Category Archives: Black & White

Bethany, Black & White, Carla, Mom, Naima, Nate, Ruins, Still Life, Street Photography

Miller Estate Auction

April 26, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

This is one of probably 2 entries for An Artist’s Notebook about my Saturday morning last. This is about the later part of my morning, but you must know a little bit about the early morning to understand how this strange turn of events happened.

The earliest part of my morning was spent at Dickcissel Park with Naima. Things there went slightly sideways and I ended up having to be late for my normal Saturday morning breakfast with my Mom. We normally breakfast at The Whistle Stop Cafe because they have tasty pancakes (and I’m what you would call an expert on tasty pancakes #pancakelife), good service, and they are literally the only breakfast game in town since The Legal Limit shuttered their doors.

I mean, a person could lower themselves to eating at The Avenue of the Saints Cafe, but it is the answer to the age old question:

Is it possible to make something worse than Golden Corral?

Answer: Yes, The Avenue of the Saints Cafe.

The main drawback to The Whistle Stop Cafe is that it is tiny. There are maybe 4 booths, a couple of tables thrown up on the side, and maybe 10 or so counter stools. When we drove by the Whistle Stop Cafe, we were saddened to see that it was overflowing with customers. We needed a new plan.

We decided to head out to the Don Williams Clubhouse. It is about a 15 mile drive from Boone, but it served breakfast and it is under new management. We wanted to see if the new management has game.

The easiest way to get from the Whistle Stop to Don Williams is to head by Water Works and on past Fraser. However, on Wednesday night, Carla contacted me to let me know that there was a flock of swans (possibly) at the J. Carlson Wildlife area, between Boone and Ogden.

On Wednesday night I went out there and had a peek. It turned out that it wasn’t a bevy. It was a brief or a pod or a pouch or a scoop or a squadron. It was a group of pelicans is what I was getting at. On Wednesday I efforted to get a photo of them, but I couldn’t get a good angle on them.

On Thursday, I went back. They were gone. However, I did get a photo of an egret, so not all was lost.

On Saturday morning, I decided to take Old 30 to Ogden and then up County Road P70 to Don Williams to see if those pelicans had returned. They were, but none of that is important to the story.

Due to the chosen route, we picked up Carla and made our way towards breakfast.

On our way through Ogden, at the intersection of Old 30 and P70, we stumbled across a sizable auction. My people have auction in their blood from way back*. Possibly why I had a cousin once state:

I’m impressed how well you and your siblings turned out, considering the white trash you come from. #neverforget

But you know that he has the complete and utter moral ground to make statements like that. It isn’t like he ever ended up in prison or anything like that. I can’t hate.

While my tummy made the decision that we didn’t have time to stop at this auction at this time, there was little doubt that we would hit this auction on our way back to drop Carla off at her home.

Breakfast went fine. The new management serves a tasty breakfast. My one critique would be that portion sizes are somewhat small. However, the small portion sizes are reflected in the prices. The 3 of us ate breakfast for something like 18 dollars, American.

On the way back we stopped at the auction and this is where things got a little bit strange.

As I was walking around the auction, I noticed that some of the stuff seemed a little familiar. There was a Patio Pros (represent!) car in the driveway. There was a ton of plumbing and heating and cooling type stuff in the auction.

I began to suspect that this was an estate auction for Olivia’s Grandpa Dean. He passed away a few months back and I was a pallbearer at his funeral.

I saw Olivia’s cousin Jim there and approached him and he confirmed, this was indeed Grandpa Dean’s Estate Auction.

I took a few photos while I was there:

I never would’ve stumbled upon this auction IF:

+There weren’t pelicans at the J. Carlson Wildlife Area on Wednesday.
+If the pelicans would’ve been there on Thursday.
+If Naima hadn’t decided to do something stupid on Saturday morning.
+If the Whistle Stop Cafe wasn’t super packed.
+If Carla didn’t move out between Boone and Ogden.
+If the Don Williams Clubhouse hadn’t just re-opened for the season.

It was not the Saturday morning I envisioned when I closed my eyes and went off to slumberland on Friday night.

