It's That Time Again...Updated with Results!

That's right, it's County Fair time! (scroll down for results + judges comments, plus my comments about the whole deal below Class 6)

I hadn't had any time to get any photo submissions together for the fair this year, but I started to feel bad about it. I decided my being busy was no excuse for not submitting photographs, especially since I won every category last year. I also managed to sell two photographs last year due to the County Fair exhibit.

How could I not try again this year? So at the last minute, I decided to enter. I ordered prints and mounting boards and supplies, paid for overnight delivery and HOPED everything would arrive in plenty of time. And what do you know, everything did arrive!

There was a slight problem with the self-adhesive mounting board I ordered this year. It was supposed to be "re-positionable" and wouldn't be "permanent" until pressure was applied. WRONG! I almost ruined my Still Life entry because the corner was going on crooked and somehow the adhesive had already become permanent! Grrrrr.

Not having much of a choice, I got out my old adhesive, which I love, and used the back side of the "self-adhesive" boards to mount my photos. I managed to iron out that darn corner with my brayer, now I'm just praying that it holds on there through the judging at least!

Without further ado, here are my submissions for the 2009 County Fair:

Class 1--Animals/Wildlife/Domesticated
1st place, Blue Ribbon
Judges comments: Nice use of light and shadow

Class 2--People
1st place, Blue Ribbon
Judges comments: Stunning sky!

Class 3--Still Life
1st Place, Blue Ribbon
Judges comments: Sausage texture is very interesting-would like a clearer center of focus


Class 4--Landscape, Plant Life, etc.
2nd Place, Red Ribbon
Judges comments: Good job! Clouds have interest. I'd like to see this scene with better light.

Class 5--Miscellaneous
2nd Place, Red Ribbon
Judges comments: Good job! I'd like to see the foreground in sharper focus.

Class 6--Postcard
(no picture of this one yet)
2nd Place, Red Ribbon

The last day of the fair was yesterday, so we went in to see the results and later pick up the photographs. Let's just say, I am going to take more time choosing my entries next year!

As far as the results, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I was expecting a total sweep like last year, especially since I just chose the photos last week, but I was expecting to do better. The "best of show" this year was a photo that is so overdone and common (everyone who hikes to that spot takes the same photo) it was discouraging. And to be honest, if your photo doesn't get a blue ribbon, it gets a red ribbon. So really, red ribbons are meaningless to me, because they signify last place (there are no other ribbons, this "everybody's a winner" mentality drives me crazy).

Here are my comments about the judge(s): If you thought my photo mounting was "excellent," it makes me question your judging qualifications. I'd like to see a judge with a more creative vision that celebrates the unusual instead of the typical.


In the mean time, here is H-Bomb's photography entry in the 4-H division:


He won 1st place (honestly I think all the kids in his class did), a blue ribbon and $3. He was VERY excited about the $3.

Cowgirl Fashion Photo Shoot: Adam Kimmel

Last week, I was photographed by our friend Larry, to try out for a modeling job at a fashion photo shoot that was coming to the ranch. I expected them to just pass me by and show up with two blonds, but they decided to hire me! I was very excited! I checked out the designer's website ahead of time, and found some great outfits. I couldn't wait to see what designer fashions I would get to wear!

On Monday, Larry brought part of the crew down to scout the locations. I met Adam Kimmel, the designer; Jim Krantz, the photographer, and his wife Susan; Lynn, the producer; and a couple other crew members. They told me they had changed my schedule to Wednesday instead of Tuesday. We had a very nice visit. I asked Adam if I should wear my glasses or contacts, and he said, "Whatever you feel most comfortable in. Whenever I wear glasses with a cowboy hat it looks silly." I said, "I guess I should start looking in the mirror."

On Tuesday, I went out to the photo shoot site to see how it was going and talked to the producer, Lynn, about what time I should be there, etc. I asked her if there would be a makeup person, and she said, "No, they just want you au naturale." It really is a good thing Jenny taught me how to do natural-looking makeup!

Lynn told me to bring my cowboy "hats." Well, my dad commandeered my black Stetson a number of years ago and stretched it out. Number One took my brown cowboy hat and shrunk it, and I wasn't sure I could stretch it by 5AM the following morning. I haven't been anywhere to get a new hat yet. So I panicked a bit. Then I remembered that our dear friend Jean-Claude left his hat at CG's house, to ensure that he'll come back someday. I went up and tried it on, and if fit perfectly! Problem solved. I gathered the rest of my gear, my chinks, my two pairs of boots, contacts & saline solution, etc.

On the morning of the shoot, I woke up at 3:30am. I tried to sleep again until 4, but wasn't very successful.

At 4:00AM, I kicked Number One out of bed to go turn on the generator. We made coffee, and I got ready for my very first modeling job! We were scheduled to meet around 5:15AM, down at the Marlboro Corral. When you're the first person at the shoot, you have to open the gate. The moon was still out, but my little point and shoot doesn't take very good night pictures.


