Low Tide, Windowsill Pies, and the 2013 New York State Fair Photography Competition

The New York State Fair’s photography competition has always baffled me in terms of what the judges appreciate and what they don’t.  I’ve won ribbons with pictures that were last-minute submissions, like Lodge’s in Polaroid PolaBlue and Coca-Cola Relieves Fatigue.  And I’ve had pictures that I thought were sure locks, get rejected outright (e.g., Midnight at the Palace Theater).  Of course, there were a couple of pictures – Nipper’s Polar Panorama and The Agfa Bridge Over Ansco Lake – that received plenty of deserved love.

That being said…

The two pictures that made it to the walls of the Harriet May Mills Art Center at the New York State Fair in Syracuse were pictures that I thought had a chance – heck, I believe in all my photos – but they got selected while pictures that I thought were stronger entries, like The Lenten Meal and The Final Sermon, were left behind.  Still, there was a tremendous amount of popular support on the blog for Low Tide at Sunrise, my vacation HDR shot at Saints’ Rest Beach in Saint John, New Brunswick.  And although the support for Pies on the Windowsill wasn’t as strong, it did have its fans.

I will say this.  I was worried.  I want my pictures to do well in every competition.  I realize that judges look for different things, and you can’t really “play to the judges” because I feel that by doing so, you compromise your final output.  So as far as I was concerned, if the judges wanted my beach photo and my B&W window photo… they must see something in those images that really stood out, something I didn’t previously notice.

And there’s only one way to find out how my pictures did.

Load up the Blackbird with the necessary accoutrements – fuel, fair tickets, girlfriend – and drive to Syracuse.

Nicole and I arrived at the Fair yesterday, and the first thing we did was – well – we got some fried dough.  Because, as you know, that’s the first thing ANYBODY should do when they go to the Fair.  Then, as we were about to head to the Harriet May Mills Art Center to view the artworks and check on how the pictures did – there was a free concert at the adjacent Chevrolet Court, an outdoor concert venue.

It was a performance by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.  And man, did he put on a fantastic performance.  Played all his hits, even played an acoustic version of James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” that took everybody to church.

And while Nicole and I were enjoying this suave singer’s sultry and smoky songs, I thought to myself, how fortunate I am and how hard I’ve worked to improve things in my life over the past twelve months.  One year ago, I was in a Canadian shopping mall, celebrating my birthday by myself, grumbling “Happy Birthday” with a couple of donuts and a diet cola.  Feh.  Today, I’ve gotten rid of things that have hurt me in the past – eliminating the pains of my yesterday to keep them from putting chains on my tomorrow.  The 49th Resolution, I say.

On that moment, as Babyface performed a medley of the hits he co-wrote and produced for other artists, I made my 50th resolution.

And the 50th resolution was to always make my girlfriend Nicole as happy as she makes me.  Don’t be a jerk, don’t be a knucklehead, but DO be the person that anyone can be proud of and enjoy.  Be a man.  Be “the man.”

Okay, no more dilly dallying.  Let’s go to the Harriet May Mills Art Center right now.

Upstairs we go.  And right off the bat, we found Pies on the Windowsill…

Honorable mention.  Hell yeah I’ll take that any day of the week.  You know why?  Because it means that this little simple picture was another successful shot with my film gear.  Another gold star earned with my Nikon F100 film camera.  A gold star for my Nikkor f/4.5 50-300 telephoto “Rachel” lens.  And my first ribbon ever for using efke film.  Victory!

But where is Low Tide at Sunrise?  It’s got to be here somewhere, it’s not next to the Pies, where is it?

Nicole found it.  She brought me over to the picture, and with a smile that was made of three parts sunshine and two parts angel wings, she said to me, “Look at the ribbon.”

Another honorable mention.  Wow!  My first ribbon for an HDR picture, another ribbon for my Nikon D700 camera, my first NYS Fair ribbon for a Canadian capture and my first State Fair ribbon for the Vivitar 19mm f/3.8 ultra-wide-angle glass.

So let’s recap, shall we?

In the past five years, eight Chuck Miller photos have graced the walls of the Harriet May Mills Art Center.  Seven of those pictures took ribbons, including the two from 2013.

Second time in three years, and third time in the last four, that every picture that was accepted for display at the NYS Fair received a ribbon of some sort.  And for those of you who are keeping tally, this makes seven ribbons in the past five years from the New York State Fair.  Definitely awesome.

And in sharing this with my girlfriend… who totally supports me and believes in me and who thinks that every picture I take is awesome… that’s just icing on the cake.

We spent the rest of the day at the Fair, and even took in an excellent concert by Reba McIntire.  In fact, we’re staying an extra day – you really can’t do everything you want to do at the New York State Fair in just one day.  It’s like trying to visit every tourist attraction in New York City in a single day.

So I’m going to start out my fiftieth year on this planet in a much better place than I’ve been in a long, long time.

And that feels better than anything.