I didn’t buy anything, but Carla purchased a few nuggets. Grandpa Dean had his own plumbing business. Carla purchased a whole package of his business calendars from 1975 and 1976. Never opened. I’ll be giving some of those to Nate and Bethany next time I see them.

*I was almost born at the Hillbilly Auction after all.

Animals, Basketball, Black & White, History, Nature, Photoshop, Road Trip, Ruins, WPC - Alternate

You Ain’t Never Been in My Book and I Got a Problem with It, Why? ‘Cause You Acting Like You Read My Pages!

April 24, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

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

If you are wondering why the bird photos are considered GOVERNMENT, it is because those pictures were taken on Boone County Wildlife Conservation Areas.

The last picture should not be seen as an endorsement of the lottery. It is the stated position of Photography 139 and all of its employees and subsidiaries, that the lottery is a scam. It is a self-imposed tax that is designed to move the tax burden from the wealthy to the poor and poorly educated.

You’re welcome world!

Black & White, Christianity, Photo Journal, Photoshop, Shannon, Street Photography

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 105

April 20, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

On Good Friday I descended upon downtown Des Moines to take a picture for Page 105 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Take a photograph that could only be taken today, not yesterday or tomorrow.

I took off from the Computer Mine early on Good Friday and went to Des Moines to witness an event put on by The Bridge, a coalition of downtown Des Moines churches, called the Way of the Cross.

It is an interesting event where people carry or drag a cross through downtown Des Moines, stopping every few blocks or so to read a passage from The Bible and hear a small sermon or devotion or speech about that verse.

While I took several pictures along the way, only one can be physically adhered to the physical THE PHOTO JOURNAL. Here are some of the other pictures I took on this journey and I will follow it with my Yelp review of the event:

This lady set up shop on the National Rifle Association.

I even like her hat.

This woman tore what I’m going to call Republican Jesus to pieces. They were both from a church called The Downtown Disciples.

Note the lack of shoes – it was cold that day.

Here is my quick review of “The way of the Cross”:

My biggest disappointment is that there wasn’t somebody there dressed like Jesus dragging the cross. Now I realize that this isn’t realistic and is actually the antithesis of the exercise. The exercise exists so that you can personally drag the cross and get the slightest modicum of what Jesus might have felt physically on that day. That being said, a dude dressed like Jesus would’ve made an even better photo opportunity. Especially if a couple of other dudes dressed like Romans followed along whipping him. Then part of the way through the event, another guy dressed like Simon of Cyrene joined the group and helped carry the cross the rest of the way.

I guess, maybe I should set the standard and show up next year dressed for the part myself.

My biggest legitimate complaint is that the sound system for the sermons was awful. They used a megaphone that wasn’t loud enough. It wasn’t loud enough by half. It might have been loud enough in a quiet room. It wasn’t near loud enough to battle or let alone compete with downtown Des Moines construction and traffic. The only sermons I could really hear were the two Downtown Disciples. The only reason I could hear them was because I got all up in their grill when I heard the lady in the sweet hat start busting on the NRA. I knew I had to hear that.

I was also disappointed in the size of the crowd. Now I know that not everybody gets excited for Good Friday. Many denominations don’t even do a service on Good Friday. Even the churches that do, I would describe those services as “sparsely attended”.

Which I get. I mean you can get the full Easter experience and give thanks to the one that gives you everything, but on the other hand, it is a Friday, and that beer isn’t going to drink itself. Is it?

Furthermore, even people that celebrate Good Friday, how many of them are going to take time off for work to wander around Des Moines on a cold Friday afternoon. I get it.

However, taking all of that into account, I thought there would be more people.

On the positive, I think it is an excellent outreach program. It is an excellent way to take the “Good News” out of the church and into what is falsely called the “secular world”. I witnessed many gawkers during the path. From people staring out their car, to other pedestrians, to office workers who rushed to their windows to watch the symbol of salvation pass by.

For the people that took their turn carrying the cross, it was a powerful experience. I’m sure if I would have taken my turn, it would have been powerful for me as well.

