State fair results-post yours!

[Tim Walter]

Thought it might be a fun idea to have a thread here dedicated to all the members of photographix on how they did at the state fair. I had a reliable report on how I did, but Im going to wait till I see it myself before I post. Hope you all did well!

[Rusty "Sidewinder" Sessions]

Well I entered two shots. I went with the intention to enter 3 but one was not accepted because of the size and that was to bad because it was one that I thought might place. The other two I entered not expecting any ribbons but wanted to enter something so I literally took one of my CF cards and looked at them on the computer at CPL and said lets do those lol. They were printed that day and I ran them to the fair right after that so it was very spurt of the moment last minute.

The one I entered in Human Interest did not place but my wife wanted me to enter it because "at lease we will have a photo of one of our sons after instead of some stupid mushroom" lol So that is ok, I told her it would not win but that is fine lol

The second one I entered was in Macro/Close Up and it did not place. That is ok as well I knew that it was not the best shot in the world but the other one that entered against me was pretty decent and it did not place either. They said that only two entered and neither got a place.

One thing that I did notice was that the judging leaned further towards "computer manipulated" images over more natural shots and I was thinking that in the past it has been the opposite of that and wondered what had changed. Later I found that all the judges were changed and it all made sense lol. I am not saying it is bad judging at all so don't get me wrong. Having been a judge I know that Art is Objective and judges view everything their own way and that is ok. But there was a big change in the judging over past years. Mostly in the categories bellow Pro.

Sorry this was such a big post lol I just noticed how much I had typed. Basically as I tell everyone, if you don't think what you have will win anything then why not enter? If you don't win then what did you loose? And if you do win something by chance then that is all a bonus! ALWAYS take the shot and ALWAYS enter the shot!

[Bill Singleton]

New member...I received an honorable mention for "Catch of the Day" in advanced amatuer wildlife.

[Rusty "Sidewinder" Sessions]

Great shot Bill! I saw that one, very memorable.

[Jeff E Jensen]

I took a 4th place for this one.

[Jeff E Jensen]

My 10 year old daughter took 1st place with this one.

[Rusty "Sidewinder" Sessions]

This is a cool shot as well, I remember this one from the Davis County Fair as well.

[Tim Walter]

congrats to your daughter Jeff. My 11 year old is wanting to compete next year. When I take her out shooting she is getting pretty sick of me asking why do you want to take a picture of that? What is the story your trying to tell? Why would anyone want to view it?

[Tim Walter]

this is RE: Bill Singleton, Catch of the Day


I do remember this one standing out. IMHO, this was a pretty cluttered category and alot of the shots looked similar, like folks were all standing next to each other shooting the same thing and then all entered the same shot. I do think you deserved better.

[Bill Singleton]

I thought the judging was fair for the most part. Judging, after all, is a matter of opinion. I did have my doubts about results in this advanced amatuer division. There were many great photos and judging would have been difficult. I do thank you for your comment!

[Tim Walter]

Well for me my snail took first in the amateur macro division. I dressed it up a bit from the Davis County version.

This placed as I felt it should have. Im still curious how it would have done in advanced or even professional as the competition was as tough as I felt the amateur division had.
Davis County version.

State fair version

Next up is a shot I took in Japan. I dug through some shots I felt had potential and this is one that made the cuts. I had originally shot it with the idea of cloning out the people and have it like a "landscape" type shot with the anchoring rock in the forground to give depth to the photo and a scale object. Well I started to read up on travel photography and seconded guessed that approach and left the people in it. The rock had to stay though to keep the balance and it was too "normal" cropped. So here is one I didnt think would place but took 1st place in unclassified amateur.

Next up is the one that stung the most. I expected this to take first, but I really didnt have a appropriate category for it. For the architecture category that I placed it in, I knew it was too abstract and I forgot that I would be in direct completion with temples and such. The second place photo was very clever and I feel was deserving but the temple shot was very standard and the 3rd place shot really didnt fit the category IMO. Anyhow, I finished 4th with this shot... I take solace in the fact that this shot got published over on 1x.com and Im quite sure the others wouldnt. Just goes to show how subjective judging is.

In closing, I would like to see a B&W and abstract category at the county and state fairs in the future. I also have another suggestion in mind that Ill pass along to Doug and the other appropriate folks for future consideration. I do think next year Ill move up, maybe even to the professional level.

[Bill Singleton]

Tim, these are terrific. The second is well deserving. I love the placement of the stone in the foreground and that you captured bystanders for scale. Technically correct with great depth of field and excellent exposure. Nicely done!

[Tim Walter]

Thanks for the kind comments Bill. I though the buddha shot was TOO technically correct and over done. I guess it just shows that the judges lean more heavily toward the rules at the state fair and abstract/artistic style shots have no place in certain "ridged" categories. There is always next year... The odd thing is though, I kinda feel blah about the whole process at the moment. Thankfully fall and a few small trips outside the area are planned for some fresh scenery.