The folder called 06-19-07 includes folders of killdeer that I photographed with Steph and Yin and that time Jesse and I met the man that will probably be recorded by history as the best president of my lifetime.
I’m not sure where next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will go. Next week’s folder has lots of subfolders, so there is no telling where we’ll go.
Once again, I did the photos for the Computer Mine Holiday Card. Here are a few of my favorite pictures, but probably not the ones that made the card:
Always a pleasure photographing my super-cooperative co-workers!
I’m sure I mixed up that pro wrestling reference. I don’t watch pro wrestling. I went to college.
That being said, here are some pictures from Baby Got Rack’s day at the Pufferbilly Day Barbecue Contest:
That’s not Tone’s. That is our proprietary rub.
Vote 5! Stay alive! It sounds like a threat but, well maybe it was a threat.
Not all of our trophies are on display. That Coke can might have been self-awarded.
I made 6 gallons of Thick Soul Sweet Tea. Secret ingredient… more sugar.
Marcus’ sidewalk chalk rendition of Sir Pigs-a-Lot.
Pork loins going on Fat Boy. (The bigger smoker isn’t really named Fat Boy.)
Chicken coming off Little Man. (The smaller smoker isn’t really named Little Man.)
Scottie D. and I (mostly Scottie D.) brokered a deal for a silver pig from Paradox. We partnered with them (Baby Got Rack is all about synergy) at first to borrow the pig for the day. But then we sweetened the deal with a gallon of Thick Soul Sweet Tea and a ton of barbecue and that pig came come with me. Part of the partnering process included our bull getting a picture taken with their bull. If you have never checked out Paradox, I would highly recommend it. It is a pretty sweet store with some pretty sweet stuff.
We handed out pork loin sliders. Marcus cut the meat. I cut the buns. Scottie D. worked the crowd.
Scottie D. working the crowd.
The line for Baby Got Rack! Is that famous Flat Earth Theorist Joe Lynch in the crowd. You better believe it!
Bull working the crowd. My Mom pouring people stiff cups of Thick Soul Sweet Tea.
Did we win the kid’s vote? You bet your bottom donut! I’m being told that most people don’t use donuts for currency. I’m confused.
Baby Got Rack currently has two kinds of barbecue sauce. S + M and for the more daring sorts Anaconda Picosa. Story about that later.
Look at that line! People’s Champs!
Mmmmmmmm… Do you want to know what is in our injection? Love and goodness and other stuff.
Maybe we’ll do pork loin for my birthday next year. Maybe I won’t do a birthday party next year. One never knows.
Fat Boy cooling off.
This guy stopped by in the morning when we didn’t have any food to give out. We recruited him to come back and HE DID! Feeling the Baby Got Rack love!
Always time for a selfie with Bull!
Look at all these votes!
Note the silver pig.
People’s Choice!
First, thanks to Carla for taking many of these pictures.
Second, 2 quick stories.
Story 1
I told you we had two sauces: S + M and Anaconda Picosa. Anaconda Picosa is our spicier sauce. Scottie D.’s job while working the crowd was to explain the difference between the two sauces to the people. One guy approached the table and Scottie D. said, “Are you trying the Sweet + Mild?”
The guy stared Scottie D. down. There was 5 seconds of silence. Then he said, “Do I look Sweet + Mild?” He paused and then continued, “I’m an anaconda!”
He might’ve flexed after that, I’m not sure because I was laughing so hard.
Story 2
This one is creepier.
One of the other barbecue combatants arrived at Baby Got Rack’s tent early in the morning. To deliver this message:
“I’m going to win the People’s Choice Award this year. My niece… well she’s smokin’ hot. When it is time to give out samples, I’m going to have her come up here and hand out the samples dressed all sexy.”
There was some manly banter that I definitely don’t want to bore any females in the audience with.
A few hours later, he came back. This time, he had his niece with him. Holding a pan of samples for us to try.
“See what I’m saying?” He blurted out.
All I’m going to say is he better get a sexier niece for next year, cause you know who went home with that People’s Choice Award!
Finally, if you want to see all the Baby Got Rack images from 2016 (there might even be a picture of that niece in there) click on the link below:
That concludes the competitive barbecue season for 2016, but I’m sure Baby Got Rack will be back with a vengeance in 2017! Winning all the hearts and minds and trophies!
Team Baby Got Rack competed in the Pufferbilly Days Barbecue Contest this past Sunday.
I will take away many cherished memories from this Sunday, I’ll share those when I share the majority of the Baby Got Rack images at a later date.
Here is what is important to know.
At this contest we debuted our two signature barbecue sauces:
Sweet + Mild
Anaconda Picosa
We also debuted our new signature drink: Thick Soul Sweet Tea.
We also debuted our new logo: Sir Pigs-a-Lot.
We also debuted a mascot, that at this time we are going to just call Cow or Bull.