That is the curse of the photographer. The camera separates you from the experience.

Would I go again? I would, but I would take somebody with me. Hmmm… I hear Shannon’s new gig gives her Good Friday off.

Art, Black & White, Christianity, Photoshop, Road Trip, Ruins, Street Photography, WPC - Alternate

I’m a Doctor with No Job. Me, I Don’t Have No Patients. I Keep Pacing Back and Forth, I Keep Racing.

April 17, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

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

Beaver, Iowa – The jewel of Boone County.

Grand Junction, Iowa – The jewel of Greene County

Jefferson, Iowa – They have an A&W, that is the only positive thing I’ll say about Jefferson.

Churdan, Iowa – Home of moderate high school athletic success in the 1980s

Paton, Iowa – Home of the Globe Conspiracy

Dana, Iowa – Making Paton look good since 1907

Boone, Iowa – God’s Country

I took all my signs on a little road trip on Saturday. As is known to happen to me, I got obsessed into my own little world and lost track of time. I missed the Methodist Men Potato Peeling Party. They managed without me.

That is all I have to say about these pictures. You’re welcome world.

Art, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Kio, Photoshop, Scottie D., Suzie

An Afternoon with O’Keeffe, Hopper, Basquiat, and Suzie

April 15, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

A couple Sundays back I met Suzie at the Des Moines Art Center to take in one of Des Moines’ most underappreciated attractions. The Des Moines Art Center is actually one of my favorite art museums that I have ever visited. It’s collection is surprisingly impressive and to top that off, it is FREE!

This was the 3rd or 4th time that we had tried to get together to visit the Des Moines Art Center, but something always seemed to get in the way. Made me think that the trip was never going to happen, much like Scottie D. and I’s next great tenderloining adventure to Winterset may never happen.

This trip to the art center ended up being kind of strange. Part of the way through the museum I started to sweat profusely and I was overcome with an overwhelming sense of hunger. We sat down for awhile and Suzie gave me a stick of gum. I felt better after a few minutes.

It was very bizarre. Not sure Suzie will want to visit the Art Center with me again at any time in the near future.

Here are a few pictures I took before my hot flash:

This is called Klingon Mustaches

After I felt better, I bid Suzie a fond adieu and then headed to the March for Our Lives via quick pit stop at Ted’s Coney Island.

++++++++++++++++++++++

So I had an amazing day today. On a couple of strange fronts I had some new knowledge dropped on me and I’m still reeling from the info.

KNOWLEDGE BOMB #1

Today was the Methodist Men’s Annual Chicken Noodle Brunch. While we were taking a break from our arduous labor, I asked Kio if he had seen why Jefferson, Iowa was in the news this week.

Kio is a top dog at the Boone Area Humane Society, so I was referring to the story that was on the news about Jefferson coppers catching feral cats and then busting a cap in them.

Kio has unfortunately bought into the massive misinformation campaign to paint me as a cat hater. When in reality, I don’t hate cats. Cats suck and I report the facts. I don’t get any joy in this truth.

Because of his perception on my perception of cats, he thought I was going to push for Boone to follow suit with this efficient way to deal with an excess feline population.

However, all I really wanted to know is what the Boone Area Humane Society thought about this policy.

Now Kio can’t speak for the Boone Area Humane Society (okay, that is literally one of his jobs), but he can tell me what they do in Boone with what he termed “community cats”. Boone picks up these cats and makes sure they have all their shots and then microchips them, so they can track them. Then they return them to the neighborhood where they were trapped.

I was literally shocked to find out that this was happening. Boone has community cats.

Kio gave me the rough estimate that there are in the ballpark of 25 of these community cats in Boone. They are all registered, but he did not know whether or not the public had access to this registry.

I’ve had a few cats show up in my neighborhood and I had them dealt with before they could have an adverse effect on my property value.

However, I had no clue that some parts of Boone have sanctioned cats just strolling around.

I have decided that if I ever move, I will be finding out about how to check out this registry to make sure there isn’t one of these community cats in the neighborhood of a potential new home. Much in the same way that I made sure there were very few rental properties in my neighborhood when I bought my current homestead.

