Category Archives: Nature

Union Grove State Park

July 31, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

On the same day that I drove to Decorah to check out their waterfall, I stopped at Union Grave State Park to see their waterfall.

I don’t actually think it counts as a waterfall though. It is a spillway, that some how consistently shows up on the list of Iowa waterfall. Actually if you look at most of the waterfalls on that list, many of them are spillways, which I don’t consider to be waterfalls. Although, I guess you could argue that water does indeed fall at these locations.

It is still pretty, from a distance.

Here are some pictures:

Still jonesin’ for an Iowa road trip. Need to get that on the calendar.

Alexis, Baseball/Softball, Black & White, Carla, Jesse, Lowell, Nature

06-11-08

July 28, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The folder named 06-11-08 contained a wide assortment of photos. Pictures of strange culinary delights from Kentucky, flood pictures, merry-go-rounds, and Little League.

I believe that at least 2 of the pictures of Alexis were entered into a photo contest here and there.

The culinary oddities were brought back from Kentucky with Teresa. I’m not sure why I was at the Little League Park. I guess I was feeling good about humanity and needed that to be squashed in the quickest way possible.

Here are the pictures from the folder 06-11-08:

There are actually quite a few more pictures from my trip to the Little League Park. If you are interested in perusing them, click on the link below:

Boone Little League

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

BNLL

3 THINGS

THE WAR OF HOT DOG AGGRESSION

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve Ames on the Half Shell.

Black & White, Flowers, Jay, Nature, Road Trip, Willy

Maquoketa Caves State Park: Chapter 2

July 26, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

More backlog today. So much backlog to get through.

More pictures from Jay, Willy, and I’s trip to THAT part of the state to visit the caves of Maquoketa Caves State Park.

Hot, humid, harsh lighting. Everything my summer Saturdays seem to be.

Don’t worry cave lovers, there are a few more cave images left in the hopper!

Andy, Animals, Baby Got Rack, Black & White, Boone County Fair, Candid Portrait, Contests, Derrick, Macro, Mom, Nature, Scottie D., Shorty, Travel

Boone County Fair 2018 Results

July 25, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

I was involved in 2 contests at the Boone County Fair this year. Now that the fair is in the past and I’ve had adequate time for reflection, I think it is a good time to share the results from the contests I entered.

First, the Open Class Photography Contest. You may recall that I had people vote to decide what pictures I entered. These are the five that were voted in and what they received:

Blue Ribbon

Purple Ribbon

Red Ribbon

Purple is the best. Red is the second worst, I guess. You can also get a white ribbon. I figured the reflection picture would resonate well with the Boone County Fair “judges”, because there is no obvious photographic technique. The subject is debatable. It doesn’t follow any rules for composition. To some degree, it is hard to tell what is in focus. It is a terrible photo contest photo. But it is a cool looking photo. You could print that up (perhaps on metal) and put that on your wall.

I reiterate, that I don’t enter photo contest to win ribbons. I just like to have pictures be seen. Whatever prize comes or doesn’t come, so be it.

I will run a similar program to pick out the pictures to be entered in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. It will be slightly different because people struggled to figure out how to use the website, so I will try to make it as not tech savvy as I can. None of these pictures, nor the pictures from the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon will be eligible to be in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

That is my rule, not theirs. I never enter a photo in more than one photo contest. I will be bagging these photos up and be putting them in the Photo Contest trunk in the next couple of days. The trunk is running low on space, so I will be needing to upgrade or get another trunk in the near future.

Look for your chance to vote at the beginning of August.

The other contest I entered during the Boone County Fair was the Farm Bureau Cookoff. Technically Scottie D.’s name is the name on the entry, but this was a Baby Got Rack entry. Although, let us face it. Scott is the talent of Baby Got Rack.

There was a bit of confusion with the contest as the rules had changed quite a bit from previous years and also, were not well written. At our team meeting on the Thursday before the competition, there was much discussion about not even entering the contest.

According to the new rules, set up was at 1 PM and judging was at 4 PM. That is not enough time to smoke a piece of meat. It takes a minimum of 1 hour to get the fire going and the air circulation to where you want it. Then the quickest meat to smoke is pork loin. It needs to smoke for 2 hours. 1 hour 45 minutes at the least. Then it needs to rest for at least half an hour, otherwise all the juices will be lost when you cut into it.

There just isn’t time!