We also attempted to debut a new signature style shirt to go with our signature fedoras. We weren’t quite there on that.
But what about the results? Well it wasn’t our best day. But even on a tiger’s worst day, it still gets to be a friggin’ tiger! We came home with the People’s Choice Award for the second straight year. Proving that you can’t spell D-Y-N-A-S-T-Y without Baby Got Rack.
Here is the team picture (with Cow or Bull) from Sunday:
Another unofficial category we dominated was The Fun Department. As you will see in a later post where I tell some of the stories of Saturday. Including my favorite guy from the day, who delivered the best line of the day.
In closing, I would just like to thank all the people that came up and supported us (helping ease the pain of Baby Got Rack Superfan Willy McAlpine’s absence), like my sisters and Mom, WB Joseph Lynch and his posse, the Howard Clan, the Thornburgs, and the Petersons to name a few. And of course, those that were there in spirit. Too many to name.
And to Sara for loaning us her chalkboards. To Jay for offering us the use of his can opener too!
I recently presented The Trophy for winning the 12th year of the Roundball Oracles to this year’s champion… Michelle Haupt
It was an exciting NCAA Tournament and an equally exciting Roundball Oracles NCAA Tournament Pool. If North Carolina would’ve won the NCAA Championship Game, Sara Lockner would’ve come home with the trophy this year. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Congratulations Michelle! May your reign be short.
2005 – William McAlpine
2006 – William McAlpine
2007 – Tim Peterson
2008 – Mark Wolfram
2009 – Mark Wolfram
2010 – Mark Wolfram
2011 – Carrie Baier
2012 – Lowell Davis
2013 – William McAlpine
2014 – Brandon Kahler
2015 – Derek Dohrman
2016 – Michelle Haupt
Here be the final standings.
1. Michelle Haupt – 275
2. Sean Clubine – 270
3. sara lockner – 259
4. Yours Truly 255
5. Micky Augustin 245
6. Angie DeWaard 241
7. Jackson Faust 241
8. Derek Dohrman 237
9. Frank Meiners 233
10. Toby Sebring 230
11, Lowell Davis 230
12, Mark Wolfram 228
13. Jason Baier 227
14, Corey Faust 221
15, Paul Golden 220
16, Wily McAlpine 218
17, Jordan Toot 217
18. Jesse Howard 216
19. Shannon Bardole 215
20. Benjamin Baier 214
21. Liz Nordeen 214
21. Jill Gorshe 214
23 . Jon DeWaard 207
24. JJ Baier 204
25. Dawn Krause 203
26. Nader Parsaei 202
27, Brandon Kahler 201
28. Carrie Baier 197
29. Jorge Rios 197
30. shawn lockner 194
31. Jen Gorshe 193
32. Derrick Gorshe 193
33. Andree Jauhari 193
34. tim peterson 192
35. Bill Wentworth 183
36. Olivia Baier 180
37. Russ Kennerly 180
38. Carla Stensland 175
39. William Baier 170
40. Rachel Johnson 167
41. Robert Henning 162
42. Joe Lynch 156
43. Laura Priest 152
Laura (Miller) Priest won the 3rd Annual “The Sara” for last place adult that tried. Joining the trophy’s namesake Sara Lockner and Derrick Gorshe as past winners. I don’t have a picture of Laura with her new trophy yet, but I will as soon as I get “The Sara” in the mail, it arrives in Manhattan, and she sends me a picture with her new pride and joy.
A few of the regulars were missing this week, but there were still plenty of submissions for ART!
The submissions for ART:
Carla Stensland 1
Carla Stensland 2
Stephanie Kim 1
Stephanie Kim 2
Stephanie Kim 3
Shannon Bardole
Christopher D. Bennett
Sara Lockner
Becky Perkovich
Kim Barker 1
Kim Barker 2
Kim Barker 3
Another solid week of submissions! I feel like this little project is starting to gain some steam. I know that there somebody out there that badly wanted this to return should start submitting soon, now that she is done with school. Hint-hint!
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:
But what is this ARCHITECTURE you speak of? According to Wikipedia:
“Architecture” can mean:
+ A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures.[3]
+ The art and science of designing buildings and (some) nonbuilding structures.[3]
+ The style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures.[3]
+ Knowledge of art, science, technology and humanity.[3]
+ The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering professional services in connection with the design and construction of buildings, or built environments.[4]
+ The design activity of the architect,[3] from the macro-level (urban design, landscape architecture) to the micro-level (construction details and furniture).
For our purposes, I’d say that you should go out and find a building, a staircase, a bridge, a road, or something that was built by humans (or ancient aliens) that is interesting. Or at least take an interesting photograph of such a structure. However. As always. Define the theme any way that you want.
