Category Archives: Football

Candid Portrait, Flat Earth Joe, Football, Iowa State, Jorge

Iowa State 40 Texas Tech 31

November 4, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Once again, as soon as I touched my camera, Iowa State had a punt blocked for a touchdown. So most of these pictures are from our annual Taco Tailgate.

Iowa State is 4-0* during Taco Tailgate.

It was a huge win for the Cyclones! If they win out, they have a real good chance to play in the Big 12 Championship Game!

But first things first! Need to beat Baylor at home next week. They have really improved since last year and are coming off a big win over Oklahoma State.

*We don’t talk about the Texas game and the 2 Texas fumbles that the refs gave back to Texas because… Texas.

Becca, Bethany, Derrick, Football, Iowa State, Jim, Laura, Nate

Iowa State 30 #6 West Virginia 14

November 3, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

You may recall that I am not superstitious, but I am a littlestitious when it comes to sports. Every time I touch my camera at an Iowa State football game, things go bad for Iowa State. Therefore, I don’t have many pictures from Iowa State’s monumental victory over #6 West Virginia.

Here are a few of the pictures that I have:

A couple of quick observations.

#!. Those black uniforms were sick! I can’t wait until they crack them out again. I’d like to see them with some kind of alternate helmet at some point. I know that lots of old people don’t understand the black uniforms. That doesn’t matter. Those uniforms aren’t for them. They are for the players and for recruits. The players and recruits love them! That is all that matters. Period. This is one of the things that Matt Campbell understands that previous Iowa State coaching staffs haven’t. It is one of the reasons why every year he puts together a new best class in Iowa State history. He is truly building something special at Iowa State. I can’t wait to see what kind of special uniforms they crack out next season. The one thing they haven’t really done yet is an alternate helmet design, besides the bugle helmet last year. I’m on record as hating Iowa State’s I-State logo. Therefore I didn’t hate the bugle as much as most people did last year. However, an alternate helmet that brought back Cy would be amazing. But what I would really love to see is a helmet that brings back the 80s cyclone design.

Click on the link below to see an Iowa State fan designed logo that I would love to see and I would buy ALL the merch for:

Kagavi

#2. Iowa State plays Kansas today. Kansas is wearing alternate uniforms that honor the military. So alternate uniform haters can get their hate game going today at 11 AM I wish I was able to get down there for that game, but instead I’ve decided to go see my new niece and nephews. If you haven’t heard, Nate and Laura gave birth (well, mostly Laura, but Nate helped) to a healthy set of triplets a couple weeks ago. I’m heading down to meet them with Bethany, Becca, and Jim today. Therefore, stay by your phones for baby pictures!

#3. If I were the type of person that used profanity on my blog (besides when I’m quoting somebody) I would drop an F bomb right here. It would be directed towards West Virginia head coach and noted cry baby Dana Holgorsen. He was less than a class act after Iowa State stomped his Mountaineers like maggots. He gave Iowa State no credit for dismantling his team and ending his quarterback’s Heisman trophy dreams. Then he went into full cry baby mode because Iowa State fans stormed the field. I’ve been apart of probably 10 or so field storms at Jack Trice Stadium over the years. This was the most peaceful one I’ve ever seen. Holgorsen cried about it and the Big XII fined Iowa State $25,000 dollars to placate his ego. Last week Kansas fans stormed the field after beating TCU and Oklahoma State fans stormed the field after beating Texas. Neither university was fined because TCU and Texas both have coaches that are fully functioning adults. Instead of a large man-baby. So yeah, Dana Holgorsen can go… well you can use your imagination.

Iowa State plays at Kansas at 11 AM this morning. Go Cyclones!!!

Andy, Angie, Candid Portrait, Carla, Cathie, Football, Iowa State, Kim, Michelle, Shannon, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 161 – ENTERTAINMENT

October 15, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

A metric ton of people were motivated by ENTERTAINMENT this week. I think this was one of the higher submission weeks in months!

