Orange County Fair 2007 Photography Contest Results, Part 2

Here's the second and last batch of photos from this year's Orange County Fair photography contest. All told, I got 19 ribbons out of 24 total entries. Note that the photos on this and the last post show selections from what I entered, but not every entry (or even every winner). Oh, and I have plans to show at the Virginia State Fair this year too, which will be a first for me. More info on that soon enough. Now let's get to the photos...


Architecture: Colour
An antique store building in North Carolina (I think...). Took first place.


Plant Study: Black and white
Infrared shot of river grass, took 3rd place. Compettion is always very heavy in the plant-study categories.


Pets: Black and White
Bijou! She's just yawning, but it kind of looks like she's singing. 3rd place.


Plant Study: Colour
No ribbon for this shot, although I really liked it. There were a lot of wonderful entries in both plant categories.


Special Effect: Colour
Trick shot of lights inside a giant molecule. Another first-place showing.


What Is It: Black and White
Smoothed rocks eroded by the passing river over the centuries. I like this shot because it has no point of size reference, and it's up to the viewer to decide whether they're looking at very small rocks or something enormous. In reality, the area shown in the photo was about 10 feet across. First place in category.

Orange County Fair 2007 Photography Contest results

By now, most of you are probably in suspense over just how well I did at the Orange County Fair this year. Guess what? It rocked. Out of 24 entries total, 19 had some sort of win, with a total of ten first place, seven second place, and two third place. The remaining five, obviously, were not winners within their category. My overall win ratio was 80%, a slight improvement on last year's 75%.

Worth noting was that last year was all 8 x 10 prints, while this year some were 5 x 7 due to a technical difficulty with the proto printing machine giving some photos a pinkish cast.

I know, I know, you want photos! Here you go:


Landscape: Colour
The bizarre colouration on this aerial shot made the Grand Canyon look like the surface of Mars... but it only limped to a second place finish.



Landscape: Black & White
Similar results for this aerial black-and-white of the Rocky Mounatains.


Pets: Colour
I are serious cat. I are a first-place winner.


Sunrise / Sunset
Electricity must have been in the air when this shot from my California trip earlier this year was judged: it ended up with a socking first-place win despite extremely heavy competion in this popular category.


Special Effect: Black and White
My hardcore fans might recognise this infrared long-exposure railroad shot from my Festival of the Photograph entries earlier this summer. It's no wonder this shot gets around: it's one of the best things I've done all year. It certainly was on track to take first place in the special effect category.


Still life: Black and white
I consider this simple shot of seashells by the seashore one of the best I've ever done, unfortunately I was only able to get a 5x7 print of it. But that didn't stop it from a first-place take.


Livestock: Black and white
Second place goes to these monochrome bovines hoofing it across a stark rural landscape. Note: this wasn't actually an infrared shot, although it does somewhat look like it.


Orange County Fair
The fair has a special category for images taken at the fair itself (last year's, obviously, unless you happen to be a time traveller) and this image of colourful handwoven baskets from one of the vendor's stalls took a solid first place. The same vendor was there this year, and he seemed very pleased that I'd won with a shot of his wares. He said he's be there next year too, and I offered him a free print of this shot.


Life in Orange County
Hungry for more train photography? This high-contrast infrared shot of a freight train going through Gordonsville made it to a respectable second-place finish in the popular Life in Orange County category.

Well, that's nine of them. Come back soon for more!


--Andrew Lenahan

Orange County Fair 2007 Photography contest

The Orange County Fair starts today, and I'm certainly ready. Last year I entered twelve photographs and ended up winning nine categories, which is not bad at all.

This year, though, I'm going all-in, with 24 different shots in competition, ranging from portraits to pets, livestock to special effects. Later tonight I'll find out how I did... until then, cross your collective fingers!

-Andrew Lenahan

A Year of Silence

Can it really have been nearly a year since I wrote anything here?

First of all, I'm sorry to anyone awaiting updates month after month, only to find nothing. Believe me, it's not for lack of anything interesting to say, that's for sure. Indeed, if anything this year has been the most exhilarating, bizarre, and delightfully chaotic of them all, full of new people, places, and experiences.