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
This was a big week for the PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION. Thanks to Sara Lockner*, (PHOTOGRAPHY 139 STAR OF THE WEEK) not one, not two, but three people showed their class, taste, and sophistication by becoming Photography 139 email subscribers. So if you see Shawn walking the mean streets of Johnston or Steve and Jessica walking the mean streets of Burnsville, Minnesota feel free to give them a knowing glance and feel free to show them the super-secret Photography 139 handshake.
Because my day job lunch hour is growing short, I won’t going into much details about these great, grand, and wonderful people. It is enough to say that Shawn is married to Sara, so he is a winner at life. Steve is a Cyclone and I hope he joins us for a tailgate this Fall. Jessica is a leather artist of some note as well. Maybe she is a future submitter to the WEEKLY PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE!?!?
This means that I believe there are now 5 married couples that are Photography 139 email subscribers. This also makes 4 Photography 139 email subscribers in Burnsville, Minnesota and 3 Photography 139 email subscribers in Johnston, Iowa. For those of you checking your Photography 139 Heat Maps. Those towns are on fire!
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 architectural Monday.
*First trip to that taco bar is on me!
Last weekend I took a trip up to Minnesota with Jesse and Nader to visit Bethany, Dae Hee, Nora, Sarah, and Shawn.
Most of the pictures are on my phone, which I won’t publish, but they are on Instagram if you are interested. I did take a few pictures at the Twins game with my point & shoot.
Here are a few of them:
Before the game, we ate chicken at Revival. Big recommend! Then we had ice cream at Milkjam Creamery. Big recommend!
Maybe next year, but sometime soon, Jesse and I are going to take 2 weeks and drive from New York City to San Francisco. I don’t know many people that could survive going on Jesse and I’s adventures, for that long. This trip was Nader’s audition. He will be getting the results in the mail sometime soon.
I though I would be Johnny-on-the-Spot and guess this out as soon as I got back from Milwaukee, but I spent my weekend being in parades, helping give sermons, raising money through pie auctions, supping with friends and family, going on walks with Naima, going to baby showers, watching about a thousand secondary characters I don’t care about get killed on GAME OF THRONES, and sleeping. Lots of sleeping. Laundry too.
This morning was the first time I’ve touched a computer in over 8 days.
So without further adieu, here are the submissions for BLUE:
Kim Barker 2
Stephanie Kim 1
Stephanie Kim 2
Angie DeWaard
Christopher D. Bennett
In a couple of hours, I’ll be posting the images from HOMETOWN. Better get the emailed to bennett@photography139.com soon!
A month or so ago I wrote about a free Photoshop Plugin from Google called the Nik Plugin Collection. Today I’m going to share some of their default filters.
This post is going to concentrate on the the HDR EFEX PRO 2 tool, which creates HDR (High Dynamic Range) images.
This Plugin can work in two ways. It can either create an HDR Image by merging multiple images or it can do HDR Tone Mapping from a single image and make sort of a faux HDR Image.
Because there are 28 different “ready to go” filters I am splitting this post into 2 different days.
I apologize for the disgusting nature of the base image, but I considered it a good example. I’ll make up for it on Friday by publishing something cute and furry.
Here are the first examples from the HDR EFEX PRO 2:
I know. Coca-Cola. Disgusting. On the positive, it is a rusted out, old abandoned Coca-Cola machine. Just like all Coke machines should be.
For the record, I found this one in Strong City, Kansas.
The rest of the filters will be unveiled on the morrow.
QUESTION 18
What movie was the theme of the birthday party invite for my 30th birthday?
ANSWER: LOGAN’S RUN
BONUS
What two other people were featured in these invites?
ANSWER: ANDERS RUNESTAD & JESSE HOWARD
I actually have been pretty lax about photographing flowers this year. That is partially because the 2017 Photography 139 Calendar will go in a new direction. Partially because I haven’t even planted flowers in my yard this year. Partially because my daffodils didn’t bloom this year. Partially because I missed my window of opportunity to go to Pella this year to photograph tulips. Regardless, my daisies were the first of my flowers to bloom this year.
So I dedicate the first flower picture of 2016 to Russell, because he hates my flower photography. He will be in mourning since flowers will start to become a bigger part of this here blog in the coming months. Probably. Sorry Russell, that is how the cookie crumbles.
CAMERA: SONY SLT-A65V
ISO: 125
FOCAL LENGTH: 60mm
APERTURE: f/20
EXPOSURE: 1/100
DATE: 05/22/2016 – 13:18
LATITUDE: 42.05511°
LONGITUDE: -93.87082°
PHOTO ASSISTANT: None
QUESTION 5
When Olivia and I got married, who were my 5 groomsmen?
ANSWER: Jesse Howard, Anders Runestad, Jay Janson, William McAlpine, and Eric Hiatt
BONUS
I’ve been a groomsman or bridesman 7 times. Name the 7 grooms/brides I’ve served:
ANSWER: Jesse Howard, Jay Janson, Anders Runestad, Scott Degeneffe, Derrick Gorshe, Sara Lockner, and Nate Miller
