzie Brannen – 1 week
+ Becky Parmelee – 1 week
+ Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
+ Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
+ Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
+ Brandon Kahler – 3 weeks
+ Linda Bennett – 5 weeks (2)
+ Sarah Toot – 6 weeks (2)
+ Sabas Hernandez – 8 weeks
+ Monica Jennings – 8 weeks (3)
+ Mary Green – 10 weeks (3)
+ Angie DeWaard – 11 weeks (2)
+ Dawn Krause – 15 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 21 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 22 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 24 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 32 weeks (3)
+ Tamara Peterson – 32 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 32 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 33 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 34 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 35 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 36 weeks
+ Cathie Morton – 40 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 41 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 43 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 46 weeks (5)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Derrick Gorshe – 1 week

Evie Gorshe – 1 week

Sarah Karber – 1 week

Steve Martin – 1 week

Steve Martin

Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks

Jesse Howard – 3 weeks

Willy McAlpine – 3 weeks

Brandon Kahler – 4 weeks

Linda Bennett – 6 weeks

Linda Bennett

Sarah Toot – 7 weeks

Sarah Toot

Sabas Hernandez – 9 weeks

Monica Jennings – 9 weeks

Mary Green – 11 weeks

Angie DeWaard – 12 weeks

Angie DeWaard

Dawn Krause – 16 weeks

Dawn Krause

Kim Barker – 22 weeks

Kim Barker

Joe Duff – 23 weeks

Logan Kahler – 25 weeks

Logan Kahler

Teresa Kahler – 33 weeks

Tamara Peterson – 33 weeks

Carla Stensland – 33 weeks

Carla Stensland

Michelle Haupt 34 weeks

Micky Augustin – 35 weeks

Micky Augustin

Andy Sharp – 36 weeks

Andy Sharp

Bill Wentworth – 37 weeks

Bill Wentworth

Cathie Morton – 41 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 42 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 44 weeks

Kio Dettman – 47 weeks

Kio Dettman

Christopher D. Bennett – 468 weeks

30 participants this week! That is a great week! Hopefully we can start averaging 30 participants for a bit!

This is just guess work, but I believe we got submissions from Pennsylvania, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and California this week. It is possible that people travelled away from their homes and I just don’t know it. My picture was taken about 15 miles from my front door.

Got the first every submission from Steve Martin! That is exciting! Plus Sarah Karber and Derrick and Evie both submitted for the first time in a bit!

It wasn’t all good news though. Becky couldn’t extend her streak to two weeks and Sara Lockner’s 2 week streak is history as well.

GREEN

GREEN! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a GREEN image? Are you seriously asking that question? It is an image of something that is GREEN or GREEN plays a major part of the composition. There are at least a few pictures here that would also have been great submissions for GREEN. Sarah Karber’s and Monica’s come to mind.

Of course there is more than one definition of the word GREEN. Just find a Dave Matthews fan. They will help you out. (For the record marijuana should be legalized and taxed. And so should churches. Be taxed that is.)

While considering possible subjects for your GREEN image, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt something great will come to you.

An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight… the truly wise person is colorblind.
-Albert Schweitzer

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of GREEN in this place that is many types of green to me, just not the environmentalist type of green next Monday.