KNOWLEDGE BOMB #2

I now know the purpose and the story behind “The Shrine” between Boone and Ames. If you don’t know about “The Shrine”, it is a mysterious building on a country road between Boone and Ames, built by a guy that is known to run gawkers away from it. It is a source of frequent internet speculation and sometimes “investigative journalism” by local media outlets. It has its own thread on Reddit.

I have my information from a high placed source. While I would tell you what it is, I don’t want to ruin the mystery for you.

Here is a YouTube documentary on “The Shrine”:

I’ll just leave it that the documentary gets a few things right and quite a few things wrong.

Art, Black & White, Mom, Night, Photoshop, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, WPC - Alternate

I Get So Frustrated, Take A Look at What I Created, Time is Wasting and I Ain’t Waiting!

April 11, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The world wasn’t ready for these ROAD TRIP photos on Monday. The world still wasn’t ready for them on Tuesday. I’m not sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

After Jewell, I tooled through Ellsworth. From Ellsworth I moved onto Radcliffe. Radcliffe is notable for the shortest water tower I have ever seen. From Radcliffe I went through Garden City. Garden City gave me a DELIVERANCE type vibe. I’ve only really felt that similar vibe, to that degree in Beaver. Beaver, Iowa creeps me out. There is a reason why I once created a series of photos called “The Beaver Machete Massacre” I don’t believe those photos are online anywhere. So don’t go looking for them.

In Garden City, I realized I was going to be late for my supper appointment with some of my favorite miners. I pressed on the gas and made haste for Marshalltown. Only stopping briefly in Zearing.

If you have never been to Zeno’s in Marshalltown, I would highly recommend it. Zeno’s gets the Christopher D. Bennett Endorsement. In particular, I can’t recommend the BBQ Brisket pizza enough. Smoked beef brisket, red onion, peppadew peepers. Drizzled with sriracha bourbon bbq sauce. It is even more amazing than it sounds. Even people with questionable taste in food products like Elizabeth endorse it. She normally only likes meat paste pizza.

The final picture with my Mom (dinking with her phone like a millennial) was taken on our way back from Wingstop on Sunday after our post-church lunch.

That is all the ROAD TRIP alternates I have. You’re welcome world!

Art, Automobiles, Baseball/Softball, Black & White, History, Photoshop, Politics, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, Small World, Town Sign Project, Travel, WPC - Alternate

I’m Not Complaining, I’m Just Being Honest, I Promise That I Will Not Beg for Respect, No!

April 10, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The world was not ready for these ROAD TRIP pictures on Monday. It is highly doubtful that the world is ready for these ROAD TRIP pictures now, but I can’t hold them back any longer.

This is not an endorsement of Rick Young for Hardin County Supervisor, although he has a sweet website.

I took a little ROAD TRIP on Saturday on the way to Marshalltown to meet some fellow miners for supper. On the way there I decided to head north a little bit before heading east and to pursue some signs for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT.

I left Boone and went through the remains of Mackey. Took a few moments in Story City before heading north and spending quite a bit of time in the fascinating town of Randall. One of the fascinating things I found in Randall was the Dodge truck. I find it fascinating that on the hood ornament was the Star of David. I wonder when they took the religious symbol out of their marketing.

I looked into this and found the following:

1. The Dodge brothers were not Jewish. It is not a Star of David.
2. But nobody seems to know what it means. It might represent the Greek letter delta or it might be a masonic symbol or it might have to do with medieval mysticism.
3. It was not done to taunt Henry Ford, who was a noted anti-Semite as has often been theorized.
4. They symbol disappeared from Dodge cars when the 1939 model was introduced. Hmmm… what was going on in the world in 1939.
5. The Dodge brothers both died in 1920 as victims of the influenza epidemic of that year. They took the truth of the symbol with them to their graves.

Here endeth the lesson.

The small world picture is of Randall. From Randall I headed north. I stopped briefly at Little Wall Lake to take a couple of self-portraits. I also took a couple lake pictures, but they did not please me.