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

Cathie Raley

Carla Stensland

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Michelle Haupt

Tamara Peterson

Angie DeWaard

Andy Sharp

Christopher D. Bennett

Carla Stensland

Mike Vest

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:

COLLECTIBLE

COLLECTIBLE! What a great theme! But what is a COLLECTIBLE image. It is simple enough. It is an image of anything that is COLLECTIBLE. Some people collect Funko Pops. Some people collect old cameras. Some people collect the souls of their enemies. But enough about me. I’m sure there are other things to collect. Like spoons or shot glasses or figurines. A picture of anything that is COLLECTIBLE is a COLLECTIBLE image.

As always, I look forward to 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

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.

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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 collected Monday.

Brandon, Football, Iowa State, K.J., Music, Street Photography

Iowa State 26 Akron 13

September 23, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Yesterday, Iowa State had an emotional football game.

Before the game, there was a moment of silence for Celia Barquin Arozamena. They placed her picture in the endzone where she would have stood to be honored as the Female Athlete of the Year. Both the Iowa State and Akron football teams wore CBA decals on their helmets. They played a video tribute to her on the video board. The team came out with a Spanish flag. At least 70% of the fans wore yellow/gold to honor her memory. The Iowa State University Cyclone Varsity Marching Band spelled out her initials on the field.

The game was almost an afterthought and it played kind of like one. Iowa Sate beat Akron 26-13 in a somewhat lackluster game.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Next Saturday Iowa State is on the road against TCU. Kickoff is at 6 PM. As always, you are welcome to come watch the game with me in the Union Street Theater.

Football, Iowa State, Music, Street Photography

Iowa State vs. Oklahoma

September 16, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Yesterday, Iowa State returned to Jack Trice Stadium and played much, much, much better than they did against Iowa.

They played #5 Oklahoma, a legitimate national title contender and kept the game within striking distance until the final 2 minutes of the game.

I took plenty of pictures of the game day, but I didn’t take any 2nd half pictures. I’m not superstitious, but I’m a littlesticious. The less I touched the camera, the better Iowa State did. So I didn’t touch the camera at all in the 2nd half.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Hopefully the Cyclones can get into the win column next Saturday against Akron, but that same Akron team just went on the road and beat Northwestern. Iowa State never catches a break.

It is true that Northwestern is a part of the complete trash Big Ten West (Iowa and Minnesota are the only schools in that division that won yesterday and Iowa was playing a bad FCS team and Minnesota was playing Miami and not the one in Florida). Nebraska lost to Troy. One guy. Beat the vaunted Corned Huskers.

While Iowa State should certainly still win, the game suddenly looks much harder than it did 2 weeks ago

I took many more pictures from the game. You can peruse them by looking at the link below:

IOWA STATE VS. OKLAHOMA

For those that have been asking. We are hoping to have Taco Tailgate this year on either October 13 for the West Virginia game or October 27 for the Texas Tech game. I just found out that I am going to a Foo Fighters concert on October 12, so October 27 is the most likely scenario.

I am also still looking at arranging a road trip to the November 3 game against Kansas. Contact me if you are interested.

Derrick, Football, Iowa State, Self-Portrait

The Game that Never Happened

September 2, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Saturday was the beginning of one of my favorite times of year: college football season! In particular, Iowa State football season!

Iowa State was slated to play the Jackrabbits from South Dakota State (a school with a certain amount of campanile envy) at 7 PM in Jack Trice Stadium. There was a little bit of rain as the game started, but nothing to be worried about.

Iowa State kicked off to South Dakota State. South Dakota got one 1st Down and then the Cyclone defense tightened and forced a punt.

Iowa State got the ball and their first 2 plays lost 2 yards. On 3rd and 12, Kyle Kempt found Hakeem Butler across the middle for a big gain. A couple plays later, Deshaunte Jones grabbed a Kempt pass, slipped and almost fell down*. Regained his balance. Made a couple Jackrabbits look foolish. Scampered down the sideline, with a burst of speed, and then nonchalantly walked into the end zone 55 yards later for a 7 point Cyclone lead.

