My photographic plans for the 2010 Fairs

Last year, I entered three photography contests at various state and county fairs.  I submitted photos for the Altamont Fair, for the St. Agnes Cemetery contest and the New York State Fair.  For a first-time competitor, I did reasonably okay – honorable mention at the New York State Fair – but went completely oh-for at the Altamont and St. Agnes competitions.

I resolved this year to improve on those statistics.  For 2010, in addition to the three competitions previously mentioned, I decided to also enter the Vermont State Fair and the Massachusetts Eastern States Exposition (also known as the Big “E”).  I’m also going to submit photos to the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts juried competition, but that’s for another blog post.

Each fair has different entry requirements and restrictions.  The Altamont Fair lets you enter four photos of your choice of subject; you can enter a  maximum of three photos in the Big E.  Meanwhile, the New York State Fair and the Vermont State Fair both allow you six entries; the Vermont State Fair, however, has specifically-designated categories for entries.  The St. Agnes Cemetery contest only wants subject material taken upon the cemetery grounds, and only one submission.

There are other specific details for each fair photography contest, including whether the photos must be framed (Altamont), matted (Vermont, New York, Big E) or sent as a printed picture (St. Agnes).

Last year, I entered four pictures into the Altamont Fair.  The Fair required that all images be framed; so I went to Wal-Mart and purchased four generic frames and put the images in those frames.  Yeah, my idea was okay, but “okay” is not good enough.

So for this year, when it comes to the Altamont Fair, I’m going to go a different route when framing my photos.

I’m recycling.

No, not the frames I bought from last year.

I’m talking about perfectly good frames that were donated to various Capital District thrift shops.  My thought on this is – buy a thrift shop frame that compliments the photograph.  If the frame needs some TLC, then give it some TLC.  Buy the properly cut plate of glass and a properly sized backer board, slide the photo in, and seal the frame from behind.  Voila.

My first project involved a frame I purchased at Goodwill.  It was a wooden frame, the frame rails decorated with rope trim.  It cost me $30, and came with an oil painting – the oil painting was probably crafted by one of those “starving” artists who starved all the way to the bank.

The frame had a nautical theme to it, so I resolved to put one of my Altamont Fair candidates into this frame, and that candidate would be the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse photograph, “Reflection.”

But first, I had to take care of the frame itself.  Since the frame came with an oil print attached, I removed the original picture from the frame and tossed the picture away.  I then looked at all the scratches and gouges in the frame itself.

Urgh.  This frame had gone through some serious abuse.

So in an effort to cover up as much of the scratches, while still keeping the uniqueness and details in the wood, I purchased a shading pencil from Home Depot that matched the color of the wood grain.  I rubbed the pencil into the major scratches, then buffed with a soft cloth.  Total cost – $30 for the frame (25% discount from list price at Goodwill), $4 for the scratch-removing pencil.

The frame had an opening of 12″ by 16″, so I carefully cropped my “Reflection” photograph to fit those dimensions.  I made sure that the resolution on the picture was at least 300 dpi, then saved it on a CD and took it to my local photographic print shop.  Ritz Camera did the 12″ by 16″ custom printout of “Reflection,” and I paid $15 (as a frequent Ritz customer, I have a Ritz loyalty card with purchasing points on it, which knocked a few dollars off the final price).

I took the frame and the print to Arlene’s Art Studio on Fuller Road.  After talking to the framer, we agreed that they would put in a custom piece of glass, foam-board the artwork, assemble it in the frame, add glazier’s points to the back of the foam board so that the picture wouldn’t fall out, and as a final touch, they would add the eyelet hooks and hanging wire.  Total cost $30 with tax.

Yesterday, I got a call from Arlene’s that the framed image is done.   I picked it up from the store – it looks great.  The frame and the picture compliment each other very well.

One photo for Altamont down… three to go.