This week is the 50th Anniversary of the Ottawa County Fair held here in Holland, Michigan.  Part of the fun is a classic county fair exhibit area where you can enter everything from your prize tomatoes to table centerpieces to artwork and photography.  I entered eight photos across several different categories in the Photography class and a sculpture into the Adult Fine Arts class.  Judging was last Saturday, and I finally got the chance to go there last night to see how they....uhh...fared.

Turns out I fared very well.

Out of the eight photos I placed with 3 and had 2 honorable mentions.  My sculpture took a first place and an Adult Gold Ribbon.

The photos that placed are below—linked to larger versions.  The fun thing is that all of these pictures were taken on a 5 year old Canon S200 2MP point and shoot.  I love the challenge of seeing what I can get out of it.

The sculpture is my first attempt at anything like it - and came out of a need for something to put on our mantle but being too cheap to pay for anything we found locally.  I went out to the garage with task of creating something totally out of stuff I had in my junk drawer and steel scrap bucket.  Doing more junkyard art is a goal of mine for once the kids are grown and out of the house - I’d love to scour the local scrapyards for interesting tidbits and find ways to put them together like this.

Centennial New Year
1st Place, Black and White, Scenic

Dunton Ice
2nd Place, Black and White, Scenic

Dimnent at Midnight
2nd Place, Color, Buildings

Midnight Busses
Honorable Mention, Color, Seasons

VanWylen at Midnight
Honorable Mention, Black and White, Buildings

Bad Hair Day
First Place/Gold Ribbon, Adult Metal/Wood/Plastic Sculpture