After Little Wall Lake, I spent a few minutes cruising Jewell. Just to the east of the Jewell town signing (heading north of 69) is the fascinating remains of the animal sculptures. They’ve sadly fallen into a degree of disrepair. I could analyze this piece of of art for days.

It feels like the kind of tableau that should be in any respectable roadside curiosity book about the great Cyclone State!

There are a few more images from this ROAD TRIP in the hopper. You’re welcome America!

Andy, Becky, Black & White, Carla, Cathie, Christianity, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Photoshop, Road Trip, Ruins, Shannon, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 134 – ROAD TRIP

April 9, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

A healthy amount of people hit the open road for a ROAD TRIP photo. I think this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE EMPIRE extends as far north as Randall, Iowa. As far south as Arkansas. As far west as West Wendover, Nevada. As far east as Virginia, I’m guessing.

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

Micky Augustin

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Michelle Haupt

Andy Sharp

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

Becky Parmelee

Carla Stensland

Christopher D. Bennett

Cathie Raley

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:

SIGNS!

SIGNS! What a great theme! But what is a SIGNS photo? The obvious answer is any picture of a SIGN(S) is a SIGNS photo. But there are more than just the SIGNS that tell you to stop, yield, sit down, and shut up. If she hasn’t responded to your text message, but she has posted on Facebook twice, added to her Snapchat Story and tweeted 3 times… those are SIGNS that bro, she just isn’t in to you. If he doesn’t acknowledge your existence around his friends, but at 2 AM he is always sliding into your DMs, that is a SIGN(S) that grilfriend, you can do better!

As always, 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 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

The latest person to show taste, class, and sophistication and sign on for a Photography 139 Email Subscription is Linda Clark. I honestly don’t know much about her, other than she is a relative of Andy Sharp and he says she has an interest in photography. Welcome aboard Linda! If you see her, feel free to give her a knowing glance and teach her the super-secret Photography 139 Handshake.

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

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 signed Monday!

Animals, Black & White, Naima, Nature, WPC - Alternate

I Need Some Money to Pay for My Rent, I Need Some Money to Pay for My Gas!

April 8, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The world wasn’t ready for these BLACK & WHITE pictures on Monday. It wasn’t ready on Tuesday. Not on Wednesday. Not on Thursday. Not even on Friday. I’m not even sure the world is ready for them now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

That is it. The last of 114 BLACK & WHITE alternates. To take (pretty much) all of these pictures, I set my camera to High Contrast Monochrome. This actually isn’t how I would recommend taking BLACK & WHITE photos. I’d recommend taking all your images in color and then converting them to BLACK & WHITE in post. You can’t add something back that isn’t there. Of course, before you take the photo, you should know whether or not you are going to convert it to BLACK & WHITE. You need to imagine what the final product is going to look like before you ever, ever, ever, ever, think of clicking that shutter button.

I did it this time because it was a fun little exercise.

All of these pictures of Naima were taken at Dickcissel Park. To this day, I’ve never seen a dickcissel at Dickcissel Park.

Animals, Black & White, Commercial, Derrick, Eric, Flowers, History, Monica, Music, Nature, Russell, Suzie

04-10-08

April 7, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The following pictures were found in the folder 04-10-08:

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to restore the following blog entries to their original glory:

NEW TOY
T NIGHT
FOGGY

Sometimes when I come across old photos I think twice before posting them. So much time has passed this the events of this nights. Marriages have come and gone. Friendships have faded. Some friendships have ended. That can make looking at these old photos awkward to look at. But what really makes these photos awkward is there is photographic evidence of me playing a video game as an adult.

I admit, not much of an adult, but still too long in the tooth to claim adolescence. I believe this may have been the last time I played a video game. Might be the last time I ever play a video game. Time will be the final judge on that, as always.

The photos that you might consider “blurry” were taken with a Lens Baby. It is a push-pull-bend lens. Lots of fun, even though I freely confess, most people don’t appreciate the images they create.

Next Saturdays walk down memory lane will involve Good Friday and a tradition that I am happy that my church has retired.