Category Archives: Family

A Methodist Trio

Here is a collection of photos from 3 Methodist events. The Event Formerly Known as the Methodist Men Steak Fry, Safe Trick-or-Treat Night at the Eastern Star Home, and Consecration Sunday Brunch.


The Event Formerly Known as The Methodist Men Steak Fry

The Event Formerly Known as The Methodist Men Steak Fry

The Event Formerly Known as The Methodist Men Steak Fry

The Event Formerly Known as The Methodist Men Steak Fry

Safe Trick-or-Treating

Safe Trick-or-Treating

Safe Trick-or-Treating

Safe Trick-or-Treating

Safe Trick-or-Treating

Safe Trick-or-Treating

Safe Trick-or-Treating

Safe Trick-or-Treating

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

Consecration Brunch

One of the bizarre things about the world of social media is that bizarre things happen. I posted a picture of Johnathan and Logan grilling for the Event Formerly Known as the Methodist Men Steak Fry on our church’s Facebook page thanking everybody that made the event such a smashing success.

A lady from the church left a comment on the photo tagging her husband with the comment, “See (husband name) they are cool.”

I don’t know what she meant by this comment, but here is my theory:

This lady has tried to get her husband to be active in the Methodist Men. He has openly dismissed her because the Methodist Men are “lame” and “uncool”. However, when she saw a picture of two dudes participating in Methodist Men activities like Logan and Johnathan that are undeniably cool and comport themselves with a little bit of their uncle’s well-documented badassness, she felt that this would be the example that would make her husband see that the Methodist Men aren’t “lame”. In fact, we are “cool”.

In fact, we are pretty lame. But their is coolness in lameness when you own it.

That Nurse Came into my Room, She Told Me I’m Sick in the Head

The world wasn’t ready for these alternate FRAMED images for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE yesterday. Hopefully by laying down some groundwork yesterday the world will be able to handle them. I have my doubts…


FRAMED - ALTERNATE

FRAMED - ALTERNATE

FRAMED - ALTERNATE

FRAMED - ALTERNATE

FRAMED - ALTERNATE

FRAMED - ALTERNATE

FRAMED - ALTERNATE

That is Willy’s eye behind the brick. The tunnel is located on the most beautiful campus in the world, Iowa State’s.

You’re welcome world!

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 112 – FRAMED

A bit of a rebound in submissions this week for FRAMED. Let’s keep the positive momentum going!

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


WEEK 112 - FRAMED - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - SHANNON BARDOLE-FOLEY
Shannon Bardole-Foley

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - MIKE VEST
Mike Vest

WEEK 112 - FRAMED - STEPHANIE KIM
Stephanie Kim

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 113 - PARTY
PARTY! (Submitted by Sara Lockner)

PARTY! What a great theme! You don’t need to be going to a PARTY to take a picture of the PARTY theme. PARTY supplies. PARTY invitations. PARTY preparations. PARTY aftermath. They all count. Or you can hang out with me. Cause wherever I’m at, there is a party going down.

Interpret the theme however you see fit and I look forward to seeing 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. 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

Nothing new to report. I’ll try to do better next week.

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

**************************************

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 partied out Monday!

12-09-07 & 12-28-07

These are images from the folders called 12-09-07 and 12-28-07:


12-09-07

12-09-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

12-28-07

The pictures of Nader were taken at Ada Hayden Park in Ames.

The pictures of me were taken by Jay around various parts of the mean streets of urban Boone. The beanies I am wearing were a Christmas gift from Teresa. Most of these have unfortunately been lost over the years.

This gift was inspired by a COLLEGE GAMEDAY story on Boise State football player Ian Johnson who made beanies and sold them in the parking lots before Boise State games.

By adding these images to my SmugMug Gallery, I was able to restore the following blog:

CHRISTMAS BEANIES

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve more experimental photography.

Falls Park

On the way to the Black Hills we stopped at Falls Park in Sioux Falls. Because we got a late start to the trip, so we didn’t hang around Falls Park for long. Plus it was pouring rain and it was cold. I did snap a few photos before we hit the road again:


Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

Falls Park - Sioux Falls

We will be visiting me and my Mom’s trip to South Dakota a few more times in the future.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE REMINDER – LANDSCAPE

This is a reminder that this week’s theme for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is LANDSCAPE:


WEEK 60 - LANDSCAPE
LANDSCAPE!

