Photography 2016 Douglas County Fair in Ava, Missouri

This year the Douglas County Fair was very early, June 3-4.  Unfortunately, I was not able to get off work in time to get the items to the fair, so I had to ask my brother to take them in and then possibly pick them up (though it worked out that I was able to pick them up before the end of the fair on our way back through town on our way home). 

     I entered six photos, 3 color and 3 black and white.  I was pretty happy with the results.  I am hoping next year to have some new photos to use. The ones I used this year I just went through a bunch of my photography from various travel in the past, photos that I really liked and that would fit the category.  So here are the photos in each category.

     First, there was the portrait category.  I found two from traveling for mission trips.  One was a young man in Haiti who really wanted his picture taken.  He was excited to see his picture on the screen afterward.  I don’t know his name and this was from about 14 or 15 years ago. this, because the old camera had lower resolution and when I enlarged it, you don’t notice it in regular “house” lights but under the bright fluorescent lights it was pretty obvious there was some pixelation from enlarging it to 8x10.  

Haitian Boy Near Christianville, Haiti

This was also from my old camera.  I think this is why I got a second place on

      The black and white portrait was a small child (baby boy) standing in a boat almost unsupervised.  I could not imagine that happening in the United States.  The family was going out to fish for their food for the day and the baby (I’m sorry, he was so young I can only think of him as a baby) was climbing around in the boat and completely naked. 

Miskito Indian Boy In Haulover, Nicaragua

This was so normal to the family and the tribe and I found it so not normal that I had to get a picture of it.  This was in the Miskito tribe of Indians in Nicaragua near a village called Haulover.  It was an incredible and very difficult trip that I will always remember.

      The next category was Animals, color and black and white.  Most animal photos I have that are good are usually birds.  The first one was a bird I saw on a trip out west.  We were visiting friends near Albuquerque, NM, and I saw this beautiful bird that resembled a Blue Jay from back in Missouri, but he was much larger and more intensely blue.  I snapped several pictures of him but this is the one I liked best. 

Stellar Jay in New Mexico

Apparently I wasn’t alone because this was another red ribbon winner.  And I found out after an internet search that it was a Stellar Jay.  I wonder if they thought I messed with the colors because he was so beautiful.  Well, surprise, I did not mess with the colors.  They really are that spectacular.

The black and white photo, a blue ribbon winner, is of a Mourning Dove I saw outside my window.  I was surprised to get such a good photo through the window and the screen and it was raining.

Mourning Dove in Rain

But I took several pictures and picked the best one.  I love how big and soft and sleek the bird looks.  

     The final category is one I have trouble narrowing the photos down to just two, landscapes.  The color landscape I chose was a picture from my Grandfather’s property.  It was an old barn my 84-year-old mother remembers going into to do the milking back in the 1930’s.  We were there in the fall and the colors were just amazing.  

Grandpa's Barn in Autumn

I love the colors and the lumber out front.  My grandfather ran a lumber mill, which is in the building behind where I’m standing to take this photo. 

     The black and white one was actually taken on my mother’s farm in the Ozark’s in Missouri.  This is our old hay truck that was haven’t used in years.  I love how rustic it looks.  I don’t think it runs anymore, but I do remember it running when I was very young.  It sat like this for at least 30 years. 

Old Farm Truck

I didn’t notice until after I had printed the picture that I had cut off the very edge of the front right corner of the truck.  I still love this picture.  It’s a red ribbon winner, though, in spite of its imperfections. 

     I am hoping this year to do some random drives around the area and getting some new photos to enter next year.  I am also hoping they change the dates of the fair.  This year was very rainy. 

I hope you enjoyed my photos as much as I have.  Please visit again.