Picture Perfect

 

Kinley's face said it all. 

She and I had a mighty good showing in open class photography at the Stafford County Fair.

This was Kinley's first year in 4-H photography. We worked together on it all year, and she also took several photos on her own. While the girls were here, we chose and mounted her eight 4-H entries for the Shawnee County Fair. (That was the maximum number allowed at her fair.) 

Kinley and her 4-H entries for the Shawnee County Fair

 

But, once those decisions were made, we still had "leftover" photos. Since the girls were going to be here for the Stafford County Fair, Kinley entered nine of her photos in open class.

Her colored pencil photo won Reserve Grand Champion overall - chosen from among all the youth, teen and adult entries. My photo of aspens, taken as we traveled toward the north rim of the Grand Canyon last fall, was Grand Champion overall.

"How would you have felt if I'd gotten the first place, Grandma?" Kinley asked as we stood in front of the exhibit.

"I would have been just as happy," I told her. And I meant every word. What fun it was to help Kinley with photography, a hobby I love to do!

In all, she got seven blues and two reds in the youth division at the Stafford County Fair. She got a ribbon on every entry, so she did better than I did. I had eight blues, four reds and two whites, with six of my entries not receiving ribbons.

She entered a similar photo in the 4-H division of the Shawnee County Fair. (It was just cropped off center for the classic Rule of Thirds photo principle.) And she got overall Reserve Grand Champion at that fair, too! (Grandma and Kinley were pretty excited yet again!)

And another of her 4-H photos - featuring Crayons - got reserve champion in the 0-3 years of experience color division. In all, she only got one red out of her eight photos entered in her first 4-H competition. All the rest were blue or purple.

We told Brooke that part of Kinley's success was due to her fantastic action model. (I also had some entries featuring Brooke on the soccer field.)

 

I think this was the first time ever that I didn't enter any photos in the "Agriculture" category. That's not to say I never will. We still own our ground, and agriculture is all around us. But the wheat wasn't pretty this year, so it didn't get paparazzi sessions like it usually does. 

I'd never had so many travel photos entered in one fair. 

From Zion National Park, Blue ribbon, Scenic landscape

From Arches National Park, blue ribbon, selfie

 

From Grand Canyon North Rim, black and white, blue, Human Interest

From Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, black and white, Landscape

From Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium, Springfield, MO, jellyfish, color Miscellaneous

But I also had some blues in my own backyard ... literally.

Backyard nest, Blue, black and white, Nature

And even from my bathroom.

View from my bathroom window on a frosty morning, blue, black and white, miscellaneous

I was also pleased to place in the Stafford County Economic Development photo contest. The photo I took of story hour at the Nora Larabee Memorial Library won the Places category and a couple of others got honorable mention.

I also got a blue ribbon on the retirement book I gave to Randy last Christmas.

All in all, it was a great fair season!

It may be hard to live up to the "photo finishes" at next year's fairs. As I reminded Kinley, judging is one person's opinion on one day. Different judge, different day, different results. But we'll happily celebrate the results this year. 

More from the Shawnee County Fair in the next blog post.

Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beholder

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It's never more true than when you enter photos in a county fair. My three favorite photos I've taken during the past year didn't even garner a ribbon at the 2019 Stafford County Fair. Not one.

First of all, let me say that the Grand Champion chosen this year is phenomenal. It's an action shot of a cowboy on a bucking bull. This is not sour grapes because that purple ribbon is exactly where it should have gone.

I do photography for fun. Way back as a fifth grader, I was documenting our family's winter break trip to California through a camera lens. Having a camera in my hand is second nature ... and what makes my purse so heavy!

When I looked through my photos from the past year, I didn't think most of my photos were as strong as some I've entered in the past. But it's fun to get the photos out of the camera and off the blog and blow them up to 8 X 10s. And, if nothing else, lots of them end up decorating my home throughout the year.

So why did I like those three photos so much more than the judge did? I've been trying to evaluate that. I think it's because they were hard to get and things I'd never photographed before.

I put this beautiful blue butterfly on notecards, and I've already reordered them since I've used so many. Blue and purple have always been my favorite colors. For my childhood bedroom, I chose a purple and blue shag carpet. So the colors in this shot just naturally appeal to me.

