Category Archives: Event

Baby Got Rack, Contests, Event, Macro, Melissa, Michelle, Scottie D., Shannon, State Fair

Baby Got Rack Takes the Iowa State Fair

August 19, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

A reminder that today is the last day of the Iowa State Fair. If you are going, you should make your way to the Cultural Building to see the pictures that I had accepted for display. They will come down at approximately 8 PM. Also, I will be at the Iowa State Fair today, if you want to try to look me up.

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On Tuesday, Baby Got Rack went to the Iowa State Fair to compete in the Iowa State Fair Farm Bureau Cookoff.

Baby Got Rack earned their way there by winning the Combination category at the Boone County Fair. The Combination category is any dish that combines 2 or more meats. We won with Scottie D.’s famous Mediterranean Pizza and his Barbecue Pizza.

Baby Got Rack took a little bit of a different formation this year. House dropped out this year. A couple of other people auditioned for roles on the team, but only one person stepped up to join Baby Got Rack. That was Bryon Porter.

I will also add that Baby Got Rack’s guardian angel, Melissa also increased her role with the team this year. In year’s past she had stayed mostly in the background. Running the books and being in charge of procurement. This year she also was in charge of making the pizza crust.

I can’t lie. At the Iowa State Fair they both did more work than me, probably. It looks like once again there is no Pufferbilly Days Barbecue Contest. We had heard rumors that it was a done deal at the Boone County Fair. But those rumors ended up being lies. Dirty, dirty lies! At least as of this writing, there is no listing for a Barbecue Contest on the Pufferbilly Days website.

Sorry people that were planning on coming to visit us on the Sunday of Pufferbilly Days. Tuesday might have been your last chance to see Baby Got Rack in action until at least May. When Baby Got Rack will cater my birthday party. If I have it. Which currently, everything trends to that happening.

Since I knew this was probably the last time Baby Got Rack would gird its loins for the field of barbecue battle, I took as many pictures as possible. Here are some of my favorites:

Unloading.

Baby Got Rack’s Latest Superstar

Fire!

4 AM came early for this guy!

Injecting the Pork

When you’re this stylish, you take a selfie!

4 AM also came early for this guy!

Applying BGR’s Proprietary Rub

That is a good looking piece of meat!

Seasoning the chicken!

Melissa is also our Interior Decorator.

Lots of competitors!

Strictly speaking, this isn’t a team competition. Scottie D.’s name is the only one you’ll see in the record books.

Bryon rocking the swag!

Checking the meats! Arby’s got nothing on BGR, on so many levels.

Cutting up the pizza toppings.

Is that 2 types of bell peppers? I’ll never tell!

Melissa, making magic.

Magic!

Crust!

Time to let the meat rest!

Delicious!

Mmmmm… Pork!

I love our chicken. It still might be my favorite thing we make.

Seasoning Up!

Spreading the Sauce!

(Wipes drool off of keyboard.)

Cheese!

Sean! This guy is the chicken master, but he entered pork. He got 2nd place in Pork.

Starting to look like pizzas!

Barbecue Pizza

Mediterranean Pizza

They gave everybody that came a Participant Ribbon*. Some people put it up. We put it away. BGR doesn’t come to “participate”. BGR comes to dominate!

Pizza. Macro.

The crowd starts to swell around our booth.

Pizza on the grill.

Picking out pieces for the judges.

Next year, we will have our own hashtag!

Piece for the judges.

Category Judges.

Scottie D. working his magic.

Giving the judges a sample of the meats.

Everybody loves this pizza!

The Showmanship Judges.

Ed Wilson gave Scottie D. a fist bump.

Scottie D. was briefly on the news that night.

There was one pizza catastrophe, but people didn’t care, They wolfed it down!

People love free samples, but not everybody is what I would call appreciative.

Scottie D. being interviewed for the pseudo-radio broadcast.

More free samples!

The Grand Champion Judges.

This is our favorite judge.

The Secretary of Agriculture.

We won our Category.

Baby Got Rack Team Picture. Melissa refused to be in it for some reason.

There are plenty more pictures from the day’s event. If you want to peruse them, you should click on the link below:

BABY GOT RACK – 2018

That is probably all she wrote for this year’s Competitive Barbecue Season. I’m sure Baby Got Rack will be back in 2019, unless Scottie D. decides to open up a restaurant instead of all this small fish stuff. Many people wanted to know where our restaurant is and we had to break their heart.