Then lightning struck within 8 miles of The Jack and the game went into a weather delay. It never came out of the weather delay. The game ended up being cancelled.

I did take quite a few pictures of warm ups, since it was a night game, I knew that the lighting would prevent decent pictures much past the 1st quarter. Here are some of those pictures:

Touchdown pass!

Hopefully Iowa State is able to schedule another game to replace the one that got cancelled. I’m guessing that is a long shot however.

I guess the team with have to rally and get ready this week for Iowa. I have faith in them!

*CORRECTION: From my vantage point, I thought that he had slipped and almost fell down, but after having seen the play on the tele, it is clear, that he actually just made a sweet move and made a Jackrabbit wish he hadn’t got off the bus.

Andy, Becky, Cathie, Evie, Football, Formal Portrait, Gretchen, Kim, Micky, Photoshop, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 154 – COMPETITION

August 27, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

COMPETITION wasn’t an extremely popular theme, even in this non-competitive WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

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

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

Becky Parmelee

Micky Augustin

Cathie Raley

CANDID PORTRAIT!

CANDID PORTRAIT! What a great theme! What does it mean? A candid portrait is one where the subject is unaware that a photo has been taken. The idea of a candid portrait is to capture people acting naturally. They should be unaware they are being photographed, as their behavior often changes once they become aware of the camera.

Remember! Next Monday is Labor Day. While the bank, your job, and the government might take that day off, Photography 139 does not! Plan on submitting your photo accordingly. No rest for the wicked! Money don’t grow on trees. I got bills to pay. I got mouths to feed. There ain’t nothing in this world for free. Oh no, I can’t slow down. I can’t hold back. Though you know, I wish I could. Oh no, there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

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.

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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 candid Monday.

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!

Baby Got Rack, Bethany, Boone FUMC, Carla, Contests, Flowers, Football, Movies, Nature, Photo Journal, Photoshop, Vest, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 86

August 10, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

First of all, thanks to everybody who voted to determine what pictures I will enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. I have the 6 entries determined and will be ordering them this weekend.

Pufferbilly Days is September 7, 8, and 9 this year. You can see the photos at the new KWBG Building. That is located on the corner of 9th and Keeler. I don’t know for certain, but my sister Carla will most likely be entering photos as well. She did last year and did very well. There is also a fair chance that frequent WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE contributor Mike Vest will be entering as well.

Other Pufferbilly Days activities you might enjoy watching. Bethany will be running in the 10K. I don’t that Willy is, but I bet he does.

I normally don’t recommend going to parades. They are boring. Too long. Also, they are boring. However, you might want to give some consideration to going to the parade this year. While it isn’t a certainty, there is a pretty good chance I’ll be in the parade for Boone First United Methodist Church. Represent!

Also, on September 8, I’ll be opening the doors of the Union Street Theater* for an Iowa State-Team Out East Game Watch. All Cyclone fans are invited! Hawk fans, I think I can find an old analog television I can set up for you to watch in the garage. Kickoff is 4 PM. There will be snacks. You never know, I might have a popcorn machine by then. Probably not though. I have an electricity thing that I need done and all my electrician type friends have fallen through.

There is a rumor that Baby Got Rack will be competing in a barbecue contest on the Sunday of Pufferbilly Days, but they don’t list such a contest on the Pufferbilly Days website, so stay tuned for more information on that. Otherwise, you can come down to the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday to support us as we compete in the barbecue contest down there. Although, admittedly, we won’t be going all out down there. If there is a Pufferbilly Days contest, we will be bringing out the Cow. Probably Sir-Pigs-a-Lot as well. Stay tuned!

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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is FEAR!

FEAR!

I would describe the difference between a FEAR photo and a SCARY photo as a SCARY photo is a picture of something SCARY while a FEAR photo is a reaction to something SCARY. However, feel free to interpret the theme any way you see fit.

Happy photo harvesting!

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A week or so back, a nice little storm ripped through Boone. I used it as a good opportunity to knock out Page 86 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 86 – Use Exposure as a Metaphor

This is the water tower that is about a block from where I live. The exposure compensation for this picture was set at -2.3.

