Category Archives: WPC – Reminder

Animals, Automobiles, Iowa State, Logan, Music, Politics, Pufferbilly Days, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

Pufferbilly Days Parade – 2022

October 7, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

This year was the first year I made it to the Pufferbilly Days Parade where I wasn’t in it, since I don’t know when. At least a decade. I decided I better photograph it.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the parade:

There is generally nothing I find more boring than a parade, except for maybe fireworks. But I got enough enjoyment from going. At least from seeing the people I knew that were in it.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is VIOLET:

VIOLET

VIOLET! What a great theme for year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a VIOLET photo. It is simply any picture where the color VIOLET (or purple if you will) plays an important part of the composition. It can be a picture of something that is VIOLET. Or it can be surrounded by VIOLET. Heck, you can crack out a VIOLET filter and make everything VIOLET.

Happy photo harvesting!

Bill, Brandon, Derrick, Flat Earth Joe, Iowa State, Jesse, Jorge, K.J., WPC - Reminder

Taco Tailgate – 2022

September 30, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday before the Iowa State-Baylor football game we rekindled the old tradition known as Taco Tailgate. It was in the new lot (D1), but it was still as great as ever. Here are some Taco Tailgate pictures:

We don’t have the most elaborate setup, but we get to tailgate so rarely. However, we might tailgate again later this year and there will be more things added to the setup. More and more.

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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO PROJECT theme is RUINS:

RUINS

RUINS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a RUINS photo? It is simply a picture of something that has been abandoned, forgotten. Something that is rusting. Dilapidated. No longer being properly maintained. Or improperly maintained. This is one of my Top 5 favorite themes! It can be an old building. An old car. Just for examples. But there are a lot of things out there that have been abandoned. Forgotten. That are wasting away. Waiting for you to immortalize them through the art of photography.

Happy photo harvesting!

Contests, Pufferbilly Days, Railroad, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

Pufferbilly Days – Saturday Afternoon

September 23, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

On the Saturday afternoon of Pufferbilly Days I wandered around downtown for a bit. I watched the 1st Annual Mullet and Moustache Contest. I tried to watch the Spike Driving Contest, but the weather was so blazing hot, none of the people that signed up to compete showed up to compete. So there was nothing there to photograph.

Here are some pictures:

Still at least a couple more sets of Pufferbilly Days photos to share.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is SIGNS:

SIGNS

SIGNS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But what is a SIGNS photo? Quite simply is is a photo of a SIGN(s) or of SIGNS. SIGNS. SIGNS. There are SIGNS everywhere. Messing up the scenery. Breaking my mind. Do this, don’t do that. Can’t you read the SIGN(s)?

But one thing you should definitely do is find an interesting SIGN(s) and photograph it in an interesting manner. Of course there is more than one definition of the term SIGNS.

Happy photo harvesting!

WPC - Reminder

Week 367 Theme Reveal

September 19, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I am out and about and on the open road. Nowhere near a computer. Not in any shape to put together a collection of submissions for PATHS. I’m on my own PATH(s) right now. Probably somewhere in southeast Iowa. Depending on how good of time I’m making. I might be in an old timey general store right now. Or maybe I’m looking at a historical marker. Admiring some new art or some old ruins. It is hard to say. One thing for sure is that I’m not near a computer and I’m not ready to put together a post of your submissions.

However, you should start working on your ideas for this week’s theme. But what is this week’s theme?

SIGNS

SIGNS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But one thing you should definitely do is find an interesting SIGN(s) and photograph it in an interesting manner. Of course there is more than one definition of the term SIGNS.

While considering your possible subjects for your picture, meditate on the following quote:

The very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God’s mercy to me.
-Thomas Merton

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

I will post the submissions for PATHS later today, depending on when I get home. Sometime late in the evening.

Automobiles, Pufferbilly Days, WPC - Reminder

Pufferbilly Days – Car Show

September 16, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I headed up to Pufferbilly Days on the Friday Night to post the People’s Choice Standings. I thought I might get a funnel cake or check out the entertainment center, but I’m not even going to front. The band in there was so bad I had to check out after 1 really bad cover of Johnny Cash. Instead I walked through the car show. I’m not really a car guy, but I do like antiques and old stuff. Also, I know a few people that do the car show circuit and thought I might run into one or two of them.

Here are some pictures from my Pufferbilly Days Friday night.

The only car at the car show I could afford.

This car is made out of wood.

I still have many more Pufferbilly Days photos to share.

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This is your reminder that this weeks’ THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is PATHS:

PATHS

PATHS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

WARNING! WARNING! NEXT MONDAY I WILL NOT BE NEAR A COMPUTER DURING THE MORNING! THEREFORE, THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE NO REMINDER MESSAGES NEXT WEEK! YOU WILL BE ON YOUR OWN TO GET YOUR SUBMISSIONS IN!

But what is a PATHS image? It is simply an image where a PATH(S) is a major compositional element. Lots of things can qualify as a PATH(S). A sidewalk. A trail. A street. Railroad tracks. A PATH(S) doesn’t just show where somebody or something is going, but can also show where they have been.

Happy photo harvesting!

