Category Archives: Youth Group

Forgive Me for My Human Frailty

January 28, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

While I was working on “Friday’s” blog post, it occurred to me that perhaps it was time to share my biggest photographic screw-up of 2017.

I have many weaknesses as a photographer. My greatest weakness is that I have a tendency to dink with camera settings. That isn’t the bad part. The bad part is that I forget to change them back to a more standard setup for whatever my next photo shoot ends up being.

Back in May, I invited former Iowa State basketball player and current Christian missionary Jake Sullivan to speak to the Youth Group. I took a few pictures of the event, but wasn’t paying attention to the fact that I had left the camera in on a “creative effect” from the last time I was dinking with the camera. This created, pretty much unusable images coming from the event.

Have a look:

But you have to own your failures and move on from them as well.

Animals, Basketball, Flowers, Iowa State, Nature, Night, Photo Journal, Work, Youth Group

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Pages 50-51

January 21, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Pages 50-51 in the PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT are “A record of missed photo opportunities”. I think that the actual intention is to write down missed opportunities, but I translated it to mean times when the only camera I had on me was my phone. Sometimes that resulted in serviceable pictures and sometimes in not so serviceable pictures. Here are the 4 pictures that will be physically adhered into the physical photo journal:

The first 2 pictures were taken at the Computer Mine. One of my favorite aspects of the day job is that our building sits next to a little forest. There is quite the collection of wildlife that comes to our backdoor.

The third picture is from the annual Youth Group Hay Rack Ride.

The final picture was taken at an Iowa State women’s basketball game where we lucked into second row seats.

Black & White, Formal Portrait, Youth Group

Amber’s Family

January 17, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Every once in a while, a photographer gets to take important pictures. It is rare, but it does happen. I was given such an honor recently when Amber contacted me to take family pictures of her family before Christmas because her Grandpa was being put in hospice care.

Here are a few pictures from that day:

As of this writing Amber’s Grandpa is still at home under hospice care. The family hopes to keep him at home as long as possible. It was great getting to meet Amber’s grandparents. I can see why she turned out to be such an incredible human being.

Alisa, Event, Mom, Youth Group

Manger Things

December 14, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

I don’t usually explain the titles of the entries in The Artist’s Notebook, but I’m going to explain this one.

Last night as I was restlessly watching a DVRed copy of THE HUNT FOR THE ZODIAC KILLER and thinking about general events of the day, I played a snap from Alisa from her church’s youth group. The theme from their current sermon series is “Manger Things”.

A reference to the Netflix hit (and second best show on television) STRANGER THINGS.

I thought that was a clever idea and I’m curious how it is. Often times when Christians try to appropriate pop culture it comes off like this:

I’m hoping it is actually pretty cool, but I guess I’ll just never know.

On Sunday, following the soup supper my church (Boone First United Methodist Church represent!) did its own version of MANGER THINGS. Here are a few images:

Solid work from everybody involved! I think it was one of my favorite Christmas plays we’ve done to date!

Event, Kio, Mom, Politics, Youth Group

#Methodists2Houston

December 13, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett

I wanted to start today’s entry into An Artist’s Notebook by thanking Alabama for not sending a serial pedophile to the Senate.

Thank you Alabama for not sending a serial pedophile to the Senate.
Thank you Alabama for not sending a serial pedophile that thinks that homosexuality should be a crime and compared it to bestiality to the Senate.
Thank you Alabama for not sending a serial pedophile that thinks that homosexuality should be a crime and compared it to bestiality and thinks that we should get rid of the amendments that freed the slaves, gave African-Americans the right to vote, gave women the right to vote, and outlaws voter suppression via taxes.
Thank you Alabama!

Now to the meat of this entry. On Sunday night we had our annual Christmas Play at the church. Before the play the youth group hosted a soup supper as a fundraiser for the mission trip to Houston. Here are a few photos from that event:

Thank you to everybody that came out and supported the youth group mission trip and donated the fat stacks of cash!

Animals, Boone FUMC, Dae Hee, Derrick, Iowa State, Nader, Naima, Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Youth Group

Selfie Project – November

December 3, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

I don’t know that I did much that was particularly interesting in November, but I do feel like I did get some interesting photos, even though it doesn’t feel like I did that much in November.

Here are my favorites from THE SELFIE PROJECT from the month of November:

November 3

November 4

November 5

November 6

November 7

November 9

November 10

November 11

November 12

November 13

November 15

November 16

November 19

November 20

November 22

November 23

November 24

November 25

November 26

November 28

November 30

There is 1 month and one day left in THE SELFIE PROJECT. I’m sure that my Instagram followers look forward to its conclusion. I don’t know if I will substitute with a different daily project or if I will just take some time to sit under my own vine and fig tree.