These male Melissa's blue butterflies are about the size of a thumbnail, so it's not easy to get close enough for a clear shot before they flit away to another perch. I took the photo in an alfalfa field in late September of last year and blogged about it then. I had delivered Randy's lunch to the field and wanted photos of him filling the wheat drill. To fill my time, I wandered into the alfalfa field, looking for Monarch butterflies who hadn't yet migrated. Monarchs are easy, compared to these tiny creatures.

Equally difficult to capture with my point-and-shoot camera were two different bluebird sightings. The first was in the pasture south of our house. The group of migrating mountain bluebirds stayed for less than a day in February. I took bunches of photos from the pickup, trying to get a bird in focus on the dry pasture grass before it flew to its next perch.

I've also reordered the bluebirds on notecards since I've used so many of them.

 

The second bluebird was spotted at the Stafford County Country Club golf course. Thanks to Randy's eagle eyes (pun intended), I captured an eastern bluebird in a tree near the tee-off for Hole 5. It wasn't easy without a telephoto lens. And I realize I had to lighten it too much, which resulted in a colorless sky, but I still love the photo. Neither of the bluebird photos garnered a ribbon either.

Two of my blue-ribbon photos were taken in the snow. I think the judge must have been hot (which I can definitely relate to. I was hot, too!) I do love that photo at the top of this blog post of a mama and baby in front of that craggy tree on a snowy evening. It got a blue in the black and white "animal" category.

 I entered this other pair in the agriculture category in the color division, and it got a blue also.

This black and white version of an ivory rose in the Ted Ensley Gardens in Topeka in June was my other blue and my only "warm season" blue. Ironically, I had asked Randy if he thought I "ought to bother" even entering that one. Shows what I know!

 

The "cold" theme continued among my photos which received reds (2nd in the class).

I took this photo in Kansas City when I was with Randy who was attending the Kanza Co-op board retreat.

This springtime photo also got a red.

This close-up of our backyard spirea bush got a white ribbon. I thought it looked like a miniature bridal bouquet.

This photo of Randy got lots of "likes" on Facebook, but it didn't get a ribbon. I still love it.

Stafford County Economic Development sponsors a photo contest. Three of my six photos received an honorable mention. One of them was the photo of Randy in the corn field (above).

Another was also in a corn field, but it was taken on the first day of summer at sunrise. Both of those were entered in the "commerce" category.

Randy must have been my good luck charm, since he was in all three of the winners. (Not really a big surprise. As already established, he's my No. 1 model.) The one at the Stafford County Country Club golf course was entered in the "Places" category.

I also entered a couple of books that I made for the girls in the online scrapbooking category. Sometimes, I write blog posts about adventures with our granddaughters in rhyme. Later, I put the rhymes and photos in books and give a copy to each of the girls (and keep one for myself, of course). I don't make quilts and I'm not particularly crafty. So these are my versions of family heirlooms for them.

I absolutely love the Zoobilation! book, but it only got 2nd in the class. (Watch for it in an upcoming blog post on a Kansas Staycation.)

This book I did for Brooke after her solo visit to the farm last summer didn't place (but I love it, too). Here's the story in a blog post.

It may not have been a banner year in the ribbon department, but I doubt it will deter me from entering next year. My premium money didn't begin to cover the cost of enlarging photos, buying matboard and special plastic bags.

But it's not about the money. It's about being part of something bigger. If people don't enter, there's nothing to look at during the fair. And if there's nothing to look at, nobody is going to come. And if no one comes, fairs are going to die.

So I guess I'll do my part to keep the tradition alive - whether that means entering photos in the open class division or continuing to serve as 4-H foods superintendent on a hot day in July!

One Person's Opinion On One Day

Grand Champion, Stafford County Fair 2016 open class

"It's just one person's opinion on one day."

It's a phrase my parents often repeated. They said it at music festivals while I anxiously waited for the rating on my vocal solo to be posted. They repeated it during the county fair. With a stomach turning somersaults and my fingers anxiously tapping a nervous rhythm, I probably inwardly rolled my eyes. (I didn't outwardly do it: I would have gotten in trouble.)

But you know what? It's true. Judging is one person's opinion on one day.

