Results from the second round of judging from the New York State Fair Photo Contest…

Man what a long day, I could use a bit of a breather.  A good game of competitive team trivia at Brown’s should take my mind off of my troubles.

Gotta check the mailbox first.

Ah, let’s see… bills – I paid that one, bills – I paid that one, notice to remind me of a doctor’s appointment, postcards from the New York State Fair, appointment reminder from Mohler and Choo, D.D.S. –

Back up a second.

The postcards are here.

MY POSTCARDS FROM THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR ARE HERE!

A week or so ago, I dropped off my three foam-boarded entries – The Agfa Bridge over Ansco Lake, Midnight at the Palace Theater, and Lodge’s in Polaroid PolaBlue – in Syracuse for the 2011 New York State Fair Photography Contest.  I keep thinking about this – I sent six images via CD; the judges said that although I could submit all six if I wanted to, they especially liked the Lodge’s and Agfa-Ansco pictures.  Just for insurance, I prepared the Palace Theater picture as well.  Yeah, I caught some flack on my blog from a couple of my dedicated readers – “If they rejected the picture in the first place, Chuck, how presumptive are you that you can re-submit it?”

So now I have three postcards in my hand.  Three postcards that I have marked “AA“, “LD” and “PT” on their obverses; the pertinent information I seek is on their reverses.  I marked them with the initials so that when I want to flip over each card and see the decision, I know which postcard to flip first.

You readers know the drill.  On the back of each card is my exhibitor’s number, my entry number, the department the picture was entered in, which division, which class, the name of the piece, and two boxes.  One box is marked “Accepted,” the other box is marked “Not Accepted.”  This is a departure from last year’s postcards – the only thing this will tell me is whether my artwork will hang on the gallery walls, or if I have to make arrangements to pick up a non-accepted item.  I won’t even know if there are any ribbons attached to my photographs unless I actually drive up to Syracuse on Saturday and see.

The postcards are in my hand.

Two years ago, I went through the postcard routine.  I chronicled it on my old blogspot.com weblog, and the picture on that page – a photograph taken during a 2009 basketball game, in which I hung from the roof of Blue Cross Arena in Rochester and shot straight down over the basket – actually took Honorable Mention at the 2009 NYS Fair.

Last year, I went through the postcard routine.  I chronicled it on this blog – how of the six photos I entered, two of them – Nipper’s Polar Panorama and my Coca-Cola splitfilm picture – snagged ribbons, with Nipper taking 2nd place non-traditional and the Coca-Cola picture gaining an honorable mention ribbon.  My three NYS Fair ribbon winners are below.

“Action Under the Basket”, Honorable Mention color, 2009 New York State Fair	“Nipper’s Polar Panorama,” 2nd Place color non-traditional, 2010 New York State Fair	“Coca-Cola Relieves Fatigue, Sold Everywhere 5c,” Honorable Mention color non-traditional, 2010 New York State Fair.

The postcards are in my hand.

All three of my pictures used different photographic techniques.  Do any of them have a shot?  I’m competing against thousands of other photographers, with tens of thousands of other entries.  This isn’t just “we like Chuck” or “we don’t like Chuck,” this is “do we like what he did by cramming two films in a 70-year-old camera,” or “do we like what he did with that 20-year-old Polaroid slide film,” or “do we like what he did with that night shot and that Croatian black and white film”?

Over the weekend, I received word that my friends at the Auburn Photography Club – Drew, Don and Dean – got their pictures in the Fair this year, as did another member of the APC, Nan.  I wish much congratulations and support to each and every one of them, and the APC will be well-represented on the walls of the Harriet May Mills Art Center.  You should see all their stuff, their photos are quite good.

Sadly, I also found out through the grapevine that my friend Diane Kazlauskas Parr, a photographer from Central New York who earned a third place B&W ribbon last year, let me know that one photo got in, but did not earn a ribbon.  She’s a good photographer.  You should see her stuff.

Of the three photos I submitted, two of them – the Palace and Agfa-Ansco – earned ribbons at Altamont.  Both those pictures will be on display at the PhotoCenter of Troy as part of the PhotoCenter’s Members Show – held in conjunction with this month’s Troy Night Out.  In fact, before I got home, I dropped off the two framed pictures with Nick and Jackie at the PhotoCenter of Troy.

The postcards are in my hand.

I don’t know what the judges are looking for.  Maybe that’s a good thing – what if I did know who was judging, shot my pictures with that in mind, and still lost?  No, I have to submit these images on their merits, stand or fall.

And I can’t look at the postcards.  Not this time.  There could be three rejection slips.  Three rejection slips that would immediately divert me from a happy night of trivia into a self-loathing night of “How It’s Made” reruns.

Yeah, I know I’m a little dramatic, but this is my type of competition.  I’m ALLOWED to get dramatic.  Right now I feel like the person who plays the Mega Millions lottery by only buying one dollar’s worth of tickets.  Yeah, competing against the top photographers in New York State, I can win – probably around the same time the Grammy Award for Best New Artist goes to Rebecca Black.

The postcards are in my hand.

And one by one, I turn them over to see the results.

First one I look at is the Lodge’s picture.  This was one of the two that the Fair wanted from the first round of judging.

YAY!! Lodge’s is going on the wall!!  My photo of Albany’s oldest department store has made it to the Art Center!!  SUCCESS!!

Okay… time to flip over the card for the Agfa Bridge over Ansco Lake.

WA HOO!! My splitfilm shot of Washington Park, using Agfa 35mm and Ansco 616 film, all crammed into that 70-year-old Agfa Chief camera that I got for $5 on eBay… It’s going on the wall at the Art Center!!  Two for two!!

Okay, karma’s on my side.  Time to check out the Palace Theater card.  Come on, lady luck… seven come eleven…

Ouch.  Snake eyes.

Okay.  Palace Theater didn’t get in.  It’s not going on the wall.  It’ll be stored in a back closet until the end of the Fair.

But you know what… normally under these circumstances I’d be really depressed.  I mean, this picture took 2nd place B&W at Altamont.

But maybe there were other black-and-white night shots under consideration, and this one just got lost in the mix.   That, and I’m competing against photographers from across New York State.  I don’t know what they’ve brought.

Besides, the Palace Theater is going to be at the Troy PhotoCenter Members’ Show, and it’s also one of three pics I’m sending to the Big E in September.  So although it isn’t getting in the New York State Fair, I’m not completely bitter.  And I had to take a chance and foam-board it and send it with my other two pictures.

Besides, I’ve still got two pictures – The Agfa Bridge over Ansco Lake, and Lodge’s in Polaroid PolaBlue – that will be on display at the Fair.

I’ve still got a shot.

But I won’t know how those pics did until Saturday, when I get to the Fair.

Oh man … I’ve just went from one set of nerves to a more intense set of nerves.