Football, Iowa State, Music, Street Photography, WPC - Reminder

Iowa State 42 SEMO 10

September 9, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Saturday was the first Iowa State football game of the season. Signifying the beginning of fall and the end of summer. Iowa State bested their FCS opponent 42-10. But I didn’t actually take any pictures of the game. I’m a littlestitious when it comes to taking a camera into the game, so this year I don’t know that I will at all. Perhaps for the Oklahoma game since, they will never sully the confines of Jack Trice Stadium again.

Instead, this year, I’m going to try to take more pre-game pictures. Our parking spot moved again this year. We are now in lot D-1. Last year we were in G-7. That lot is now the RV lot and it is completely unique. No other college football stadium has a lot like it in the entire country. It is setup like campsites with electricity ran to each spot. I don’t have an RV, but you combine that with the fact that the RV lot has easy access to the new pedestrian bridge. Makes me wish I had an RV. Other than, I have no place to park it, they get horrible gas mileage, and I don’t want to drive one. But other than that, sign me up for the RV lifestyle!

The plus about the new parking situation is that we are close to most of the pre-game festivities. The Spirit Walk and The Steps Concert. I didn’t get to either one to get a prime spot to take pictures, but I still took quite a few.

Here are some of my favorites from the day:

Iowa State vs South East Missouri - 2022

Too look at the rest of the pictures from the day, click on the link below:

Iowa State Cyclones – 2022

I hope to get there a little earlier for the Ohio game in a couple weeks, but my arrival time is somewhat at the mercy of Derrick’s work schedule. So we’ll see how that goes.

Go State!

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is GREEN:

GREEN

GREEN! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a GREEN image? Are you seriously asking that question? It is an image of something that is GREEN or GREEN plays a major part of the composition. That is it.

Of course, there is more than one definition of the word GREEN.

Happy photo harvesting!

Animals, Event, Flowers, Kio, Pufferbilly Days, WPC - Reminder

Pufferbilly Days Dog Show

September 2, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Another Pufferbilly Days event that I photographed was the Pufferbilly Days Dog Show. Technically, it is a pet show, but the only pets that show up are dogs. I mean, it is pretty obvious why nobody enters a cat, but I would think that somebody would enter a guinea pig or a hamster or a rat or a snake or a bearded lizard or a tarantula or a tortoise or a turtle or a fish or something. Makes me want to go buy a tarantula just to enter it. But I can’t. I’m the events official photographer. It is the sacrifice that I make. Maybe next year somebody will enter a tarantula.

Here are some pictures from the Pufferbilly Days Dog Show:

I look forward to the 2023 Pufferbilly Days Pet Show. Hopefully there will be plenty of spiders and lizards!

There are still plenty more Pufferbilly Days event photos left to share.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is COLORFUL.

COLORFUL

REMINDER IS LABOR DAY. WHILE SCHOOLS AND BANKS AND GOVERMENTS TAKE THE DAY OFF, THERE ARE NO DAYS OFF FOR PHOTOGRAPHY 139! I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING ON THAT DAY, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE I WON’T BE IN A POSITION TO REMIND ANYBODY ABOUT SUBMITTING. PLAN YOUR SUBMISSION ACCORDINGLY AND DON’T LET YOUR STREAK GET SNAPPED CAUSE YOU ARE A BANKER OR GOVERNMENT WORKER THAT GETS THE DAY OFF AND YOU GOT LOST IN WATCHING NETFLIX OR TAKING YOUR BOAT TO THE LAKE OR WHATEVER NORMAL PEOPLE DO ON LABOR DAY. MOSTLY MOURN THE END OF SUMMER I BELIEVE.

COLORFUL! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a COLORFUL image? If we break down the word COLORFUL it simply means something that is full of color. So any subject or scene where there is a lot of color is COLORFUL. Almost too easy! Many of the pictures taken for CIRCLE would also qualify for COLORFUL.

Of course, there is more than one definition of the term COLORFUL.

Happy photo harvesting!

Art, Pufferbilly Days, Running, Willy, WPC - Reminder

Pufferbilly Days Race

August 26, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I took a lot more pictures at Pufferbilly Days this year. At least I made the effort. This was for two reasons. One is because I’m going to use these images for the photo project I’m going to move onto after the completion of THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. The second reason is simply that I was around. I’m usually not around much during Pufferbilly Days. It used to be in September and September Saturdays are for Iowa State football. However, it was extremely hot on the Saturday of Pufferbilly Days. So hot that at least one event got moved to Sunday and I believe one event didn’t happen at all.

One event that definitely did happen was the Pufferbilly Days 5K and 10K. Thankfully it was ran early in the morning, cause I can’t imagine how brutal it would have been for the athletes if the race had been run at like 5 PM like it was in 2021.

I went up there to photograph part of the race cause Willy was running in it. There are also usually plenty of other runners I know in the competition. But this year Avril and Tiffany didn’t run. Neither did Katelyn. But she is teaching in the Czech Republic for the next year. So the only runners I knew were Willy and Katelyn’s sister Erica. Them and a new friend from Carroll.

