Category Archives: Becca

Becca, Contests, Dawn, Derrick, Jen, Russell, Scottie D.

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest

September 11, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

These are the pictures I entered in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest and the person that selected the picture:

Derrick Gorshe

Jen Gorshe

Russell Kennerly

Dawn Krause

Scottie D.

Rebecca Peterson

Thanks to everybody who took their time and energy to select pictures for me this year!

The picture that Dawn chose got 2nd Place in Black & White. My original intent for next year’s selectors was to bring back all of the people that had chose an award winning photo in the past few years, but my fire for photo contests has kind of been extinguished. Not that I might not reconsider, but I think that this might have been my last photo contest. Or at the very least the last time I enter the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Becca, Bethany, Jill, Nate, WPC - Reminder

RWPE Y2 #34 – STRENGTH

August 29, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

If you are reading this post, then I actually made it to Minnesota for Vacation Take 2. I have already eaten at :-DSpot and Hell’s Kitchen with Jill. I have probably attended the Minnesota State Fair and eaten at Dixie’s on Grand with Nate, Bethany, and Becca.

However, since I’m not currently in the Cyclone State, I have not processed any submissions for last week’s theme. I will publish those when I return. That doesn’t mean that you can’t get a start on this week’s theme:

SYMMETRY AND PATTERNS

A look back at last year’s submissions:

SYMMETRY AND PATTERNS – 2010

Good luck!

Alexis, Baier, Becca, Blogging, Brandon, Carla, Dad, Derrick, Evie, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Jill, Mom, Sara, Shannon, Teresa, Vest, Willy

Post 1200

August 24, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

As you may recall, I like to check in on some statistics every 100 posts or so to see how things are doing in popularity. However, this statistical check-in will mark the end of an era. I am officially retiring the Snapshots Gallery and the Artistic Gallery.

The advent of the store has made them obsolete and why bother with galleries where you can’t buy anything, right Andree Jauhari, Marla Gorshe, and Jennifer Wohlgemuth of Minnesota! Right. Right?

Therefore, the only gallery that will remain is the Store. Check it out:

Gallery/Store

So here are the final rankings of the 10 most popular pictures in the Artistic Gallery. For the record, these are heavily skewed by spammers:

1. 669 Views

2. 497 Views

3. 410 Views

4. 375 Views

5. 352 Views

7. 351 Views

8. 350 Views

Here are the 10 most popular pictures from the Snapshots Gallery. Data heavily skewed by spammers.

1. 2010 Labor Day – 915 Views

2. Jesse & I Netting My Trees – 643 Views

3. Derrick & a Gunderburger – 245 Views

4. Tailgating Games – 229 Views

5. Baier & I at Chiefs Game – 169 Views

6. Shannon & I at an Inebriated Saints Show – 89 Views

7. Shannon in Backbone – 54 Views

8. Holding the White Trash Elixir – 49 Views

9. Brandon Tailgating – 45 Views

10. Gunderburger! – 43 Views

Here is the list of the ten people that have contributed (in some way shape or form) to this blog the most in the first 1199 entries. Plus how many entries they have been in since we last looked at these numbers. Plus where they were the last time we looked at these numbers.

1. Jesse – 174 – +9 – 1
2. Jay – 165 – +13 – 2
3. Shannon – 153 – +6 – 3
4. Derrick – 138 – +14 – 4
5. Jen – 124 – +16 – 6
6. Teresa – 118 – +9 – 5
7. Sara – 112 – +15 – 8
8. Willy – 110 – +8 – 7
9. Vest – 95 – +14 – 9
10. Carla – 84 – +10 – NR
10. Mom – 84 – +17 – NR

Who are the 3 greatest movers outside of the Top Ten?

1. Dad – +16
2. Jill – +14
3. Evie – +6

Thanks to this group of friends and family for their consistent efforts in aiding me in my photographic pursuits, either through assisting, modeling, inspiring, listening, or just being around a whole lot. I couldn’t do what I do with out them. And so many other people too!

Becca, Bethany, Derrick, Ernie, Jason, Jay, Jesse, Jill, Lowell, Mom, Nate, Sara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

RWPE Y2 #31 – LEADING LINES

August 8, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

The best laid plans of mice and men…

I had written this journal entry several days ahead of schedule because I was planning to be in Minnesota right now. I made all the appropriate plans, but fate took a hand and forced me to cancel my vacation.

At about 3:35 last Friday, I clocked out of work and left the building fully expecting not to see it again for 9 days or so. I spent most of Saturday morning mowing my lawn and packing and running errands and doing everything necessary to leave my humble abode for 5 or 6 days.

I pulled out of my driveway at about 3:15 and headed north to Oakdale, hoping to knock on Jill’s apartment door* at about 6:30.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Oakdale. My wheel flew off my car. That’s right. It flew the heck off.

It was a surreal experience and one that words will fail to describe adequately. I’m cruising along at about 75 MPH when suddenly the front passenger side of my car is clearly on the ground. My first thought was that I had very badly blown out the tire. I have done that before and this is kind of what it felt like. So I took a gander out the passenger side window and I saw my wheel flying through the air.

