Animals, Becky, Blogging, Event, History, Jaycees, Music, Nature, Shannon

05-31-08

June 30, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

The photos in the folder 05-31-08 are quite unique. They include photos of Duff flooding. There are also photos of the first Ames on the Half Shell event I ever worked. There are also a couple of bonus images of some groundhogs that used to live behind the Computer Mine.

The flood and the Ames on the Half Shell both happened on the same day. The band that played that night was Redzband. They were kind of a generic classic rock cover band. This is basically the template for bands that played Ames on the Half Shell, at least back in the day.

Here is the funny thing (and don’t tell Shannon because she will think that I’m getting soft) looking at the Ames on the Half Shell pictures actually made me kind of nostalgic. I definitely wasn’t expecting that, but I think I’ll survive.

Here are the pictures:

There are more pictures from Ames on the Half Shell out there. If you want to check them out, click on the link below:

Ames on the Half Shell – 2018

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

Redzband

More from Friday

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Nader. Lots of Nader. Also some real cheeseball Photoshop. Exactly how I like it!

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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.

As of this writing, about 20 votes have been cast.

Andy, Jaxon, Mission Trip, Vacation, Youth Group

Houston (Vidor) Mission Trip – Day 1

June 30, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

This is my telling of my experience on the Boone First United Methodist Church Youth Group’s Mission Trip to Houston (Vidor). There were 18 people on the mission trip and all of them experienced the mission trip in a completely different way than I did.

Therefore, you should pull your tired bones out of bed on Sunday, July 8 and drag yourself to the basement of the Boone First United Methodist Church (703 Arden Street) between worship services (approximately 10 AM) and listen to the other 17 people give their testimony about the mission trip. I’ll probably run my yap as well. There will also be a video. Also, there will be refreshments.

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A few things I should clarify before I get into my mission trip experience.

For the 4th straight year, we booked our mission trip with YouthWorks. I have been on 7 youth group mission trips now. YouthWorks is by far the most organized group we have ever been with. They have you organized from 6:45 AM to 11 PM.

We decided to take our Mission Trip to Houston because of Hurricane Harvey. Plus it was farther away than our past mission trips, which appealed to the kids on the trip. A couple of them badly want to go on a mission trip to a foreign country. Texas is kind of like another country. So close enough.

This is the first year that YouthWorks offered mission trips to Houston, so it was a learning experience for them as well. When they got back to us about some of the details of the mission trip, they originally stated that we actually would be going to Beaumont, which is about an hour east of Houston. Then a few weeks before we left; Beaumont became Vidor. To this date, nobody I know knows how to pronounce Vidor.

Vidor is just east of Beaumont. If you do any research on Vidor, you will find out it is considered one of the most racist towns in America. It was a Sundown Town. Meaning at one time, white people were the only people that were legally allowed to be outside after the sun went down.

Vidor is allegedly not as racist as it once was, but I only saw one black person my entire time there. He didn’t live in Vidor.

Now that you have some context, let’s discuss Day 1 of the Mission Trip.

We gathered at the church about 7 AM. We took the obligatory group photo:

First without Autumn

Then with Autumn. (Can you find her?)

We prayed and then hit the road. 2 big white vans and the Sharps in their own vehicle taking a separate route.

Houston is about 15 hours in the car, without stops, so we planned on stopping for the night in Saginaw, Texas at a Methodist Church to stay the night. It was going to be a long day in the car.

Some highlights:

We stopped somewhere in Kansas at a McDonald’s for lunch. The first time I’ve eaten McDonald’s since January 15, 2006.

Selfie with my van. Tiffany was driving. Maci, Mackenzie, Kolbe, Megan, Anna, and Jordan in Yogi Bear’s van.

Shortly across the Oklahoma border we stopped for gas.

It was a gas station/casino. It had the grossest bathroom I’ve been in since a Road Ranger in Illinois that still haunts my dreams.

We tried to stop in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma for supper, but the whole town lost power, so we went to the next town.

We stopped at this super sketch A&W in a gas station. It only had 2 employees.

They weren’t real happy to see 15 customers come in at once. But they managed to serve us.

But behind the sketchy gas station: Goats!

