WIF – 16 Years Later… Best of Show!

Every year we still make it to the Western Idaho Fair, although our fair visits have gotten considerably shorter over the years. We don’t really need to spend an entire day there anymore. We have a couple of things we like to do, we eat some fair food, look at my photography, and we’re pretty much good to go.

Jaelee had already gone to the fair the Sunday before with her boyfriend, and my friend Greg had already been too. So I already found out what ribbons I received on my photos this year, I knew I had some exciting news waiting for me.

I was SO excited to find out that one of my photos received a Best of Show!

Best of Show is only given to the photo the judges feel is the best in the entire division. Mine was Best of Show for Color in the Advanced Amateur division. I have been trying to figure out exactly how long I’ve been entering photos in the fair, and I believe this was my 16th year. Sixteen years of entering photos and this is the first time I’ve ever received one of those ribbons!

That was pretty exciting.

And apparently, it was also pretty exciting for Greg.

He happened to be in two of my winning photos, including the one that received Best of Show, and I think this went straight to his head. Suddenly he wasn’t just my husband who occasionally gets dragged into my photography. He was an important model.

He kept asking me if I thought people would recognize him from the winning photograph. He even told a couple we knew that they might recognize the guy in some of the photos because he was such a good model.

Then he started asking what percentage of my winnings he was entitled to.

I reminded him that he was a model who was paid in love and appreciation.

He wasn’t buying it.

I think the ribbons may have given him just enough of a big head to start expecting a modeling career, LOL.

Even without the ribbons, though, I really enjoy seeing all of the photography at the fair. There are so many talented photographers, and I love walking through and seeing what everyone else has captured. And, of course, it’s always fun to see my own photos hanging up there.

So when Greg and I got to the fair Tuesday night, that was the first thing we did. We went straight to find my photos and Jaelee’s.

Jaelee entered three photos this year and did really well herself. She got a first place and a second place. I ended up with three first-place ribbons, including my Best of Show, plus an honorable mention. Definitely my best year at the fair yet!

While we were looking at all the photos, one in particular caught my attention. It was a photo of a wolf growling at a bear with its teeth showing. It was an incredible shot. I couldn’t believe someone had actually managed to capture both animals in the same photograph in the wild. It looked like an illustration from a story book.

Honestly, my first thought was that it might be AI.

Then I looked at the card and realized I knew the photographer.

Frances is in the photography club with me, and I’ve worked with her on a few projects. I knew there was no way she would use AI for something like this. I told Greg I had to find out how she got the photo.

As luck would have it, when we walked around the corner, there she was! She was volunteering with the camera club at the fair.

I asked her about the photo and found out that it was taken just three weeks earlier in Finland. Frances travels all over the world with photography groups, and on this particular trip they were taken out to photograph wildlife. They happened to get both a wolf and a bear.

How incredible is that?

I also couldn’t believe the photo hadn’t received a ribbon. I mentioned that to her and she told me that she had actually been helping take notes during the judging. When the judges got to her photos, they said the wolf and bear photo looked like AI and dismissed it. She couldn’t say anything!

That honestly made me sad.

I understand that judges have to be careful with AI now, but it’s frustrating that something can be dismissed simply because it looks too incredible to be real. And I can’t help but think about what AI has done to photography contests in general. A real photograph can apparently be so unbelievable that people assume it must be fake. I think the judges should still judge it as a photograph since that’s what this contest is – not dismiss something they perceive as AI.

Frances showed Greg and me a few other photos she had taken on her trips, including some from Japan, and I was completely blown away. Her photography is amazing, and seeing those photos made me want to travel with one of these photography groups someday. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance, but it sure would be fun.

After we finished looking at the photography, we moved on to one of Greg’s favorite parts of the fair—the old motors.

We walked around while Greg explained to me how cool all of them were. I don’t understand nearly as much about old engines as he does, but I enjoy listening to him explain things he’s interested in.

Then it was time for the really important part of the evening: food.

Greg started with a corn dog. Then we got some fry bread. Eventually we made our way to his favorite burger place, where he got his traditional two-patty burger—one elk and one buffalo. I went with a BBQ chicken sandwich.

We found a picnic table near the concert that was going on and sat there eating while listening to the music.

And that was pretty much it.

A couple hours at the fair, a bunch of photography, some old motors, and a whole lot of food.

We’ve definitely changed the way we do the fair over the years. But I think I like our little tradition just fine.

I had to laugh at this one. I entered this photo into the Spring Category and I got first place but I also was the only one to enter a photo!