Category Archives: Art

ISFRXOII

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

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


Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

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

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


WEEK 234 - JUNK
JUNK

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

Happy photo harvesting!

Fly Iowa

Back in August, Fly Iowa came to Boone. It was the first time Fly Iowa had been in Boone since the 1990s, I believe.

I had never been to an airshow before, so I didn’t really know what to expect, other than wall to wall blasting of Kenny Loggins classic “Danger Zone” on a constant loop.

And that was my biggest disappointment, not only wasn’t “Danger Zone” played on a constant loop. They didn’t play it one time! Complete garbage.

Despite that fact, I did find it entertaining and a good use of an afternoon. In fact, I took over 1,0000 pictures. That would be over 40 rolls of film in the old days. So I hope you like airplane photos, because there are going to be at least 10 of these posts scattered across the next several weeks!


Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019
I have so many questions…

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019
Fun fact: Red Baron is the worst frozen pizza. Next to Tombstone.

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Fly Iowa - 2019

Thankfully, I have “Danger Zone” on my flash drive that plays music in my car and Jesse and I listened to it on a loop on the way to Fly Iowa and on the way home.

The New Hotness

I recently purchased a new camera. I don’t want to go into the details about what I am calling an “adult decision” at this time because when I open up on the details I’ve why I bought what I bought and the intricacies of the new camera and what it means for the future of my photography, it it going to take a bit of time. Most of you won’t want to read it. Heck, all of you might not want to read it. Some of you have already been bored with hearing about it already.

I received the new hotness on Wednesday and I just want to share some of the pictures I took on its first flight. Some are pictures I took of Naima in the backyard. Others are pictures I took at Youth Group.


The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

The New Hotness

If you are wondering what the Youth Group was doing, I had them make Valentine’s based on their understanding of God’s love. If you ever want to see these cards in person, they are on display in the Youth Group Room window that faces 7th Street.

I’m wondering how many of you are going to show up on Wednesday to support these amazing kids!

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This is your reminder that the theme for this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is OLD:


WEEK 232 - OLD
OLD

An OLD picture is of something or somebody that you consider OLD. Be careful telling somebody your taking their picture because they are OLD. Some people don’t take kindly to some young whippersnapper calling them old. Unless you are taking a picture of me. I fully acknowledge that I’m old AF*.

Happy photo harvesting!

*AF means autofocus, right?

Birthday Road Trip – Misc.

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

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



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

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


2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

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

Birthday Road Trip – Malanaphy Springs

After we left The Little Brown Church and the possible time travelers but probably LARPers, our next stop was the Malanaphy Springs Waterfall. It is the lesser known waterfall in/near Decorah. It isn’t as pretty as Dunning’s Springs. It definitely isn’t as accessible. It is a good 20-30 minute hike on a trail that isn’t well curated.

With that being said, it is definitely worth the extra work. It is a place out in the woods that is beautiful and private. A person can collect their thoughts there.

Here are some pictures:


Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

.Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

I would like to return to this waterfall at some point this year. Looking ahead, I’ll probably take my birthday road trip on May 15 this year. But I have no clue where I will end up. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it is back in northeast Iowa again.

More pictures from this trip still to come.

Birthday Road Trip – Little Brown Church

For starters, happy birthday Anders! We celebrated Anders’ birthday last night at January birthday night with yellow cake, a DOLEMITE double feature, and a root beer tasting.

After all, DOLEMITE is my name and (expletive deleted) up mother (expletive deleted) is my game!

Here are some pictures of a man I consider to be at least the equal of Dolemite!


PHOTO JOURNAL - PAGE 121 ALTERNATE

9 Emotions Project - Anders Runestad


One of my secret (I guess) goals of 2020 is to be more proactive about putting information for Movie Night up on the website. Because if you are reading these words, you are invited to Movie Night.

But be warned, you may never be the same after you attend Movie Night. Exposure to great art tends to change a person. In fact, I think Movie Night broke Willy.

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Enough about Anders’ birthday. Let’s talk about my birthday. Last year Jesse and I took a road trip around my birthday. One of the stops we made was at The Little Brown Church. There were a bunch of LARPers there. Maybe they were time travelers. Either way, they were dressed up like it was the Civil War.