Special thanks to everybody that came down to see us and support us:

Shannon
Barb Shedd
Michelle’s Parents

BGR out! Mic drop.

*I’m not one of those people that freaks out about giving out “participant” ribbons. I don’t suffer from the disease of toxic masculinity. If you want to give kids participant ribbons, it isn’t making them soft. It isn’t making them less competitive. It might even people helping their self-esteem. Which is fine by me.

Becky, Derrick, Event, Jaycees, Music, Shannon, State Fair, Steph, Still Life

06-28-08

August 18, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There is quite the eclectic collection of pictures in the folder 06-28-08.

There are pictures from Ames on the Half Shell. The Box Brothers are the band.

There are pictures of the WHO Tractor Ride.

There are pictures of the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

And finally, there is a picture of the most accurate nickname I was ever given.

The Intimidator mailing label was on a gift subscription to American Photo magazine from Steph. I had that nickname because 98% of the people that I have managed in my life have been terrified of me. The other 2%? Fools.

Of course, there are more Box Brothers images than I care to share here. If you want to see more, you can click on the link below:

Ames on the Half Shell – 2008

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

Work Half Done

Burden

Box Brothers

The Right Color Tractor

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve a wedding where I was a 2nd shooter. I don’t know or even remember the name of the people that got married. However, if the other weddings I’ve done photography on is any indication, they are probably divorced now. That might have taken a dark turn, but #facts.

Black & White, Event, Football, Iowa State, Jesse, Music, Russell, Street Photography, Travel

Liberty. Rally. Pep.

August 15, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

More from the 2017 backlog. These pictures are from the Iowa State Liberty Bowl Pep Rally I attended with Russell and Jesse.

It was a great event, but since I was already filled with pep, I did a lap around the Memphis Redbirds stadium taking some photos.

It was a beautiful December in Memphis. I only wish that some of that warmth could have been saved for the next day.

John Walters started the pep rally by saying, “And they said a football team couldn’t fill a baseball stadium.” I’ll give you time, if you don’t get the joke.

I’m 99% sure that I’m going to make a road trip to watch Iowa State play Kansas in early November. If anybody is interested in joining me in a Cyclone takeover of Lawrence, let me know so we can start making plans.

Hopefully Iowa State lives up to expectations and there is another bowl game to attend this year. One in Phoenix would be nice!

If not, the Final Four is in Minneapolis this season and the Iowa State basketball team is loaded with talent!

Alexis, Baseball/Softball, Elainie, Event, Jason, Jaycees, Music, Night, Shannon, Tenderloining

06-22-08 & 06-23-08

August 11, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There is a bit of variety in the folders 06-22-08 & 06-23-08.

There are pictures of Elainie playing softball.

There are pictures of an Ames on the Half Shell concert. Vivace I believe.

There are pictures of Scottie D. and I tenderloining.

Have a look:

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

Royals Win!

Tenderloin Quest: The Beginning

Vivace

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve more Ames on the Half Shell, tractors, the most accurate nickname I was ever given, and a wedding. The wedding if I’m feeling ambitious.

Contests, Event, Pufferbilly Days

Lots of the Wrong Color

August 9, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

2018 Pufferbilly Days Runoff Polls.

Don’t forget to hit the vote button after making your selection.

Vote in both polls!

POLL #1

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POLL #2

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Thanks for your participation!

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Today is the first day of the Iowa State Fair. Don’t forget that I have 2 pictures on display at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon in the Cultural Building. You better go check them out!

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Hitting up the 2017 back log. A bunch of tractors came to Boone back in July of 2017. I honestly can’t remember the reason why right now. I’m pretty sure it was part of the annual WHO tractor ride thing.

The reason is irrelevant though.

What matters is I went out to where they were parked during the last few drops of sunlight and took some photos.

Here are those photos:

The weird thing is that some of the tractors were the right color, but had weird names like Oliver on them. Strange.

Animals, Black & White, Christianity, Event, Flowers, Macro, Photoshop, Railroad

Focus Stack II

August 8, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

There are only a few hours left to cast your vote for what pictures I will be entering in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. If the poll ended this second, this would be the results:

2018 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

This photo would win. It has a 2 vote lead.

