Every now and then I get an assignment that’s just plain silly fun.  Saturday was one of those days when I was assigned to cover the Family Leisure sponsored Bull Burger Battle.  Basically it was a hamburger cooking contest between most of the big names in hamburger cooking held at the Family Leisure in Pendleton Pike with celebrity hamburger judges such as, Gunner from Bob and Tom, Antony Castonzo from the Colts, George Hill from the Pacers, the Indy Monthly Food critic, a lady from the Dairy association and someone whom I’d never heard of who is apparently really big in the hamburger blogging world.  It was a beautiful day, and there were hamburgers galore. What’s not to enjoy?

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I got there just after 11 as i was told to get there at 11 but was glad that I ended up being about 15 minutes late because there really wasn’t anybody there; or anything going on at that point.  Sure it keeps with the Mantra of getting there early, but it’s not like I had to bring a bunch of lights to set up, or needed to stake out my spot for the Olympic bobsled team to come past.  no, this was a hamburger cook off held at a place that sells patio furniture, pools, and Jacuzzis.  I probably could have taken a nap in the showroom and nobody would have thought anything of it.  I digress though, as I started making my way around to the contestants to see what their “deal” was.  I even tried to convince the Castleton Fire Department crew that they needed to flip their hamburgers using an Axe.  It was a no go; but they got a good kick out of it anyway.

I enjoyed watching things happen as people cooked their burgers, and some actually ate their burgers before they cooked their presentation and competition burgers.  Maybe they had to see how their grill tasted that day; I’m honestly not sure.  There were both Charcoal and Gas grills and even a Green Egg selection.  It seems like any burger you could cook was able to be entered.  Neat if you know someone who is a bad ass hamburger cooker.  Look the event up next year when they are going to be doing it again; only bigger.

The judges were all nice to speak with, and if you’ve read before you know that I’ve worked with Gunner in the past so it was good to see him again.  I ended up not staying the entire time because I really only needed general event stuff and judges trying hamburger type shots for promotional materials.  The photographer in me wanted to stay and shoot pics of the winners and what not but it was Shannon’s birthday weekend and what good is having a loved one if you don’t appreciate them?  So I shot  what I was assigned, and in an unlike me fashion I left early.  Or I should say I left on time in this case, because that getting there early like I mentioned above, also goes the same for staying late.  Sometimes the best pictures are made before, or after the fact.

I’m still not sure who won, but dang did those burgers look good.  Family Leisure had a really nice day for the event too.  Sunny and 85 degrees.  You couldn’t beat it, and I’d venture to guess they had at least 200 extra people walk through their showroom over the course of the event too; which as a store is a big win right?  Speaking of winning big, someone who was REALLY excited about this whole thing was Anthony Castonzo from the colts, whom agreed when Gunner suggested that this was just like a pre-game meal for him.

It was a fun event, and I really hope that Family Leisure plans to bring it back next year.  I could see this getting to be really big with the right care and planning for the future.  On a technical note, all shots were taken with either a Nikon D3 or D4.  Mostly ambient light, some of which had some fill flash attached to the camera via a SC28 off camera cable.  I hope to be posing more in the near future.  Some new stuff, some old stuff and hopefully more fun stuff.  Also on Friday is the annual “Meet the Photographers” at the Indianapolis Star.  I’ll be there and if you can make it be sure to come out and say hello!  Thanks for sticking with me and as usual: More soon.