I immediately thought, “that is my tire flying through the air.. it isn’t supposed to be doing that… it is amazing I haven’t lost control of this car… I’m not going to be eating chicken wings tonight… this is garbage.”

About 10 miles north of Mason City my car came to a stop on the I-35 shoulder. There I sat for four hours roughly… pondering the questions of life.

As much as this incident has sucked (and continues to suck as my car has yet to be repaired and the towing bill from north of Mason City to Boone, well folks, it isn’t cheap!) I should be thankful for having such wonderful friends and family.

I had a pretty sweet vacation planned. Among other things, I was going to go to a chicken wing place that serves over 60 different types of wings. I was going to go to the Uptown Art Fair. I was going to watch the Minnesota Vikings practice. I was going to get to hang out with Jill, Bethany, Becca, Nate, Dae Hee, Faust, and Jackson.

Instead, I hung out with mile mark number 200.40.

But this isn’t about spilled milk, or in my case, uneaten chicken wings, this is about amazing friends and family, after all I will still be able to eat those chicken wings in about 3 weeks or so. Teresa and Ernie offered to come get me. As did Lowell, Jesse, and Sara. Faust and Jay called to make sure I was okay. Derrick even took my call while he was at a wedding reception. Becca and Bethany offered whatever assistance they could provide. After towing arrangements and picking me up arrangements were made (Thanks Mom and Jason!) and I was able to find my wheel after combing the ditch for an hour, Jill kept me company on the phone for the last 90 minutes while I sat in a ditch.

Before we get into this week’s RWPE, here are a few pictures from my time in the ditch:

You may notice from looking at the pictures, the bolts were sheered off clean. Jason has been working on cars for his entire life. He has never seen anything like this before.

Also, because of my cancelled vacation, I did get to go to the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon Reception. So now I know if I won an award besides the Superintendent’s Merit Award. Hint: I did!

Here are the submissions for LEADING LINES:

Christopher D. Bennett

Mike Vest

Next week’s theme:

NOISE

That is a new theme for this year, so there is no looking back. Only looking forward. Good luck!

*This is hyperbole. Jill lives in a secured building.

Baseball/Softball, Becca, Bethany, Jen, Jill, Jim, Nate, Road Trip

Minnesota

July 27, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in the middle of June I made a trip to Minnesota with Jim. There were several great moments on the trip, but I will just cover two of the events in this entry.

The first is a tale of when I went to see Super 8 with Jill. Since I’m slightly too lazy to re-write this small adventure, I’m just going to copy and paste from an email I sent Jen.

On Saturday, Jill and I went to see Super 8 at the Mall of America Theater. Why the Mall of America Theater? Because it was the closest theater to Eagan that Jill knew about.

As I was buying the tickets for the show, the woman at the box office asked me if I wanted the “Dbox seats”. I wasn’t really sure what that meant, but there was a sign on the box office that said something about VIP seats and that got you access to beer and wine. I assumed that is what “Dbox seats” were and we didn’t need access to beer and wine. So I told her that regular seats were fine.

The tickets were 6 bucks a piece, which I though was cheap considering that the last time we went to a movie, it was $10 a piece. But, I figured that maybe we got matinee prices since it was a Saturday and it was somewhat in the afternoon.

We were nearly late to the theater as the line for the concession stand was slow moving and going to the movie was kind of a late decision based on the fact that it was raining. So when we got to the theater most of the good seats were already taken. However, there were a couple of seats available in the back row. So we sat in the back row.

We hadn’t been situated for more than a few seconds when an usher approached us and asked to see our tickets. I handed them over and she said, “It would cost you an extra 8 bucks to sit there. You can sit in the blue seats.”

It was then that I noticed that we were sitting in a red seat. The last 8 rows of the theater were all red seats.

Most of the blue seats that were in the middle of the theater that weren’t smashed up against the screen were taken, so we took some side seat and watched the movie from a weird angle.

So here is the object lesson from this story. I will not be going to a movie at the Mall of America Theater again. A theater that has 1st and 2nd class seats.

The second event was going to Target Field to watch the Padres play. It was the first time I’ve ever seen the Padres play, so that was exciting. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Target Field

Bethany & Becca negotiating for a beer. Bethany was turned down because one of Minnesota’s Mickey Mouse Laws.

The coolest thing in Target Field

Target Field

More Target Field

Nate and Jim

If you look closely, you can see Nate, Becca, and Bethany in this picture. They are in the 2nd row from the top.

Another view of Target Field

If you look closely… Clue: Nate is wearing a yellow hat.

Venable

Maybin

Denorfia

Maybin Again

Meeting on the Mound

End of the Day for Moseley

Outfield Meeting

Adams

Some Twin

Next Wednesday’s random photo collection will be from my fence building project.