This was the year I added 7 additional states toward my goal of visiting them all. This was the year I had my photography exhibited professionally. This was the year I finally got to see the Pacific ocean. This was the year I hiked some of the Appalachian Trail and saw the Shenandoah valley from 3,400 feet above. This was the year I found a house of my own, and promptly added a stone tiki head to the front yard. This was the year I rescued a tiny orange kitten from a drain pipe. This was the year I saw the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, and the Rio Grande. This was the year Madeline and I went our separate ways. This was the year I decided to cover my car completely with stickers, and I'm making great progress along those lines. This was the year I met Lis, Marsha, Ashley, Kathy, Nicole, Cait, and others who have shown me just how wonderful central Virginia can be. This was the year I climbed to the top of a lighthouse. This was the year I learned to make burritos all by myself. This was the year I got quoted in the Washington Post. This was the year I had a major ankle sprain that made it look like I had a baseball under my skin. This was the year I began experimenting with infrared photography and even made my own stereoscope.

The odd thing is, even with no new posts, my statistics show that my number of visitors has actually grown in the past year. As a reward for your loyalty and patience, I promise no more long absences in the future.

It's a fresh start, so let's dive in!

The Saddest Day: Bye Bye, Julie

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."
- Leonardo da Vinci



My cat, Julie, was run over by a car today. She was very sweet, cuddly, and affectionate. She was less than one year old.

Words can't describe the feeling of loss from losing someone you love, even someone small and furry. It's even worse when it happens unnaturally, when she was still really just a baby.

There's so much I want to say about her, and her short but hopefully happy life, but maybe it's best to share some of my many pictures of her and let them speak for themselves.


Julie the wild cat. The first picture of Julie, when she was still a stray and wouldn't approach anyone.


This was the first time she came inside. She soon broke that little stained-glass candle thingy. We didn't care.


Julie in a basket with Sammy (the grey kitten) whom she sort of adopted. Sammy's still around, but won't let anyone come near her.


Julie the lap cat. This is where she was happiest, and how we remember her best: curled up in a lap, filled with joy.

I'm going to really miss her.

Bye bye, Julie.

Save the Moon!

By now, most of you have probably heard the news: THE MOON IS LEAVING. Click here for an article about it. Just how important this is probably hasn't set in for some of you, and you're just going about your daily lives. Others of you are probably panicking, clawing at the walls and furniture, defragmenting, or howling. But I'm not just going to sit around and do nothing. It's time we made a stand and took positive action. I'm not sure what exactly just yet. Possibly writing in to congressmen, or putting magnets on the roof. Don't worry, folks, I'll think of something.

Cute Kitten Pictures 2

For your viewing enjoyment, here's 3 more pictures of the cute little kittens...




I just got a bath!



Uhh, I think I'd rather do my own bath, thanks.



They don't quite fit.

Cute kitten pictures!

Because you (well, two of you) demanded it, here's pictures of the little kittens we rescued from the roadside in the previous entry!


"Mini-Jiji", who resembles a tiny version of our own Jiji.


Mini-Julie, Mini-Jiji, and Mini-Ra.


The little tabby kitten, Mini-Tigger.

Cute Kittens!

Guess what I have? FOUR brand new baby cute kittens! Madeline found them by the side of the road on the highway. They must have been abandoned. How can people do something like that with so many nice shelters around?

I won't really be able to keep them for very long since I have cats already and can't properly take care of this many, but they're wonderful to have around until homes can be found.

PS: I know, I know, you want pictures. I've taken a lot already, but it'll be a few days until I can upload them. Trust me, the cuteness is extreme.

Exhibiting at the fair

The Orange County Fair is this weekend, at historic Montpelier, former home of James Madison (currently still dead). I'll have 12 new photos on exhibit, as well as a new painting and sculpture. It's all new work, nothing seen in public before. Madeline also has a new painting (which is also on DeviantART here) and a variety of crafts. If any readers are in the area they should stop by and have a look.