Another summer of judging 4-H photography in the books

       “What do you enjoy about photography?” the young 4-H’er asked me after I judged her photos at the Washington County Fair on Saturday, July 13.
         I’ve never had a 4-H’er ask me that question, so it took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts. Then I told her that I enjoy taking photos of people and covering community events.
          “I like mirroring words and pictures together to tell a story,” I said.
        I enjoy talking with the 4-H’ers and even talked basketball with a couple high schoolers from nearby Keota who are part of a Washington County 4-H Club.
       I make it a practice to focus on the positive. These young people are learning and as a judge, it’s important for me to teach and encourage.
          This was my second time to judge photography at the Washington County Fair in the southeast part of the state and the first time since I last judged there in July 2013.
          It was a great day and I saw some beautiful photos. I handed out nearly 20 purple ribbons, lots of blues and a handful of reds, mostly for out-of-focus photos.
          I had three of the photos I judged qualify for the state fair. Washington County is sending 14 total to the state fair.
      The county also hands out several special honors, one being for the best beef photo. I’m sure it is sponsored by the county cattleman’s association.
       It didn’t win, but my pick was a photo of steaks on a grill. Another approach to the photo would be someone in the photo cooking the steaks on a grill. 
        The winner was a traditional photo of a momma cow and her calf. It was a beautiful photo, but the steaks on the grill was better.
        I’m probably about as non-traditional of a judge as there is in the state. I don’t bring in tools or rule of third guidelines or worry about all the photography rules. I just use a piece of paper and my hand to show 4-H’ers how to crop their photos, what to do so the horizon is offset and how to display them.
        I share with them about filling the frame, watching out for things growing out of people’s heads and on occasion, I talk about the need to step back or get closer when taking a photo. I often talk about the importance of the project write up and providing information about the photo and experience of taking it. It’s almost as important as taking the photo.
       I remember one 4-H’er some years ago who not only did an excellent job with the write up, she also did individual stories of each photo. All the photos were taken at her grandparent’s home and by the time the county fair rolled around, a tornado had destroyed the house.
      What a memory and keepsake for that young lady to have for down the road. I awarded her several purple ribbons for her work.
        The Washington County Fairgrounds has nice facilities and the county extension office is right there on the grounds. I appreciate the invitation to judge there and hope I get asked to come back.
        In addition to judging in Washington County, I also judged open class photography at the Iowa County Fair on Tuesday, July 9.
         It was a great day and I judged around 125 photos. I started shortly after 1 p.m. and it was just after 5 p.m. when I wrapped up the day.
        My best of the show honor went to a high schooler with a beautiful photo of a sea shell. I handed out two award of excellence ribbons for a beautiful photo of a rock formation with a reflection and another of young girl enjoy a drink while wearing a American Needs Farmers (ANF) hat. There was a small dribble of her drink on the young girl’s chin. It was a cute photo and well deserving of the honor.
        At Iowa County, there is also an open class section for professional photographers, or those who make money taking photos. My top honor went to an agricultural scene of a three combines harvesting crops. I also handed out an award of excellence for a photo taken at a rodeo. Overall, there were some great photos to judge and good people to work alongside.
        I’ve judged 4-H and open class photography every year but one since 2012. Cathy Lents, the Poweshiek County Extension Educational Director, encouraged me to be a judge and she helped me get signed up for the training, which I took in Polk County in November 2011.
        In 2019, I judged 4-H photography at the Iowa State Fair. I struggled a bit with that challenge as I enjoy talking with the youth. At the state fair, it’s just the photo and the 4-H’ers write up. I about wore out three erasers writing down my thoughts and then making changes.
        One long-time judge had a laptop and small printer. He wrote his thoughts about each photo on a form, printed it out, cut out the comments and glued them to the 4-H’ers entry sheet. The general public doesn’t see those comments.
         I’m looking forward to seeing how my selects fare at the state fair.
        I enjoy working one-on-one with the 4-H’ers and will probably stick with judging on the county level in the coming years.
         Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.