We thought about just showing up and winging it. We had once made a Chili Cheese Dog Pizza on a whim. It was delectable. It was delicious. We have never made it since.

On Friday, Scott talked to the people running the contest and they told him that we were allowed to show up and set up at 8 AM. That is enough time to do a rack of ribs right.

The other major change was the limitation of only being able to enter 2 categories.

At the Thursday meeting we must have went around in circles for hours about what 2 categories to enter. When the 1 PM rule disappeared, the answer became clear:

+Combination
+Pork

Here are a few pictures from Baby Got Rack’s day at the Boone County Fair:

Photo Cred: Dawn Krause

We took 1st Place in Combination.
We took 2nd Place in Pork.

That means that we will be going to the Iowa State Fair to compete on Tuesday, August 14th. If you are at the Fair that day, I would encourage you to come by and root us on. Judging will be at 10 AM.

After that, your next chance to try Baby Got Rack Barbecue will be at Pufferbilly Days. After that, you will have to wait until my birthday. Incidentally, the theme of my 2019 birthday party is going to be cargo shorts. It was going to be cargo shorts and jorts, but I have been told that jorts are considered stylish now. I don’t believe it, but I can’t take the risk!

Becky, Commercial, FNSC, Jay, Monica, Nature, Scottie D., Tenderloining

06-10-08

July 21, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

There is a lot going on in the pictures from the folder 06-10-08!

There is a sunset.

There is FNSC.

There is the first official outing of The Tenderloin Appreciation Society.

There are pictures of the Ames Party Bus.

Let’s get to it!

The first tenderloining experience was at the Lake Shore Cafe. It was a restaurant-slash-bait shop on the banks of the Don Williams Lake. Monica worked there and recommended their tenderloin highly. It was on this day that we discovered that Monica doesn’t know anything about tenderloins.

The Ames Party Bus was the dream of Becky. She bought this bus and over months turned it into a party bus. However, the dream was short-lived. If I remember correctly, the Iowa Legislature took time out of their busy schedule of passing voter suppression legislation and regulations on women’s bodies to make the cost of insurance on a party bus prohibitive. Another example of politicians being in the pocket of Big Party Bus.

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

SUNSET

A NEW TENDERLOIN JOINT

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flooding, Little League, and hot dog sauce!

Baby Got Rack, Candid Portrait, Contests, Jay, Nature, Road Trip, Willy

Maquoketa Caves State Park: Chapter 1

July 19, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

An announcement!

Today is the beginning of the Boone County Fair. On Saturday, Baby Got Rack will be competing in the Barbecue Competition. You should come out an support us. I think we will be there pretty much all day. I think judging is at 4 PM.

See you there!

You can also check out the photos I entered in the Boone County Fair Photography Contest.

+++++++

Jay, Willy, and I hopped in the car and went on a road trip to Maquoketa Caves State Park. At this point, I’ve published every ancillary photo from the trip, but not the pictures from the actual Caves State Park.

I begin that process now.

It was a brutally hot and humid day. Spending time in caves was very refreshing. However, the day had the worst photographic conditions you can imagine. The lighting was brutal.

I soldiered on though.

Here is the first batch of pictures from Maquoketa Caves State Park:

Photo Cred: Jay Janson

More pictures from this epic adventure coming your way soon!

Boone FUMC, Music, Nature, Road Trip, Youth Group

Decorah Waterfall

July 12, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

A quick announcement before we get to the meat of this entry.

I will be working a concession stand at the Boone Municipal Band Festival today for the church. I will be there. I think some of my family. Some of the kid’s from the youth group. I think the money will go to the youth group, but I’m not entirely sure.

Unfortunately, we have no freedom with the menu. We are being forced to serve beef burgers. I know. Gross. The loose meat sandwich is an abomination that will burn in hell next to the only thing more evil than it. The open faced sandwich.

Oh, you don’t think I’d forgotten about the open face sandwich had you! Oh no, my hatred for you still burns. IT BURNS!

That being said, you could do worse than come out and buying some water or chips or tea from us. You can even buy a stupid loose meat sandwich and then just throw it in the trash where it belongs.

You will be doing 2 good deeds that way. Supporting a good cause and making sure there is one less loose meat sandwich in the world.

Also, the Municipal Band Festival usually has pretty good music.

We will be working the concession stand from 2-7.

While I know I’m not selling you on the food, I had forgot to mention there would also be pie for sale. Delicious homemade pie!

