Let’s make something clear. When you enter a photography competition, you must take some time and read the entry rules carefully. The rules determine, for example, the size of your print, its composition (framed or unframed, mounted or unmounted), the number of prints you are allowed to enter and whether you are limited to a certain number of entries per category.
Now the New York State Fair’s photography competition has made some changes for 2024, and it’s a good thing I looked at the rules before I went whole-horse and entered the same types of photos in the same categories as in previous years.
That being said, there are some new tweaks for this year’s event.
First off, the photography competition is limited to New York State residents. I understand that; it’s the same reason I can’t enter the Indiana State Fair’s photography competition – I’m not an Indiana resident.
You are also limited to six entries in the photo competition. But this year, you can only enter a maximum of TWO entries in any specific class. So if you have, oh, let’s say, six traditional color images, you’re now limited to two in the “color-traditional” category, and you need to see if your other four images would fit in the “color-non-traditional” or “taken at the NYS Fair” or “Pride of New York State” categories.
Also … if you have any photos that would have a recognizable person’s face in the picture (i.e., you hired a model to pose for you), you need a model release form attached to the back of your print. The NYS Fair website has model release forms, so you can download a few of them ahead of time. The only exception to this rule concerns photos take on the NYS Fairgrounds, because entry into the Fairgrounds during Fair season is an automatic confirmation of photographic rights. You know, it’s like the old rule that you couldn’t beat up Chuck Miller on the grounds of Lisha Kill Elementary School, you had to wait until he was off school property and THEN you could kick his ass while all the other classmates cheered you on. #fucklishakill
Also … there are certain logos that can’t appear in your photo. The big no-no is any photo that contains the Syracuse University logo; they do NOT want their Orangemen or Orange logotypes displayed in their photo competitions. So if you have that great shot of Jim Boeheim winning the NCAA championship that you want to enter in competition … maybe don’t enter it in this competition and you’ll be safe.
Oh, yeah. All the photos need to be family-friendly. No human nudity or suggestive barnyard activity, human or animal. Heck, I even had to consider whether or not to put this picture in the NYS Fair competition this year … and in the end, I chose to take it out of consideration for this show.
So what’s wrong with this photo?
Yeah, you know what’s wrong with this photo.
I can just imagine some seven-year-old girl pulling on her mother’s sleeve and saying, “Mommy, that says ‘Shoot him on the Spoot.’ Where’s the spoot? Do I have a spoot, mommy? Do you have a spoot?”
It’s okay. Trust me, I’ve already narrowed down my entries for this year’s Syracuse show to eight of the maximum six, I can relocate Shoot Him On the Spoot to another competition.
But, yeah. If you want to enter the NYS Fair’s photography competition, go to the NYS Fair website (http://nysfair.ny.gov), go to the competitions tag, and then check out all the different competitions you can enter. And the prize money is nice, too.
And when you go to the NYS Fair … bring your camera. Remember, photos taken AT the NYS Fair in 2024 could be entered in the “Taken at the NYS Fair” category in 2025.
Just sayin’ is all …
Chuck The Writer 