If you do want to keep up with THE SELFIE PROJECT on a daily basis and see what other things I Insta, you can follow me under the following handle

@christopherdbennett

You can also see all of THE SELFIE PROJECT images by clicking on the link below:

SELFIE PROJECT – 2017

I’ll try to finish up the last 30 or so THE SELFIE PROJECT images strong! But we’ll see.

Alexis, Becca, Bethany, Boone FUMC, Dae Hee, Event, Football, Holidays, Kio, Laura, Mom, Nate, Road Trip, Shorty, Tamara, Teresa, Tim, Youth Group

Relationship Goals

November 26, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

I hope all of you had a marvelous Thanksgiving weekend! I had a particularly great Thanksgiving weekend myself.

On Thursday morning I got up and went down to the church (Boone First United Methodist represent!) to take photos of our annual Thanksgiving. This is the second year in a row I’ve photographed the event. From the initial looks, I’d say that we served more than double what we served the previous year.

After hanging with the church family, I went to my Mom’s house for my family Thanksgiving. As usual, it was great. As usual Mom’s cooking was on point. Teresa’s French Silk Pie was delicious as usual. We watched SING and Alexis put up the Christmas tree.

Friday I got up and did some G33 classified business, but it was lots of fun. Even though the cheating was even more rampant than usual.

At noon I went to the Wal-Mart and rang the bell for the Salvation Army. One of my favorite things to do every year. For the people watching aspect alone.

Friday night I went to Boxholm and had a supper prepared by Becca and Bethany. It was kind of a surreal experience because we had the meal in Shorty and Doris’ home. All their stuff is still there, but now their stuff is accented with Tim’s style. Which isn’t bad, but it is weird. However, Bethany and Becca rocked the meal. Turkey and duck?!? Insane!

Saturday morning Dae Hee and I hit the road for Manhattan to see Nate and Laura, plus watch the Iowa State Cyclones battle the Kansas State Wildcats in football. On the way down there we stopped at a Waffle House in St. Joe’s because we were hungry and I love me some Waffle House. However, the Waffle House experience was marred with tragedy. I was mistaken for an Iowa Hawkeye fan by a group of Nebraska fans. It took me awhile to figure out that they had mistaken me for such a low beast as a Hawkeye fan because I was blatantly dressed like a Cyclone fan. It just put a pall on the entire experience. I couldn’t even properly enjoy the road waffle that Waffle House generously gifted us.

The rest of the trip to Manhattan went without incident. Mostly Dae Hee sleeping and me explaining every song of HAMILTON to a sleeping Dae Hee.

We lunched at a place called Bourbon & Baker. It is a small plate restaurant and I would recommend it. I’d highly recommend their chicken and waffles and that isn’t just my love for waffles speaking. #wafflelife

After lunch Nate and Laura dropped us off at Vampire Stadium. Nate scored us great free seats from some old retired professor dude. We sat on the 40 yard line in actual seats. Other than them being in literally the smallest rows in the history of rows and being surrounded by Purple Kansans, it was a great experience. Until the 4th quarter. When all of a sudden it was as if the Vampire had called up Bill Self and asked to borrow his personal refs.

I’m not blaming the loss on the refs. Iowa State certainly aided Purple Kansas with horrible play calling, but I can say with 100% certainty, I’ve NEVER seen a time where the referees threw 3 flags on one team and picked them all up. Not in an entire season. Not in an entire game. Not in an entire half. Not in an entire quarter. Definitely not in a 5 minute period.

What particularly hurt is when Kansas State blatantly interfered with Iowa State’s all-world receiver Allen Lazard. The refs threw the flag, because it was pretty blatant. Then got together. Picked up the flag and then tried to pretend that they were decent human beings, which they obviously are not. If they make the correct call there, the game is over and Iowa State leaves Manhattan with a victory and all is right in the world.

But I think this tweet by Lazard really puts a comedic spin on the deal:

What made the loss almost worse is the fact that Purple Kansans are so incredibly nice. At least 15 of them came up to me or Dae Hee to thank us for coming to their stadium. To tell us that we have a great team. It was a great game. In my state of mind at the time, I almost would’ve preferred an obnoxious Hawkeye or Husker or Jayhawk fan.

I’m pissed. Don’t be nice to me.

After the wave of Purple Kansas Nice finally finished washing over us, Nate and Laura picked us up and Road Rage Laura took us to dinner at the Taphouse. Another Manhattan eatery I would recommend. Their Korean Wings are delicious. Their house brewed root beer was good, but not great. Very strangely they served it on ice. Must be a Purple Kansas thing.

Then the final twist of the knife came when I got a snap from somebody that was eating pizza from The Adobe. I’ve been badly hankering for some pizza from The Adobe for quite some time now. I guess that is my own fault for not just going myself.

After dinner I cashed in my chips and called it a night. I was physically and emotionally drained.