This photo….

Is tied with this photo. So tomorrow there would be an emergency runoff election.

This photo would win. It has a 4 vote lead.

This photo would win. It has a one vote lead.

This photo…

Would be tied with this photo. Tomorrow there would be an emergency runoff election.

This photo would win. It has a 2 vote lead.

There still is about 7 hours to vote, if you haven’t voted yet.

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Once again, I’ve been messing around a little bit with focus stacking. Here are 2 images I created with the technique:

I think I’ll continuing playing with these technique more in the future.

Animals, Becky, Blogging, Commercial, Contests, Derrick, Event, Jaycees, Mom, Music, Shannon, Shorty, Vest

06-14-08

August 4, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

I have selected 60 images for you to consider. To simplify things, I have split the 60 photos into 6 sets of 10. If you wish to exercise your enfranchisement, clicking on the link below will take you to Poll #1. Vote for one of those pictures and then move onto the next poll, until you have voted in all six polls.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

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TRIGGER WARNING!!! TRIGGER WARNING!!! TRIGGER WARNING!!!

If your name is Micky and you are a purpose of a cowardly disposition, be warned, snakes lie ahead!

Normally I don’t like to warn people that there might be something they find scary or offensive ahead. However, I know Micky is particularly scared of snakes. So much so, that he brokered a deal with his wife that she handles any snakes that they come across along the path of their wedded bliss.

The hype about him being a great outdoorsman might be a little overhyped.

Now that little bit of unpleasantness is out of the way, the images that come from the folder 06-14-08 are mostly from Ames on the Half Shell. However, some involve a snake. Some involve the Ames Party Bus.

Here are the pictures:

The snake was in Shorty and Doris’ flowerbed. The band that was playing Ames on the Half Shell was Burnin’ Sensations. They are still together and still playing. I haven’t seen them in several years, but back in the day, they used to be a real fun band to watch play.

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

Flowerbed Buddy

Burnin’ Sensations

There are more pictures from the Burnin’ Sensations that I didn’t include in this blog, but you can peruse them by clicking on the link below:

AMES THE HALF SHELL – 2008

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve more Ames on the Half Shell, some Little League, and maybe, just maybe some tenderloining.

Animals, Christianity, Contests, Event, Flowers, Macro, Nature, Photoshop, Politics, Railroad, State Fair, WPC - Reminder

Flowers, Always and Always

August 3, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

As of this writing, if there are no votes between now and the end of the voting, these will be the Entries:

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A friendly reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is TREE:

TREE

A TREE picture is any picture that involves a TREE or a TREE byproduct.

Happy photo harvesting!

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I must have flowers, always and always.
-Claude Monet

Monet is one of my favorite painters and his work is definitely an influence on my photography. There was a point that I could argue that my most popular photo was named after Monet’s personal garden. I called the photo “My Giverny”.

I respect Monet’s love of flowers. I like to have a wide variety of flowers in my yard. Of course, I always have to visit the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fair.

These are the balance of pictures from my trip to the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fair last year:

I have more State Fair pictures to share at some point in the future. The near future.

Event, Street Photography

FIRE! Vol. 2

July 25, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

In the nearly 2 years since the city burned down the empty, abandoned house on Mamie and Benton, it has become a grass lot. They also widened Benton street, but they did a weird thing with the turning lane where the right lane and the straight lane are the same lane, but you have to veer left to go straight. On at least 2 separate occasions I have been almost hit by some moron in the left turn lane that just decides to go straight. Lucky for me, I have dog like reflexes and the Camry handles like a dream. She only ever gets hit when unattended in a parking lot. By somebody that just takes off, rather than leaving a note. But I digress.

Here is the balance of the photos of the Boone Fire Department burning down an old house on the corner of Mamie and Benton.

And that concludes the look at Boone Fire Department burning down a house in Boone. I am one step closer to being done editing every picture from 2016. There are some very big steps left though.

Event, Photoshop, Street Photography

FIRE! Vol. 1

July 18, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Hitting that 2016 backlog again. This time, we are going back to when the Boone Fire Department burned down a house on the corner of Mamie and Benton.

Like most people, I like fire. So I took lots of pictures.

Here is the first collection:

There are plenty more fire photos in the hopper! So stay pumped!