Although I took several pictures, only one can be physically adhered into the physical PHOTO JOURNAL. The physical PHOTO JOURNAL is housed at Photography 139 Studio. It can be seen by appointment. It is protected by the Photography 139 security dog when I am not there.

Here are the ones that won’t be in the book:

-4.3

-3.0

-2.7

-3.0

-4.0

-2.3

-2.0

-2.3

-3.7

-4.0, but this one also had a lot of Photoshop tinkering done to it.

Next time we check into THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, we will probably visit Page 52, but nothing in life is certain, but death and taxes and Iowa football players getting arrested. For mistaking a police car. For an Uber.

*The Union Street Theater Movie Club’s August meeting will be August 26. Projector rolls at 6 PM. This month the double feature is bird themed. The B movie will be BIRDEMIC 2: THE RESURRECTION. The feature film will be the Alfred Hitchcock classic THE BIRDS. Snacks may also be bird themed. Or not. I have to talk to a guy.

Andy, Candid Portrait, Football, Jaxon, Mission Trip, Road Trip, Vacation, Youth Group

Houston (Vidor) Mission Trip – Day 7

July 6, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

This is my telling of my experience on the Boone First United Methodist Church Youth Group’s Mission Trip to Houston (Vidor). There were 18 people on the mission trip and all of them experienced the mission trip in a completely different way than I did.

Therefore, you should pull your tired bones out of bed on Sunday, July 8 and drag yourself to the basement of the Boone First United Methodist Church (703 Arden Street) between worship services (approximately 10 AM) and listen to the other 17 people give their testimony about the mission trip. I’ll probably run my yap as well. There will also be a video. Also, there will be refreshments.

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Friday morning everybody works on cleaning the building. Then you have a quick breakfast (usually this is a packed breakfast), everybody says goodbye and then you hit the road for the long, long, long trip back to the Cyclone State.

After cleaning the building, the kids got to put a pie in the face of each of the YouthWorks employees as a reward for buying so many shirts.

My day in pictures:

YouthWorks!

Jaxon packed up and ready for the road!

Our toilets for the last 18 hours.

Breakfast!

Megan got one of the honors.

Pie in the face!

This was Talia. I think she was literally in pain.

Ashley was next. She was the Site Director.

Last was Brogen.

Our super caring kids did lead blinded Talia to the water.

Group photo!

Before we headed back we stopped by the Texans’ practice field. Megan’s “hot” older brother is the turf manager for the Texans.

He oversees their 3 grass practice fields.

He also see the turf on their indoor practice field.

The guy is like 26 and he already has his dream job. Thanks to a degree from Iowa State University.

Group photo on the Texans logo.

A closer photo.

Overturning a practice tire.

Kyle sized tire.

The Schoff Bros.

I was shocked to see that the Astrodome is still standing. They are turning it into a parking garage.

Inside NRG Stadium. He is also in charge of the turf in the stadium.

We also got a tour of the stadium where Houston’s professional soccer teams play.

Also managed by somebody from Boone County. This time from Ogden. Also an Iowa State graduate. Seeing a trend?

Most the tour was of the concourse, we weren’t able to go down onto the field because the Houston Dash had a game that night.

Celebrating in the pool at the hotel in Tulsa. (Photo cred: Tiffany)

Not pictured:

Most of the day. After we left Houston, most of the rest of the day was spent on the road with one mission. To get to the hotel in Tulsa before the pool closed at 11. We ate lunch at a Chick-Fil-A. Then we drove with only bathroom stops all the way to Tulsa. We got there a little before 10.

Andy was a swell guy and ordered up a bunch of pizzas from a local pizza place in Tulsa. I think the place was called Mazzio’s. It was delicious.

The kids got to swim in the pool until almost midnight, before the hotel employees realized they were still in there and kicked them out.

For the first time in over a week, I got to sleep in a bed. It was glorious! It was everything I remembered that sleeping could be!