Hi Everyone! Sorry I have been absent lately. It is the end of the school year. It is a pleasant time I like to call “hell”. In addition to the myriad of activities I am involved in at my children’s school (which I really love, but all at the same time is craziness) the deadline for the Fine Arts Competition at the Ohio State Fair is in a little over a week. I collected some photos I might like to submit. It is $10 per submission so I only want to do a couple. I was hoping you could let me know the photo(s) you prefer and help me narrow my choices! Thank you in advance for your time and consideration!!!
ArtBea 
Wow! They’re all so awesome. My preference lies with the black and white birds, the blue sky birds, the dogs, the cloud (pic2), and the heron. Good luck! 🙂
Thank you so much Dorothy!
I’d go for the two barn pictures (the one with the stormy clouds and the other with the blue sky). Good luck!
Nov. sunset, narrow bridge & puppy love are my picks, if I had to narrow it down.
Thank you, Sharon!!!
If I was only choosing 2, I’d go for the heron, which is stunning, and the night lights, which is a bit unusual. I also love the 2nd pic of clouds – they are all beautiful.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate the feedback!
My pleasure, good luck.
Thanks!
Monarch caterpillar and the Glacier Ridge barns! Although I also like the Aunty Em barn shot too. Excellent cloud formation. Do you know what the judges look for? Often it is useful to know what grabs them in these competitions and choose subject matters you know will appeal – then look at the technical detail if that is important. So many times these days it doesn’t seem to. Can you look at past winners?
Thank you for your thoughts!
Ah, the judging. The big unknown. There is no theme. The judge is new every year. Who knows what they like. Here is this year’s amateur catagory judge: http://www.tampeterson.com
Last year, I did win an award for my piece which was an abstract macro photo, and had a large contemporary painting accepted the year before. The scope of work at the fair is huge; from conceptual (The big winner last year had a massive obelisk of folded laundry that almost touched the ceiling) for the professional:
http://columbusarts.com/artists/768-josh-foy/
and the amateur winner was a realisitic colored pencil drawing (that was really funny and good, two guys playing video games) http://columbusarts.com/artists/768-josh-foy/
But you will see anything from very conceptual to super realistic, to folk art, to not so great IMO, to god knows what. I will say it is highly competitive and a lot of really great work is there. I always laugh because saying “The fair” makes me laugh, but it is a big honor even getting in. Thousands of people from all over the whole state of Ohio submit their work. 😉
As a footnote, the pieces that are “farmy” always pique my attention. But many are far from farmy too, as you can see.
Gorgeous photos and very interesting comments. I’ll have a look at the links, Thank you! 🙂
Thanks for the links Christie, I’ll go and have a look.
Thanks!
Middle barn, B&W birds (for something different) and birds with cloud. Good luck!!!