Missouri Food Challenges

I did a story on food challenges from across Missouri for Rural Missouri Magazine. I traveled to just about every corner of the state to shoot these photos. Met some amazing people and had some great food.

All of these photos I lit with either one or two SB900 Speedlights with Lastolite soft boxes. I fired them wireless with Pocketwizard Plus II.

Read more in the online edition at: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ruralmissouri/201210/#/20

Bair's Ultimate Mac Daddy Burger in Springfield. 

The Black Iron Grill's 77oz Steak Challenge includes a small salad, 5 peel-and-eat shrimp, dinner roll and large baked potato. 

The Man vs. Fish Challenge at Fiddler's Fish House in Dexter includes 20 catfish filets, a dozen hushpuppies, a basket of fries and a large bowl of cole slaw and baked beans. 

 

The El Azteca Burrito Challenge at Fiesta Azteca in Lee's Summit is a 7lb. burrito filled with chorizo, carne asada, beef, chicken, sour cream, lettuce and cheese. The burrito is topped with pico de gallo, sour cream, enchilada sauce and more cheese.

 

The Winkanator Challenge at Mary Jane's Cafe was named after head chef "Wink" (at left) by his son Brandon (at right). The 20-inch, 10-pound pancake is accompanied with 12 eggs, 12 pieces of bacon and 8 pieces of sausage. Wash it all down with two mega glasses of chocolate milk.

 

The Mega Moose Challenge at Moose Brothers BBQ in Russellville features a full slab of St. Louis-style ribs, 1lb. of pulled pork, 1lb. of smoked brisket, 1lb. of chicken and a pound of french fries. 

Mark Hann's Garden Railroad

For next month's issue of Rural Missouri I did a story on Mark Hann of O'Fallon, who has taken his hobby of model railroading outside to the garden. He is part of a growing trend of hobbyists that are enjoying adding real plants and rocks to their layouts outside. Besides being a little more lifelike, the garden sets use bigger trains, which can mean wider turns and a bigger layout. Wonder what it is like to ride this train? Then check out this video below that I shot with my GoPro mounted on the train.

 

Mark Hann of O'Fallon sits in front of his garden railroad set.

An overview of his 32-foot-by-12-foot garden layout.

 

Ben Ferrel Museum in Platte City, Missouri

For this month's Rural Missouri, I worked on a story about a restored mansion north of Kansas City in Platte City. For nearly four decades, a group of volunteers worked on repair and restoration of the home and now it is open to the public for tours. Quite an amazing place. The craftsmanship and beauty of the house is spectacular. An interesting note — the original owner: Frederick Krause, was good friends with Missouri's governor at the time which might explain why the home is a mini-replica of the Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City.

For more on the Ben Ferrel Museum, check out my story at: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ruralmissouri/201207/#/18 or visit: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mopchgs/MUSEUM.htm

Most of these images I shot using a technique called HDR (High Dynamic Range). Since the sun was setting behind the house and I didnt want the front of the house in shadows, shot multiple images at different exposures. Using Photomatix software, I combined the images to give it a rich, but hopefully not too unnatural look to the image. Enjoy!

 

The Ben Ferrel Museum in Platte City, Missouri. The home was originally built by Frederick Krause in 1882. The Krauses were a prevalent family in the area. Frederick owned a brick burning plant and an extensive hog farm. He was good friends with the governor of Missouri at the time and thus the probable reason of the home mimicking the Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City.

 

 

The mansard roof highlights the top of the mansion.

 

In 1976, Ben Ferrel helped save the mansion from demolition by donating a large sum of money to help purchase the home and begin restoration work. Over the next four decades, volunteers raised the funds themselves to complete the restoration.

 

 

Betty Soper, who led the group of volunteers restoring the mansion, has been working with the mansion for nearly four decades.

 

All of the home's carpet and wallpaper are based on goods that were available in the area during the late 1800s. All of the furnishings came from Platte Countians that donated it to the museum and are authentic, original pieces from the late 1800s.

 

The desk in the dining room, at right, belonged to the first judge in Platte County.

 

The "bringing-up kitchen" was used by the Krause family for entertaining guests. The family actually ate in the basement kitchen, where it was cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. 

 

Mr. and Mrs. Krause's bedroom. The quilt on the bed is an original quilt made in 1882 of several hundred different patterns and scenes — all with different stitching.

Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO

Been working on a story about the drag boat races at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. While there, I also got to check out the dirt races at the speedway. Such an awesome facility. Only shot a few pics from my seats. Would like to go back and shoot some more of the whole event. Enjoy!

Henry Domke and his Prairie Garden Trust

This month in Rural Missouri I featured nature photographer Henry Domke of New Bloomfield. Most of his photography he shoots is at his 600-acre farm in Callaway County. His previous career as a doctor has influenced his art as he sells to hospitals across the country. He believes that his work has a positive role in helping patients. Here are few portraits of Henry and some scenes around his property.

If you would like to visit the Prairie Garden Trust, contact Henry to make a reservation by phone at 573-295-6349 or by email: visit@prairiegardentrust.org.

Visit www.prairiegardentrust.org for more about his property.

Visit www.henrydomke.com for more of his work.

Check out my video piece first, then check out the images.

 

Henry Domke. I lit this with natural lighting from the rear and a Nikon SB900 with a Lumniquest softbox on the right side of his face.

 

Bluffs along Hillers Creek.

 

A Great Spangled Fritillary on a coneflower. 

 

Henry Domke at his Prairie Garden Trust.

 

Henry Domke

 

More scenery along Hillers Creek.

 

More scenery along Hillers Creek.

 

 

More scenery along Hillers Creek.

 

More scenery along Hillers Creek.

 

 

More scenery along Hillers Creek.

 

Oak forest

 

An HDR image composed of 4 frames of an awesome oak and sunlight.

 

An HDR image of 3 images combined to show the view from the bluffs at Henry's property.

 

Another HDR image of 3 images combined of this cool oak.

 

Never seen this before, but two common snapping turtles were battling in the creek. Quite the thing to watch. Hoping to upload some video soon.

Missouri High School Bass Fishing Tournament

Almost a month ago I spent the weekend shooting at the 2nd Annual Missouri High School Bass Fishing Tournament, sponsored by The Missouri Bass Federation. The tournament was held at the Lake of the Ozarks. Read more about the tournament at www.ruralmissouri.coop/digitalrm.

An HDR image of the morning sunrise.

A selection of lures.

William Pursifull, right, of the Lafayette Fighting Irish Team, casts towards the bank at Lake of the Ozarks. Willaim and teammate, Garet Cline, finished sixth with a combined weight of 5.32 pounds.

 

Brian Pahl pulls in a largemouth bass as teammate Andrew Guilliams looks on. Last year's winning team, the Eureka Wildcats finished second this year.

 

 

The weigh-in.

 

Jessie Fisher, left, and Layne Woods of Hollister High School were this year's winning team with 5 fish for a combined weight of 14.75 pounds.

 

The winning trophy.