Altamont Fair 2019 photo results…

I changed up my routine this year.  My routine for the first day of the Altamont Fair is to drive over to the Fairgrounds as soon as I possibly could (the second after the clockout whistle blows on my day job), and then eat a meal at Josie’s on the Fairgrounds, and walk into the Fine Arts Building and see how things turned out.

This year, I didn’t feel like racing to Altamont.  And I wanted to take some film photos there, and I knew that no matter whether I arrived at 6pm or 9pm, the photos would all be on display at the Fine Arts Building … with or without ribbons.

And for someone who thought his work at Altamont couldn’t break through – longtime blog readers will recall I used a phrase called “The Altamont Curse” – in the past three consecutive years, I’ve pulled a blue ribbon out of the Fine Arts Building.  I’m not expecting a blue this year, but you never know.

By the way, somebody better fix the neon signage on one of the eateries on the midway, or you’ll never get Chris Cuomo to eat here.

So after I take care of my personal photography on the fairgrounds – by the way, to the two drunken fairgoers who jumped in front of my camera and said, “Ha ha, I ruined your time lapse,” you were too drunk to realize that I was taking static film shots, and all you did was photobomb one of my exposures, ha ha on you – it’s time to enter the Fine Arts Building.

Let’s start over here with my lenticular print, Roses and Vichy.

Okay, I totally get it.  Sometimes a great idea doesn’t win in the end.  Maybe next time.

And right near it is my shot of that old abandoned school bus, No School Today, Brah.

Mental note.  Next time I find an abandoned vehicle, it better have something more distinctive than just spraypaint and vandalism.

Wait, what about my photo of a rainbow as it bisects the Half Maen weathervane?

It’s on the wall … but no ribbon attached.  Nertz.

Okay, looks like all my hopes for a fourth consecutive blue at Altamont are going to rest with my macro photo of a water-soaked dandelion.

It should be over here at the black and white wall …

Um … let me get a closer shot of this.

Would’ja look at that?  A straight-up blue ribbon for After the Rain!  First ribbon of Competition Season 2019, and it’s a sexy blue fabric swatch!

And considering that After the Rain is also one of the four that were accepted at the New York State Fair – and it’s up for consideration at the Big E – and I may even enter it at Durham – we could be looking at a black and white picture that develops lots of color.  😀

But here’s the thing.  This is all fantastic and amazing and I’m so thankful to the judges and all …

But I’m not done.

I spent the evening photographing other objects at Altamont, and that means I have film to drop off at McGreevy Pro Lab this morning.

That, plus film from a weekend photo shoot … might reveal some images for Competition Season 2020.

You never know.

That’s why you keep taking pictures and press forward as best as you are able.