Kolbe & Jordan enjoying the goats.

I think Kolbe might have his own goats at home.

Megan, Jordan, and Kolbe

Goats!

Jordan’s Selfie Game is Strong

Very strong!

Goats!

One of the goals of the trip was to make it to Texas by sunset so we could take pictures with this. It threw me off how short the days in Texas are.

Mission Trip Kids

Plus Adults

MacKenzie, Anna, Jordan, Kolbe, and Anna

Summer and Jentry

Jordan

Megan and Kolbe (who are significant others, but for some reason wanted to tell the YouthWorks kids that they were twins).

Emily and Hailey

Mackenzie and Megan

More Megan and Mackenzie

Megan, Mackenzie, and Kolbe

Tiffany

Maci and Mackenzie

Maci, Mackenzie, and Tiffany

Emily, Jentry, and Hailey

Jaxon and Jentry

Jaxon, Jentry, and Alan

Summer, Jaxon, and Jentry

We got to the church in Saginaw about 9:30 PM. Staying there was quite an experience.

We met Dale there. He showed up wearing all Oklahoma gear, which I thought was awesome considering we were in Texas. Turned out that he played for Oklahoma. He played for Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl against Joe Namath’s Alabama team.

I was impressed with the church’s commitment to technology. They had audio visual inputs all over the place. They had a computer kiosk where you could make your offering. The checked people into their Sunday School with scan cards.

The Baptist Church we were staying at in Vidor had cots, so we made a calculation that we didn’t need to bring air mattresses for one night in Saginaw. This was a slight miscalculation. This church had the hardest concrete floor covered with the thinnest carpet in the world. It was a hard sleep, but the people at the church more than made up for the experience.

We went to bed and called it a successful Day 1.

Not pictured: Kolbe’s infatuation with the song CONVOY, which he mistakenly thought was from the movie SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT. Kids.

Andy, Candid Portrait, Contests, Michelle, Mission Trip, Pastor Sarah, Photoshop, Vacation, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder, Youth Group

Some of this Brain is Off Limits; I’m Off in a World that You Don’t Get; ‘Cause You Ain’t Ever Been In It!

June 29, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

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.

As of this writing, only 7 pictures have received votes. Thank you Sarah Karber and Michelle Haupt!

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A reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is BLACK:

A BLACK photo is a photo of anything that is BLACK. Remember that there is multiple definitions for the word BLACK.

Happy photo harvesting!

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The world wasn’t ready for these FACELESS PORTRAIT pictures on Monday. I’m not sure that the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

All of these pictures were taken with my trusty Pixel 2 on my recent mission trip to Houston (actually Vidor). There will be much more on the mission trip starting tomorrow. So buckle up!

You’re welcome world!

Black & White, Contests, Flowers, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Pastor Sarah

Nature’s Amen

June 28, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

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.

As of this writing, about 12 votes have been cast. Thank you Sarah Karber and Michelle Haupt and Micky Augustin for being the first.

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The Amen of nature is always a flower.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Here is another collection of flowers from Donna Jones’ flower garden:

Don’t worry, there are plenty more flower pictures in the back log!

Animals, Candid Portrait, Contests, Mission Trip, Self-Portrait, Vacation, WPC - Alternate, Youth Group

My Life Is A Mess, Better Watch Your Step When You Step In It!

June 27, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The world wasn’t ready for these SELF-PORTRAIT pictures last Monday, mostly because I was in Vidor, Texas. The world also wasn’t ready for them this Monday.

I’m not sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

You’re welcome world!

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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.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Flowers, Iowa State, Macro, Mom, Naima, Nature, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, Shorty, Travel, Willy

Boone County Fair Photo Contest Entry Selection Process

June 26, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

It is time to select my photos for the Boone County Fair Photo Contest and you get to help select the pictures that go.

I have placed 50 images in a SmugMug Photo Gallery. I would like you to go to that Photo Gallery and vote for up to 5 images in the gallery. You can also rate the images on a 5 star scale.

I will enter the 5 pictures with the most votes. The tie-breaker will be image with the highest star rating.

You will vote for an image by leaving a comment on the image you want to vote for.