Nate got a text in the morning from Bethany that Nora was sick. We decided to skip breakfast and hit the road.

On the way out of town we stopped at Manhattan Hill. 8 AM. The only people there were Cyclone fans. It was universally agreed upon that we were all still pissed. We hopped in the car and headed home. That little Manhattan Hill therapy session definitely helped my mood a bit.

But I really brought you here to share some photos from church’s Thanksgiving meal:

The church server 521 meals on Thanksgiving! What an incredible blessing!

Alexis, Alisa, Anders, Animals, Baier, Becca, Bethany, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Derrick, Elainie, Evie, Flat Earth Joe, Holidays, House, Iowa State, Jason, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Johnathan, Jorge, Logan, Mom, Movies, Nader, Naima, Nate, Pastor Sarah, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Shorty, Tenderloining, Teresa, Tim, Willy, Youth Group

Won’t Take that Credit; I know Where We Get It; Them Blessings Be Comin’ from God Above

November 23, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Rather than my standard picture of an inflatable turkey, thought (with apologies to Lecrae, I’d give thanks for some of the many blessings in my life.

Count it up, count it up, count it up.
Line ’em up, line ’em up, line ’em up.

Blessed with a tremendous biological family. Blessed to share DNA and a life with these people.

Blessed to be a part of Olivia’s family. Blessed to learn a new definition of the word “family” from Shorty and Doris.

Blessed to be a part of an incredible church family. From Youth Group to Methodist Men to the people I see in the pews on Sundays.

Blessed to have a job and double blessed to have a great work family. 7 AM comes pretty early, but so many of the people I work with make the struggle worth the effort.

Blessed to share a life with this band of brothers. Not one of us has any fashion sense, but I’d still take a bullet for any of them.

Blessed to fit in with this band of sisters as well.

Blessed to be able to share my love of weird cinema with like minded individuals once a month.

Blessed to be a Cyclone and double blessed to have somebody to share so many trips to Jack Trice (a spiritual place for me) with.

Blessed to have a roof over my head that belongs to me. Blessed that I can extend that roof over friends and family when their life needs it. Blessed that when I say, “Want to help paint by house?” 20+ people show up.

Blessed that friends from past jobs are still important pillars of my current life.

Blessed that people that aren’t related to me consider me an uncle to them.

Blessed to have a car that I can drive out of town and not worry about the tire falling off.

Blessed to have so many people in my life that when I say, “I’m coming to your city”, they say, “You’re staying with us right?”

Blessed to have so many people in my life that fill gaps.

Blessed that even though I’m aged, I still healthy enough to still ball. Although pretty poorly these days.

Blessed that even though I’m aged, I still have people in my life that keep me young.

Blessed to have people in my life that want to change the world for the better, when I get cynical.

Blessed to have art in my life.

Blessed to have a beautiful beard. Even if the old guys at my church hate it.

Blessed to have people who will help with projects like this, no questions asked.

Blessed to share a life and a domicile with this crazy beast. Teaches me about selfless love every single day.

Blessed to have a chance to spread my blessings to others, sometimes, with some of my favorite people.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of my blessings. But I don’t want it to start to sound like I’m bragging.

Bill, Derrick, Football, Iowa State, Jesse, Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait Project, Youth Group

Selfie Project – October

November 2, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett 7 Comments

You can tell the year is starting to wind down. I don’t feel I did the best work on THE SELFIE PROJECT in October. It admittedly wasn’t the busiest month of the year for me, but I still had plenty of things go down. I’ll have to try to do better in November. Finish off THE SELFIE PROJECT strong!!

October 1

October 3

October 4

October 6

October 7

October 8

October 10

October 13

October 14

October 16

October 18

October 19

October 22

October 24

October 25

October 28

October 30

October 31

I do at least have plans to travel farther than Ankeny in November. So that is something!

Remember, you can follow THE SELFIE PROJECT’S daily progress by following me on Instagram:

CHRISTOPHERDBENNETT

We will check in on this project again in a month!

Boone FUMC, Event, Jaxon, Kio, Mom, Youth Group

Ain’t No Party Like a Methodist Party!

October 15, 2017 Christopher D. Bennett

A month or so back, my church (Boone First United Methodist Church, represent!) had their annual-ish summer is over kickoff party. So it doesn’t really have a name. But a bunch of Methodists get together at Herman Park and throw down some food and have a good time.

Here are some pictures from the event:

No poop emoji this year!

How do you know it is a Methodist Party. 4 PM. 80 degrees. Still serving coffee!

If you’re interested, there are many more photos that look like these to peruse by clicking the link below:

METHODIST PARTY

I would be counting down the days to the next Methodist Party, but that would falsely imply that a Methodist Party has stopped. “Which we all know that they don’t.