McHENRY — After a modest beginning, the photography department at the Garrett County Agriculture Fair has evolved from just one section (black and white prints) to the present-day offering of five sections: Amateur Black and White, Amateur Color, Semi-Professional Black and White, Semi-Professional Color, and Special Effects. The display area has expanded from the small initial display to the current display which is among the most popular indoor exhibits at the fair. As interest continued to grow in the department, so did the number of classes.
From the initial group of four, the total classes now number twenty. These include: Action; Animals; Arts, Music, Still Life; Autumn; Birds and Insects; Buildings and Architecture; Children; Close-ups; Flowers and Plants; Garrett County; Holidays and Patriotic; Landscapes; Machinery; People; Reflections; Sun Effects; Trees; Water Scenes; Winter Scenes; and Miscellaneous. All twenty of these classes are included in each of the five sections.
The class “Garrett County” was created at the suggestion of leaders in the tourism industry to promote Garrett County. Although the photographs are no longer used by the tourism office, this class has been continued as a way of showcasing the natural beauty, history and culture of the county. “Special Effects” is defined as a category to allow the exhibitor to apply any form of artistic expression to the photo, including various computer programs, to create a new, significantly-altered image based on the exhibitor’s photos.
The original photo used in this process can be either color or black and white. The open class photography department is open to anyone who makes less than 25% of his/her livelihood through the sale of photography. While no specific guidelines define “semi-professional,” the intent is for entrants to self-select these sections who have won top awards in the past, have more training and experience, or use more advanced photography equipment.
Everyone who is compensated for their photography services should enter in the semi-professional sections. For this year only, an additional class, “Bridges” has been added as Class 21 to all five sections. The class title for 2025 will be announced prior to the last day of the 2024 fair.
There were 67 exhibitors who entered 370 photos in the photography department in 2023. Winners were: Best of Show Amateur: Mackenzie Smith Best of Show Semi-Professional: Wood Clodfelter Because of the divisiveness that appears to permeate the country, the photography department area will be decorated in the patriotic colors of red, white and blue to demonstrate Garrett County’s sense of unity and national pride. Anyone interested in entering photographs is invited to check out the complete rules and regulations for this department (Dept.
027) in the 2024 fair premium book or on the fair website at www.garrettcountyfair.org .
The minimum size for prints is 5” x 7” and the maximum size is 8” x 12.” Prints can be any size between those two limits, and do not need to be the standard sizes as printed by most printers. The size of the poster board for mounting must be 11” x 14” for all sizes of prints.
It became necessary to limit the total number of photographs entered per exhibitor to ten because of the ever-increasing popularity of the photography department. These guidelines apply to the open-class department only, and not to the 4-H or school departments. Entry day for all indoor exhibits is Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.
m. to 4 p.m.
Indoor exhibits may be picked up on Sunday, Aug. 4, from 11 a.m.
to 1 p.m. only.
No exhibits will be released Saturday, Aug. 3. Any entries not picked up at that time will be taken to the fair office.
Questions may be addressed to Marvin and Ruth Beckman, department superintendents, at 301-387-4704, or by email to [email protected] ..