It's called the Marlboro Corral because it was built by some guys from Marlboro. It's quite rickety, so it's not very useful, but it is picturesque. Incidentally, it's not in any of the pictures that I saw being taken. And I didn't take any pictures of it either.

Below you can see the first car coming down the road to the photo shoot site.


Number One brought over some horses for us to use.


After everyone arrived, it was getting to be daylight. There was coffee (thank goodness) and breakfast sandwiches, fruit, etc.

They decided that they didn't want to shoot me (the girl) on a horse. So I just had to wait some more, but it was fun.


The male "cowboy/model" took off on a horse named Pete so they could take photos of him riding on a ridge. He was having trouble with the horse, getting more and more agitated (during which time the photographer, Jim Krantz, got some awesome shots of the horse rearing). The producer asked me to take the "cowboy/model" a different horse. I put a bridle on Zack, hopped on and rode while leading another horse over and up to where Pete and the "cowboy/model" were having their tiff. (and I didn't have my camera with me)

The "cowboy/model" saddled the second horse, hopped on and attempted to take off. I stayed up on the ridge, but out of the camera shot, just in case he needed anything else. The horse, having not yet been ridden, did not take kindly to the "cowboy/model's" spurs. He really should have warmed up the horse a bit before trying to gallop towards a cliff edge, but he didn't.

The horses could feel his anxiety and his anger. This "cowboy/model" was nervous about being bucked off, saying things like "I'm too old to fall on these rocks" and he started to make comments about our horses, and he was just plain angry. He also cussed in my presence. Not that I've never heard it before, but still he should have been more professional. I was trying to settle the horses down, calm them down, and here he was just being a jerk to them and then getting pissed and wondering why they weren't responding to him.

He even made a comment about the care of the horses, even though HE was the last person to ride them the day before and didn't brush them down after. I was not impressed with this man at all, which is why he doesn't deserve to be named here and the term "cowboy" is in quotes along with "model" because in my opinion, this jerk is neither.

So after the second horse (surprise!) didn't respond to him after 30 seconds, he wanted Zack, the horse with my saddle on. The photographer and entire crew were down there waiting, and he wanted to switch saddles. AGAIN. So we did. Larry walked all the way up the ridge to see what was going on.

With Larry, I led the horses down the rocky slope and out of the camera shot. I told Larry that guy should have brought his own horses. I pet the horses and apologized to them for that guy's behavior, and led them to a bunch of delicious grass.

Then Lynn, the producer, came to get me and take me to wardrobe to get dressed. I put on a luxuriously soft black sweater with embroidered steer heads on the front of the shoulders, along with my own Levi's, chinks, and boots. I asked the wardrobe ladies, Sabine (I think) and Natasha what it was made of, and Sabine said, "I don't know, probably cashmere." It was very warm and comfortable. We drove back over to the other ridge where they were shooting.

They decided that they wanted to get some pictures of me walking down a ridge, leading a horse. I walked UP the road and back down the ridge at least 6 times. Let me just tell you, it's not that easy walking down a ridge in the desert and avoiding cactus, rocks, sagebrush while "keeping your head up and looking around." I'm not sure how many pictures Jim took, but there were some really great ones.

In the meantime, the crew was setting up this muslin screen for "LookBook" shots.


I did some modeling for the LookBook photos, similar to the guy above. Just sort of walking in front of the screen, moving around in front of the screen. It was pretty fun. First I modeled the black steer head sweater. They told me they were just going to have me model the one outfit.

But then, they decided to put me in another outfit! Woohoo, time for wardrobe change. I do have to say it's a little strange to change clothes in front of a bunch of other people, but whatever, it was still fun. I wore a blue striped shirt, another probably cashmere cardigan, and tried on some unbelievably soft suspender pants in a gray sweatpant (but much softer) material. The gray pants didn't fit well, so back into my Levi's, chinks and boots. And of course the hat.

During the second outfit, it was really windy, but this made some nice effects with my hair flying around. There are some excellent shots of this outfit as well. Unfortunately, I don't have any to show you right now. But Jim and Susan are going to send me some, or eventually some might make it into Adam's 2010 LookBook!

When the crew broke for lunch and headed back to town, I went home. They were coming back around 4:30pm for another session. Number One had to take the horses back to the location, and he said they had invited us to have dinner with them at the corral. I got H-Bomb and Sawed Off dressed (in pants, even!) and headed over there.


The boys had a great time exploring in the desert, and Jim took some awesome family photos. He said he's going to send us some prints.

They took more LookBook photos of different models, including CG, and then took photos of Adam Kimmel himself. (center, facing the camera)


We had a dinner catered by a local restaurant, and everyone commented how cute H-Bomb and Sawed Off were in their cowboy hats and boots. And they tormented Natasha with a huge flying beetle they caught.

As the sun was starting to set, they got four male "cowboy/models" on horses, and started up the smoke machines. There will be some amazing photos from this shoot. I got a couple decent shots with my little digital.


