New York State Fair's Treasures

For 4 wonderful days this past week, I practically lived in the Youth Building at the New York State Fair, evaluating the work of 4-H kids from all over New York. The enthusiasm and talent of these youthful photographers is truly inspiring.

Here are a few examples:

Ok, after some 300 images, they can blur together, but there were a number of standouts. The top photo is flowers on a wet morning, backlit by the first rays of the sun.

What I want you to pay attention to is not that they are just "pretty pictures", but that each of these images were carefully thought out and "crafted" by their young makers.

It doesn't matter what type the camera is - the vision of the photographer is all that matters. The middle photo, the girl with the soccer ball was staged and photographed by her cell phone.

The next one - the flower reflected in the drop, was carefully staged by a young man who worked with multiple flowers to get the absolute largest drop he could to sit on the red petal, then held another flower at just the right place with one hand, while shooting the image with his other hand.

The last one was taken on a carriage ride in Ireland. Our artist used filters to make the photograph look like a watercolor painting.

I quote Michael Barton, "A camera is a box with a hole in it." The image that comes out is the sum total of what the artist puts through that hole.

My congratulations to the photography exhibitors at State Fair. I have great hope for our profession!