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!