So if people at the Stafford County Fair looked at the Grand Champion ribbon taped to my photo last week and thought, "I wonder why they picked that one?" That's why: It was one person's opinion on one day.

Of all the photos I entered, I wouldn't have chosen that one as my favorite either. It was probably among my most unusual though, and sometimes uniqueness counts.

I took the photo last March at Pratt Livestock when we sold feeder calves. We had been at the sale barn all day long. But when we stepped outside into the darkness, I noticed the country version of a traffic jam. Randy wasn't surprised when I delayed our departure a little longer to get a few shots of the cattle trucks lined up around the perimeter of the sale barn parking lot.

I entered a bunch of photos in the open class division of the county fair last week.  Old habits die hard.

I've been exhibiting things at county fairs since I was 10 years old. I was a fourth grader and a member of the Lincoln Bluebirds 4-H Club.
My only project my first year was "Snacks and Little Lunches," a foods and nutrition project. According to my meticulous record book, my first fair netted a blue ribbon on cookies and red ribbons on both my cupcakes and brownies.

If my 4-H story is to be believed, I had a "lot of fun." In fact, several times, I had "a lot of fun." Perhaps my descriptive writing had not yet been developed.
But, at any rate, I evidently did have "a lot of fun." Here we are ... um ... several years later, and I'm still entering exhibits in county fairs.

In open class at the Stafford County Fair, not every photo gets a ribbon. I had several blues, along with some reds and whites. And I had some that didn't place at all.

Blue ribbon in "People" category

My premium money didn't begin to cover the cost of enlarging photos, buying mat board and special plastic bags, but I felt pretty good about having more than half of my photos "in the money," so to speak.

Blue ribbon in "Animal" category

However, it's not about the money. It's about being part of something bigger. If people don't enter, there's nothing to look at during the fair. And if there's nothing to look at, nobody is going to come. And if no one comes, fairs are going to die.

Blue ribbon in the "Landscape/Scenic" category

Because of a decreasing population base, there are already fewer exhibits than there were back when I was a kid. Or maybe it's just a shift in the kind of 4-H projects kids take today. Back in my day, there were lots of little girls in clothing construction. Today, very few 4-Hers construct their own clothing or other items. There are no longer racks of home-sewn clothing hanging at county fairgrounds.

Blue ribbon, "Human Interest" category, Black and White

But photography seems to be alive and well. There were lots of entries in both the 4-H and open class divisions.

Blue ribbon, B/W, "Action" category

Because of blogging, I seem to grab the camera more often. So I have a lot of photos to choose from.

Blue ribbon, "Humor" category

For the record, one of my favorite photos, a sunrise over a wheat field, got a red ribbon. That particular photo had gotten more than 500 "likes" on Snapshot Kansas' Facebook page. So you just can't outguess a judge: "It's one person's opinion on one day." 

So here we are, back to the question at hand: Why exhibit at the county fair? People have been experiencing fairs since the days of the Roman empire (At least that's what Wikipedia - the authority of all things - told me). I suppose there's a little rush to being chosen "best" at something, satisfying that little kernel of competitiveness in the human spirit.

But I truly think it's about helping to make sure fairs last another 2,000 years. (Maybe women in Jerusalem met in the city square while gathering water and decided who had the best flat bread. Yes, I know I have a vivid imagination.)

Fairs give people an excuse to come together, to visit with people they don't see everyday.

It gives guys an opportunity to eat food their wives won't fix them at home everyday (Yes, I think Randy had pie every day he was there.)

It brings volunteers together to work on something that's bigger than what any one person could accomplish on their own.

It's about being part of a community. I'll give that a purple ribbon any day.

And speaking of purple ribbons, I also got a pretty lavender Reserve Grand Champion ribbon in the arts and crafts division with my children's book, Count on It! Adventures from a Kansas Farm. 

I used my photography and created rhyming verses for the numbers 1 to 20 and self-published it on Heritage Makers. I dedicated the book to our granddaughters, Kinley and Brooke, and to "other children in an effort to keep our rural heritage strong."

I'd like to pursue getting it published by an actual publisher, so I could sell them at a lower price, but that's easier said than done. Still, it's nice to have someone say, "Job well done!" Even if it's only one person's opinion on one day.