Boy after way too much vacillating, I have decided to enter photos into two county fairs this year, Alameda and Marin. I went around polling everyone I could find and received many conflicting opinions. Therefore, I just had to go with my gut feel. After my portfolio review last month with Michael Seewald, I went with his opinons. This bridge image was controversial among reviewers but I like it so it is going to both fairs. Taken on a rainy day at Tilden Park Botanical Gardens on New Year’s eve last year.

Keep reading if you want to see more of my image choices…

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During my fair polling, everyone liked this image. Oddly, no one was really interested in it when it was first made. Chip glanced and said “That’s nice.” meaning kind of boring. However, I have always liked this one and it is going to both fairs. Taken at Limantour Beach in Point Reyes the day after Thanksgiving.

This is a digital infrared image. B&W shooting and printing is very new to me. Printing has been especially difficult. I will write up how I managed in another post. With Michael Seewald’s advice on cropping, I now like the image. It is going to both fairs. Taken at Little Yosemite area in Sunol.

<this image was taken a few days ago because I needed an image from Swanson Creek from Uvas Canyon. I put the title onto my Marin county fair entry form knowing I would have to go out and take a good image. Seeing it back to back with Little Yosemite, it has an almost identical composition.

Purple Clover #2 is going to the Alameda county fair. I am sending a different creative image to the Marin county just to check response. Surprising to me but a lot of my friends really liked Purple Clover #2. They all said “I like it but I do not know why.”

Koi Patterns #2 is going to the Marin county fair. It was popular with my friends but anyone who liked Purple Clover #2 did not like this one. I believe the strong colors in both these images causes them to resonate only with certain people. I think that this image is my most ‘far-out’ but it has grown on me over time. It now hangs over my fireplace as a diptych.