Becca, Black & White, Blogging, Brandon, Brog Frog, Carla, Dad, Dawn, Derrick, Football, History, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Jill, Johnathan, Sara, Shannon, Vest, Willy

Post No. 1,101

May 7, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

It is time once again for me to to do a random look at some of the statistics on the website.

First up is what are the 10 Most Popular Images in the Artistic Galler.

This one is actually somewhat of a shocker. A picture of Brandon has went from nowhere to be the most popular picture and the long time reigning champ Outburst of the Soul has fallen all the way to a tie for 6th Place. Although admittedly, I think spammers might have something to do with the rather large shakeup in the standings.

1. Brandon Senior Picture

2. Johnathan Senior Picture

3. Battered School Bus – Hamlin, Iowa

4. Self-Portrait

5. Jen Between Sets of an UnHingd Show

6. UnHingd Publicity Still

6. Outburst of the Soul

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8. 1900

8. Becca – Senior Picture

10. Abandoned Piano – McCallsburg, Iowa

There has also been quite a shakeup in the Snapshots Gallery Top Ten.

Here are the 10 Most Popular Pictures in the Snapshots Gallery:

1. Me White Trashing It

2. ISUCFVMB

3. Alexis Cheerleading

4. Shannon and I at an Inebriated Saints Show

5. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto

6. Logan’s Tree-man

7. Jesse and I at the Surf Ball Room

8. Jesse Endorsing the Bob’s Dog

8. 2009 ISU Spring Game

10. Shannon Reading Map at Backbone

10. Jesse and I in Clinton

Finally, a look at the Top Ten People to either contribute or be written about in An Artist’s Notebook.

1. Jesse – 163 – (+20)
2. Jay – 151 – (+7)
3. Shannon – 146 – (+6)
4. Derrick – 123 – (+6)
5. Teresa – 109 – (+13)
6. Jen – 107 – (+6)
7. Willy – 101 – (+8)
8. Sara – 96 – (+8)
9. Vest – 80 – (+19)
10. Dawn – 73 – (+9)

Wondering who the biggest movers were outside of the Top Ten?

1. Dad (+19)
2. Carla (+14)
3. Jill (+10)

In case you were interested in what the standings looked like 100 posts ago:

Journal Entry One-Thousand

Becca, Bethany, History, Nate, Tim

The Archives: Edition Twelve

April 12, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

These pictures come from: backup/Old My Pictures/Family

This is sort of a weird collection of pictures. So I think I won’t really describe or explain them, but just let them stand on their own.

IMAGE LOST

Next week’s folder will be: backup/Old My Pictures/Family/2004 B&W

Alexis, Baier, Becca, Blogging, Cousin Amy, Dawn, Derrick, History, Jen, Jesse, Sara, Shannon, Teresa, Willy

Journal Entry One-Thousand

January 4, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

It is hard to believe that this journal has reached entry 1,000.

Since I enjoy rather meaningless statistics, I’m going to go over a few right now.

According to how many times they have been viewed, these are the 10 Most Popular Pictures in the Artistic Gallery:

1. Gazing Ball Self-Portrait

2. Outburst of the Soul

3. Jen Between UnHingd Sets

3. UnHingd Publicity Still

5. US30 East of Ogden

6. 1900

6. Abandoned Piano – McCallsburg

6. Becca Senior Picture

9. Grizzly McAlpine

10. Obama Political Rally

10. Campanile Self-Portrait

These are the 10 Most Popular Snapshots Gallery Pictures:

1. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto

2. Jesse and I Backstage at the Surf Ballroom

3. Jesse Eating a Bob’s Dog

4. Shannon Reading a Map at Backbone State Park

5. Jesse and I at Eagle Point Park

5. Cousin Amy, Sara and Jen at Bonne Finken Concert

5. Jesse Kissing the Blarney Stone in Emmetsburg

8. Jesse Onstage at the Surf Ballroom

8. Jesse and I Resting at the Sargent Floyd Monument

10. Some Kind of Deal Going Down at a Bonne Finken Concert

10. Sara and Jen at Bonne Finken Concert

The Top Ten People I Write About, Photograph or Contribute in Some Way (Tagged in Journal Entries):

1. Jay (144)
2. Jesse (143)
3. Shannon (140)
4. Derrick (117)
5. Jen (101)
6. Teresa (96)
7. Willy (93)
8. Sara (88)
9. Baier (65)
10. Dawn (64)

Of course, we will revisit these numbers and pictures in about 100 or so journal entries. Of course, it will be interesting to see what has changed!

Art, Becca, Black & White, Flowers, Macro, Photoshop, Road Trip

Minnesota Vacation Pics Volume 2

November 17, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The rest of the pictures from Becca and I’s trip to the Sculpture Garden.

Hard to believe that when I was in Minneapolis this Saturday, all of those flowers would have been long gone and covered in snow.

Animals, Art, Becca, Black & White, Flowers, Macro, Road Trip

Minnesota Vacation Pics Volume 1

November 16, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Here are a few pictures from trip to the Twin Cities a few weeks ago. These are almost all from a trip to the Sculpture Garden with Becca.

More pictures to come…