Here are some pictures from that stop:


Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Jesse had never heard of The Little Brown Church, but it is the church from that song. You know the song. The song about the little brown church.

There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood
No lovelier spot in the dale
No place is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale

Our church hosted a filmmaker who made a documentary about it once. It was interesting, but it didn’t feature one time traveler.

The Ultimate Triumph

I took a few pictures on Easter of last year that seems like a good time to share.

I think the pictures of the Easter Egg Hunt were taken by Jaxon. In fact I’m positive they were taken by Jaxon.


Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter - 2019

Easter Sky - 2019

Easter Sky - 2019

Easter 2019

Easter 2019

Easter 2019

Easter 2019

Easter 2019

Easter 2019

We are a little more than a month away from Lent now and I’ve been thinking on what I’m going to do for Lent. I would say that traditionally Methodists don’t really give up something for Lent. Instead they add something for Lent.

I’ve been playing with the idea of going pescatarian for Lent.

Why pescatarian?

#1. Eating less meat is the best thing you can do to help the planet:

Industrialized agriculture and the onset of the worst species extinction crisis since the demise of the dinosaurs means that livestock and humans now make up 96% of all mammals. But despite consuming the vast majority of farmland, meat and dairy accounts for just 18% of all food calories and around a third of protein.

The mighty hoofprint of farmed meat isn’t just inefficient. Deforestation to make way for livestock, along with methane emissions from cows and fertilizer use, creates as much greenhouse gas emissions as all the world’s cars, trucks and airplanes. Meat rearing practices risk mass extinctions of other animals, as well as spawn significant pollution of streams, rivers and, ultimately, the ocean.

#2. Goals should be realistic and attainable. While going pescatarian will vastly reduce the amount of meat I eat, it is a realistic goal, because I know there is no way I could pull off going full vegetarian and let’s not talk about going vegan.

#3. A pescatarian diet is healthier. It is healthy for the heart, reduces the risks of some cancer, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

#4. The prophet Kurt Cobain taught us that “it’s okay to eat fish, ’cause they don’t have any feelings.”

This means that I need to get that road trip to Corning with Shannon to tenderloin it up on the books before February 26.

Argerich

Back in May I went to see Evie perform during her piano recital. The recital was in Chocolaterie Stam in downtown Ames. I arrived early, so I wandered around downtown Ames and took a few photos that I’d like to share now:


Street Photography - Ames, Iowa

Street Photography - Ames, Iowa

Street Photography - Ames, Iowa

Street Photography - Ames, Iowa

Street Photography - Ames, Iowa

Street Photography - Ames, Iowa

Street Photography - Ames, Iowa

Street Photography - Ames, Iowa

I still really haven’t set 2020 photography goals for myself, besides make the blog more current. But one of them might be to do more street photography.

Part Ballroom, Part Baller

Last April I went up to Minneapolis to checkout all the hoopla that surrounds the Final Four. Dae Hee and I went downtown and checked everything out. I snapped a few pictures. Here are some of my favorites:


Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

Final Four

It appears to be a down season for the Cyclones this year. I can only imagine what this team would look like if THT would’ve come back instead of going to the NBA. That being said, there is still time for the current team to get it figured out, starting tonight against Kansas. Go Cyclones!

2009-07-24 & 2009-07-27

I decided to throw two folders into today’s walk down memory lane because one folder really only had two pictures of Brandon in it.

The other folder had a ton of pictures from a trip to Ledges and a trip to Des Moines with Sara. There has been a lot of pictures of Sara in these recent trips down memory lane. I think I’ve seen Sara exactly one time in 2019. I think I saw her twice in 2018. If things break just right, I might see her again in 2020.


Future Road Trip Master

Sore Feet

Sore Feet

Lousy with People

Lousy with People

Lousy with People

Lousy with People

Lousy with People

Lousy with People

Lousy with People

Lousy with People

Lousy with People

Sore Feet

Sore Feet

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

Future Road Trip Master

Lousy with People

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Jay and more sparklers.