Winning the four ribbons for my photography at the 2014 Kentucky State Fair brought about a great sense of accomplishment. It is as if all of the miles driving, time shooting, and bugging my fiancee about my photos were validated. Since I earned a blue ribbon in the Aspiring Division, the fair regulations now required me to enter my photos in the Accomplished Division, which is the highest one can enter. With the accolades also brought a new challenge. I barely got my matted prints through the door from the state fair last summer, when I began to set my sights on this year's entries.
Moving up to this division would be no easy task. I felt the need to step my game up if I was going to hang with the big dogs. I sought to grow as a photographer in many ways, such as relearning the fundamentals, poring myself over books and blogs, picking up infrared, post-processing a photo, and understanding that sometimes I have to physically take extra steps instead of relying on a zoom to frame a picture. In theory and in technique, my thoughts were consumed with photography at home, at work, in sleep, and in shower. What to enter for the fair became a frequent topic with my fiancee-- taking over how-was-your-day formalities during meals and even our intimate pillow talk. Driving to each destination even became a hunt for the most picturesque route. Each time I pulled my car over to take a picture, I kept thinking to myself that this landscape might just be the blue ribbon shot. For nearly a year, this was the new normal.
Fast forward to this year's Kentucky State Fair. I submitted three entries in the competition; two did not place, as the classes within the division were very competitive. The winning photo (below) of Beargrass Creek placed Second in the Monochromatic Photography Division. In the clutch, I captured this moment on an early July morning-- just one month shy of the submission deadline. Dinner conversations have returned to normal. For now.