A LANDSCAPE photo is as simple as a photo of some land.

Here are some LANDSCAPE photos to help fuel your fire:


10-12-07

LANDSCAPE - LOSER

LANDSCAPE - LOSER

LANDSCAPE - LOSER

WEEK 60 - LANDSCAPE - CARLA STENSLAND 3
By Carla Stensland

WEEK 60 - LANDSCAPE - DAWN KRAUSE 2
By Dawn Krause

WEEK 60 - LANDSCAPE - TERESA KAHLER 1
By Teresa Kahler

WEEK 60 - LANDSCAPE - KIM BARKER
By Kim Barker

WEEK 60 - LANDSCAPE - MICKY AUGUSTIN
By Micky Augustin

WEEK 60 - LANDSCAPE - CATHIE RALEY 4
By Cathie Raley

Now that your fires are going… happy photo harvesting!

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 110- REFLECTION

People weren’t exactly beating down my email’s inbox door for this week’s theme of REFLECTION. Yet, there was some really great submissions.

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


WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - KIM BARKER
KIM BARKER

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - TAMARA PETERSON 1
TAMARA PETERSON

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - TAMARA PETERSON 2
TAMARA PETERSON

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - DAWN KRAUSE
DAWN KRAUSE

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - MIKE VEST
MIKE VEST

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - CATHIE RALEY
CATHIE RALEY

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - MICKY AUGUSTIN
MICKY AUGUSTIN

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - CARLA STENSLAND
CARLA STENSLAND

WEEK 110 - REFLECTION - KELLY HOWARD
KELLY HOWARD

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 111 - LANDSCAPE
LANDSCAPE!

LANDSCAPE! What a great theme! But what does it mean? How about this:

all the visible features of an area of countryside or land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.

A landscape photo can include water (waterscape) or a city (cityscape) or the ocean (seascape). At least it can for our purposes. But as always, feel free to define the theme as you see fit.

I look forward to seeing 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. 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

Nothing new to report. I’ll try to do better next week.

Want your own Photography 139 email subscription? Call, email, or text me and I’ll get you the hook up.

**************************************

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 landscaped Monday!

LSD the Bridge

I have a rather shocking confession. I have never done LSD. However, if I had tried LSD, I imagine the experience would be something like walking across the High Trestle Trail Bridge on a dark night.

Several weeks back my cousin Sarah and my Aunt Linda were in town and we did just that. Here are a few pictures from the evening:


The High Trestle Trail

The High Trestle Trail

The High Trestle Trail

The High Trestle Trail

The High Trestle Trail

The High Trestle Trail

Recently the neighbors have complained that the bridge is too noisy at night and now the authorities are turning the lights off at 9 PM. Very sad.

My Minnesota Spirit Animal

Back in August I went up to Minnesota to visit some of my favorite peeps, but I also had an ulterior motive. For years I’ve driven up to the Twin Cities area and just south of Lakeville I would come across a strange collection of sculptures on the east side of I-35. I’ve never been able to figure out how to get there. Or for that matter, what it even was.

This trip to Minnesota I vowed to crack the mystery. Before supper Bethany, Nora, and Dae Hee and I and a sense of wonderment loaded up into a vehicle and tried to solve the mystery… and solve the mystery, we did.

After some wrong turns we finally located the source of the wonderful mystery sculptures. The source was Hot Sam’s Antiques and Foto Park. For $10 your party could take as many cruddy cell phone pictures as you wanted. It was $25 for an actual camera-camera.

We plunked down the Hamilton and wandered and wondered around the Minnesota magical wonderland that is Sam’s Foto Park. Here are some cell phone pictures from this wondrous adventure:


Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park
Dino Bustin’

Hot Sam's Foto Park
So this is what happened to the bus from TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

Hot Sam's Foto Park
Dae Hee in Repose

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park
Nora LOVED this car!

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park
#outhousesofinstagram

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park
I both love and am creeped out by old industrial trucks!

Hot Sam's Foto Park
This is a fence of nightmares!

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park
Worst Pixar movie ever! Not counting the worse sequels.

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park
Plan 9 from Outer Space?

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park
You know this would look amazing in my yard!

Hot Sam's Foto Park
My birthday is 7 months away… If you start saving now…

Hot Sam's Foto Park

Hot Sam's Foto Park

You can have Disneyland. Give me Hot Sam’s Foto Park. Every day of the week and… wait for it…. thrice on Sundays!!