Once you are at the gallery, look for something that looks like this:

The one caveat is that you need to have either a Facebook or a Google+ account to leave a comment.

Click on the link below to go to the gallery to vote:

BOONE COUNTY FAIR PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY SELECTION

The deadline to vote is next Tuesday at midnight.

Here are the nominees:

Thanks for helping pick the Boone County Fair Photo Contest Entries!

Andy, Angie, Candid Portrait, Cathie, Kim, Linda, Mission Trip, Photoshop, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, Tamara, WPC - Submissions, Youth Group

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 144 & WEEK 145

June 25, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

It was a great and trans-formative trip, but it is good to be back in the Cyclone State!

Here are the submission for SELF-PORTRAIT:

ANGIE DEWAARD

CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

CATHIE RALEY

TAMARA PETERSON

LINDA BENNETT

Here are the submissions for FACELESS PORTRAIT:

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Christopher D. Bennett

Andy Sharp

Tamara Peterson

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:

BLACK!

BLACK! What a great theme! What is a BLACK picture? A BLACK picture is a picture of anything that is BLACK. Of course, there is more than one definition of BLACK. I look forward to 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 black Monday.

Black & White, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Photoshop, Saydie

Congratulations Saydie – Delta

June 24, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

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

I came across this quote from Alice Walker for graduates:

Be compassionate to everyone. Don’t just search for whatever it is that annoys and frightens you, see beyond those things to the basic human being. Especially see the child in the man or woman. Even if they are destroying you, allow a moment to see how lost in their own delusion and suffering they are.
-Alice Walker

Alice Walker is famous for writing THE COLOR PURPLE. A line from that book is one of the mandates of this website:

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.

Here is another set of pictures from Saydie’s Senior Pictures photo shoot:

The tall drink of water posing with Saydie in half the pictures is Kyle. He currently attends UNI. Saydie will also be attending UNI, but I’m told, “not because Kyle goes there”.

We’re about to the halfway point on Saydie pictures now. About.

Alexis, Animals, Art, Black & White, Nature

05-19-08

June 23, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder were from the folder 05-19-08. They were taken on my birthday, as the artwork by Alexis might reveal.

I don’t recall everything I did on my birthday that day, but I know for sure I went to Jester Park.

Jester Park is one of my favorite parks that I don’t visit nearly enough. Not anywhere nearly enough.

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to return the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” post to its original glory:

Mt. St. Helens Anniversary

The next time we stroll down memory lane, it will involve a flood and a rock concert.

Candid Portrait, Event, Evie, Gretchen, Layla, Maven, Photo Journal, Photoshop, Sara, Shawn Lockner, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 95

June 22, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

“Up next, we have a little dedication here. This journal entry is dedicated to all the player hating people that won’t let a little gangsta shine.”
-Uncle Chris

Niece Alert!

4 non-biological nieces in this post!

Page 95 for the PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT was one of the pages that I was most worried about being able to complete. It involves going to a party. When your the True Lone Wolf, you don’t get involved to many parties. The ones I do get invited to involved 1 to 3 year olds. At that point, I usually stop getting invited. Probably because I give books as gifts.

However, I was recently invited to Maven’s birthday party and I grabbed Sara’s camera, actually ripped it right out of her brother Steve’s hands and took a few pictures of some hardcore pinata action.

This is the picture that will be physically adhered into the Photo Journal:

Use flash to capture the energy of a party.

Here are a few others that I considered, but much like the Highlander, there can be only one!

I think I ultimately picked the picture of Layla because of Evie’s reaction behind her.

Thanks to Shawn for uploading these pictures to me. You are a scholar and tech savvy. Also, possibly a gentleman.

I need to get back to hitting THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT hard. I’ve only completed slightly over 30 of these pages. I already bought a similar book to do when I finish.

If you ever want to see the physical Photo Journal, it is housed at The Photography 139 Studio under lock and key. Guarded by a vicious guard dog. It can be seen by appointment only. So make an appointment.

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

FACELESS PORTRAIT

A FACELESS PORTRAIT is any portrait that doesn’t include the face. It could show any body part, just not the face. It doesn’t necessarily even have to include your subject. It could just include an environment that is uniquely the subjects.

Happy photo harvesting!