It was a fantastic day, out of the ordinary, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I met some great people, and I wish them all the best. I'm so happy I was able to be a part of Adam Kimmel's LookBook 2010. The photos are on their way to Italy and/or Paris for a show in about a week, and I can't wait to see myself on his website!

H-Bomb's Photography Class

The only thing I signed H-Bomb up for this whole summer was a 4-H photography "class." We went to it yesterday. The kids were given a disposable camera and divided into groups. They learned a bit about viewpoint, composition, and "trick" photography. H-Bomb took a couple extra photos with my digital camera.




The rest of the photos will be developed tomorrow, and if there are any good ones I'll share them. H-Bomb and the rest of the kids get to pick one favorite photo and enter them in the County Fair in August.


On the way home, we stopped and picked some flowers. It's that time of year again! (I took the flower photo)

Plumbing and Other Updates

First, plumbing. Number One has redone the plumbing under the kitchen sink...twice? I have lost track. Perhaps three times. And it was still leaking. He finally just took a whole can (jar?) of plumber's putty, and molded it around just about every joint, and I don't think it is leaking now. I hope it's not leaking now.

At this point, we cannot WAIT for our new, professionally installed kitchen. Except, well, we do have to wait, since the bid hasn't even come in yet. But we are wholeheartedly looking forward to it!

The same day he "finished" the kitchen sink plumbing, I had asked him to replace the flush lever on our toilet. Ours was so old and corroded that H-Bomb couldn't even flush it anymore, which made for some rather unpleasant surprises in the bathroom. Plus, you had to hold it down until the flush was complete, and then manually return it to the "up" position, hoping all the while the flap inside the tank had closed. Not easy for anyone involved.

So, after the kitchen sink plumbing was thoroughly puttied, he took his tools into the bathroom. He touched the flush lever with his wrench...then he started yelling "Oh No! I need something! Help!" and I ran back there. The entire tank had CRACKED. I couldn't help it, I started laughing. Hard. It was hilarious. I emptied the bathroom garbage can and he wedged it under the tank, which was entirely full of water, as toilet tanks tend to be, and leaking all over the bathroom floor. Hilarious, I say.

Although I have never looked for one specifically, I honestly have never seen a toilet for sale in any store in our teeny-tiny town. And I wasn't willing to drive around looking for one, when just to town and back is almost 70 miles. I found a toilet on amazon, available in 5 business days. Shipping, it turns out, was probably less than the cost of fuel for driving back and forth to the nearest city.

Unfortunately, there is one problem with this amazon toilet scenario: amazon shipped the darn thing FedEx. And you know how much we like FedEx. I will keep you posted, I believe the toilet is currently in Denver...hopefully we will get it within the month.

In the meantime, we are using the bunk house toilet, and the boys are occasionally peeing outside.

In other news, it looks like Woody and Jessie are here to stay. CG has decided she likes them, and even convinced Wifey to take care of them sometimes.

Also, I have decided that the boys and I will not be staying at our town house during the week. It's just too hard without Daddy there, and we all miss him. We will only stay in town on Thursday nights, due to the fact that H-Bomb's Kindergarten starts almost an hour earlier on Fridays. It's just easier for us to already be in town rather than rushing around to get ready an hour earlier and having to drive almost an hour. That way, we can still be at the ranch, take care of the garden and the goats, and even see Daddy sometimes when he's not on the mountain. I know this whole school thing will get easier for me, and H-Bomb LOVES going to school. Sawed Off misses his big brother during the day, and sometimes has a hard time leaving him at school. It's so cute. There are big hugs all around at the end of each school day, which I wouldn't trade for anything.

And don't forget, my photo of Number One shoeing his horse has been submitted to the State Fair. We are even going to travel to the Big City in a week or two to check out the competition and see how my photo did, so stay tuned!

That's all I can think of for right now. I have several projects in the works, I will post about them in a while...I need to get busy!

Best of Show!

Honestly, I was hoping for a couple blue ribbons. Okay, a few blue ribbons. I entered photographs in all six of the categories for county fair. You can see five of them here.

And I brought home Six Blue Ribbons! In addition, I won a "Manager's Award" for this picture of Number One roping.


I also won "Best Of Show" for this picture of Number One, shoeing his horse.


I will enter all the results and judge's comments on the previous County Fair post. Number One says I am now an "Award-Winning Photographer." I guess that's true...Number One wonders if this also makes him an "Award-Winning Model." Uhhhhh...

Perhaps the most exciting news of all, my Best Of Show photo gets to go on to the State Fair, complements of the County. In other words, the County will pay my entry fees and transport my photo to and from the State Fair. Just one of the perks!

I've never been to the State Fair before. Perhaps this year, we'll have to make the five-hour one-way road trip and go!



All photos are copyright-protected with a digital watermark. If you are interested in any of these photos, please contact me via the comments section.

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