One thing that was a little dangerous about the Pufferbilly Days Race is that it ended in front of the Dutch Oven Bakery. That intersection is also where the vendors for the Craft Fair were entering Story Street to setup their wares.

I setup near this intersection because more than one driver just blasted through the barriers in attempt to go to prison for vehicular manslaughter. Hyperbole? Not by much. While standing there, a guy who was attempting to stop traffic struck up a conversation with me.

He admired my shirt. I was wearing a shirt that Sara had made for me for my birthday. It says something about how Life is like a camera. I can’t remember the exact wording. He wanted to know if he could use my camera to take a picture of me. I suddenly felt like Grant from YOUNG GUNS.

Don’t remember Grant from YOUNG GUNS? Grant was the guy that Billy the Kid strikes up a conversation with in a saloon that brags to Billy the Kid, without knowing he is talking to Billy Kid, that he is going to kill Billy the Kid.

Billy asks Grant to hold his gun because:

“I admire you, Sir. And if I can touch the gun that’s gonna kill Billy the Kid…”

Grant relents and hands the gun to Billy. After Billy admires the gun for a bit, Grant asks for it back:

“Pass her back. Son. You stroke another man’s gun like that you might as well be strokin’ his woman.”

I don’t “have a woman”, but I feel the same way about my camera. I told him that I was good, but I appreciated the offer.

After that though we had a good conversation. I learned he was from Carroll and he was there watching his wife run. He asked me for restaurant recommendations in the area and he told me about his experience with Belluci’s and the Thompson Special. He was told it had a white sauce, but was horrified when he got it and learned the white sauce is mayonnaise. It made me laugh.

The pictures of the man running next to a woman filming her with his cell phone is my new friend from Carroll.

Here are some pictures I took of the race. The first couple of pictures are of sidewalk art done by local artist (and family friend) Don Hughes. It was a tribute to the 1963 Boone High Marching Band that marched in the Rose Bowl Parade. There was exhibit at the Boone Historical Society Museum about them. The farthest the Boone High Marching Band ever traveled in my day was Pella. Which is where the infamous Chuggler Incident happened. We don’t talk about the Chuggler Incident.

Lots more Pufferbilly Days photos to come! Choo! Choo!

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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is CIRCLE:

CIRCLE

CIRCLE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But what is a CIRCLE image? It is simply a picture where a major compositional element of the picture is a CIRCLE. 360 degrees of fury! There are CIRCLE(s) literally everywhere! Once you starting looking for them, it is hard to not see them everywhere.

Happy photo harvesting!

Baby Got Rack, Bethany, Contests, Nora, Scottie D., State Fair, WPC - Reminder

Baby Got Rack – Iowa State Fair – 2022

August 19, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

While I’m still not ready to reveal what picture got into the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon and what “award” it received, I am ready to share some pictures from Baby Got Rack’s day at the Iowa State Fair.

It was mostly great. We won 1st Place in our category (Combo/Specialty) and also won 1st Place in Showmanship. The only slight down is that we once again didn’t come home with the literal crown they give to Best of Show. That once again went to the guy that won Beef. Scott says that Beef doesn’t always win Best in Show. Scott is wrong about this, but we didn’t qualify for Beef so we couldn’t enter Beef. Anyways, this is one of the internal debates with the team. Like how some people on the team don’t realize that lemonade sucks. But what can you do?

Here are some pictures from the day:

It was a big day for Boone, which is low-key becoming the Barbecue Capital of the World. In addition to Scott’s TWO wins, Rashawn Parker of Boone captained Team Parker to 1st Place in Team. Sean Van Cannon of Boone also came home with 1st Place in Poultry. Just getting to the State Fair through the Boone County Fair is a gauntlet!

If you would like to peruse all the pictures from Baby Got Rack’s 2022 Season, click on the link below:

Baby Got Rack – 2022

It was an up and down season that ended on a high. We will be ready to go in 2023.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is WEEKENDS:

WEEKENDS

WEEKENDS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.
But what is a WEEKENDS photo? It is simply a picture taken of something you do on WEEKENDS. Or it could simply be of something you do this coming WEEKEND(S). So taking your picture this WEEKEND(S) is probably your best bet.

Happy photo harvesting!

Bethany, Nora, WPC - Reminder

WEEK 362 – THEME REVEAL

August 15, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I’m on vacation this week. While I don’t have grand plans for today, it is set aside for errands. If you are reading this, it has taken long enough that I haven’t had time to cobble together this post. Just cause I’m busy do stuff that isn’t incredibly fun, doesn’t mean you can’t get a start on this week’s theme:

WEEKENDS

WEEKENDS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But what is a WEEKENDS photo? It is simply a picture taken of something you do on WEEKENDS. Or it could simply be of something you do this coming WEEKEND(S). So taking your picture this WEEKEND(S) is probably your best bet.

While thinking on possible subjects for your WEEKENDS picture, mediate on the following quote for inspiration:

The only reason we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend.
-Chuck Palahniuk

But I also like this one:

Anybody have plans to stare at their phone somewhere exciting this weekend?
-Nitya Prakash

I look forward to your interpretation. The FAMILY interpretations should be posted later tonight.