Come and get it!

+++++++

Back in May of 2017 I went on a little road trip to Decorah to see their waterfall. I would call it by name, but I’ve seen it spelled about 4 different ways. So we’ll just call it the Decorah Waterfall.

Here are some pictures:

The last 2 pictures are from the Ice Cave. I didn’t go very far into the cave because I was travelling alone and I didn’t want to get stuck in a crevice without somebody being able to point and laugh at me or pull me out. That is the price the Lone Wolf* has to pay to be a Lone Wolf!

*Scientifically documented.

Andy, Animals, Baby Got Rack, Contests, Flowers, Football, Holidays, Iowa State, Kio, Linda, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Mom, Nature, Pastor Sarah, Photoshop, Shannon, Teresa, Travel, Vest

Freedom and Flowers

July 4, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?
-Oscar Wilde

Before we get into the meat of today’s blog, we need to start with…

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you had an continue to have an enjoyable 4th of July!

+++++++

Time to hit up the back log and publish more pictures from Donna Jones’s flower bed!

There are more of Donna Jones’ flowers in the hopper. For those of you that are fans of “flower porn” as Micky likes to call it.

+++++++

The votes have been tabulated and these are the photos that I will be entering in the Boone County Fair:

Technically there was a frog picture that got more votes than the picture of Shorty, but I’m not going a photo contest without entering a black & white image.

Thanks to the people that voted: Sarah Karber, Michelle, Micky, Vest, Mom, Teresa, Shannon, Kio, Aunt Linda, Jordan, Andy, and all of the fellow SmugMuggers that voted.

If you want to see the photos in the flesh (so to speak) they will be on display at the Community Building at the Boone County Fairgrounds. on July 21 and 22.

Baby Got Rack will also probably be competing on July 21. So mark your calendar!

We will do something similar when it comes to the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

9 Emotions Project, Animals, Bethany, Black & White, Contests, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Macro, Nature, Travel

The 9 Emotions Project – Bethany

July 3, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Reminder, tonight at midnight is the deadline to vote on what pictures I enter at the Boone County Fair Photo Contest. Click on the link below to vote:

If the website isn’t working for you, email/text me your votes.

BOONE COUNTY FAIR PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY SELECTION

You must have a Facebook account or a Google+ account to vote. You vote by leaving a comment on a photo. You can vote for up to 5 photos.

If the website isn’t working for you, email/text me your votes.

Here are the currently leaders:

There are several pictures that are tied for the last 2 spots.

+++++++

Bethany was the most recent victim… subject of THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT. She is the 23rd person to participate in the project. I always have my eye on the next person to participate in the project. I can think of at least 3 people that have claimed that they were interested, but have yet to full under the aperture blades.

If you want to be #24, just contact me and we will get you on the calendar.

Bethany’s sitting was unique in the fact that I was experimenting with a new lighting set up for her session. She was a good sport.

Bethany – The 9 Emotions

In case you have forgotten, these are The 9 Emotions:

Joy

Sadness

Anger

Amusement

Fear

Jealousy

Surprise

Sympathy

Boredom

Hopefully I’ll publishing #24 very soon.

If you want to see past THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT subjects, click on the link below:

THE 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT

Maybe you’ll be inspired!

Angie, Animals, Carla, Cathie, Contests, Kim, Macro, Nature, Photoshop, Shannon, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 146 – BLACK

July 2, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

If you are having difficulty leaving a comment, just email/text me the numbers.

Reminder, you have until Tomorrow at midnight to vote on what pictures I enter at the Boone County Fair Photo Contest. Click on the link below to vote:

BOONE COUNTY FAIR PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY SELECTION

You must have a Facebook account or a Google+ account to vote. You vote by leaving a comment on a photo. You can vote for up to 5 photos.

If you are having difficulty leaving a comment, just email/text me the numbers.

As of this writing, there have been about 25 votes. Here are the currently leaders:

If future votes don’t change things, these will be the 5 photos that I enter in the Boone County Fair Photo Contest.

+++++++

It would seem that BLACK inspired a few people to crack out their cameras this weekend.

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

Carla Stensland

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Cathie Raley

Mike Vest

Angie DeWaard

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:

HANDS!

HANDS! What a great theme! But what is a HANDS picture? A picture that features HANDS! That is it! But remember that there is more than one definition of the word HANDS.

I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

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

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

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

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 handsy Monday.