The County Fair

When the little booklet came in the mail, detailing the schedule for the upcoming county fair and calling for entries, I thought about it. I looked through the categories, and decided I would enter some of my photographs.

The photographs had to be a certain size (in my case, 11 x 14" for the Advanced Amateur division), and mounted on mat or foam board. I've never mounted anything on any kind of board in my life. I went to the trusty Dick Blick art supplies website, and ordered everything I would need: black mat boards, dry adhesive, an acrylic brayer (for applying said adhesive to the photos). I ordered enlargements of several prints from Shutterfly. And then I waited.

The supplies came, and I waited for a day when I had some free time. That day never came, so the day before the submission deadline, I bit the bullet and got my photos mounted. They came out great, and I only ruined 1 small 4x6" print (postcard category) in the process.

I took them to the fairgrounds and nervously submitted them. I haven't been back to town to see how they've done. We will go to the Fair on Saturday, and I will report back with the results. I am hoping for at least one Blue Ribbon! Keep your fingers crossed!

Here are my entries for the specific classifications. Please note that each of these images is copyright-protected with a digital watermark. If you are interested in any of these images, please contact me via the comments section. Do not copy or print these photos.

Class 1: Animals, Wildlife and Domesticated--Blue Ribbon, 1st Place
Judges' comments: "good use of soft focus/filter; nice lighting effect"
(Ha! I don't even own a filter! The dust was just rolling in with the cattle.)

Class 2: People--Blue Ribbon, 1st Place, Manager's Award
Judges' comments: Nice soft lighting, dustiness adds to the effect. Consider trimming bottom and top edges a little bit.


Class 3: Still Life--Blue Ribbon, 1st Place
Judges' Comments: I like the window reflection effect and the use of foreground shadows. You can see the texture of the spices.


Class 4: Landscape--Blue Ribbon, 1st Place
Judges' Comments: Lighting is impressive. Nicely done--good contrast and use of sunlight rays.

Class 5: Miscellaneous--Blue Ribbon, 1st Place, Best Of Show
Judges' Comments: Nice work--captures the moment well, and lots of detailed textures.


Class 6: Postcard--Blue Ribbon, 1st Place
Judges' Comments: Visually interesting images