Photo enthusiasts tell visual story of DuPage County Fair
Patrick Spence held up his Nikon D90 and snapped a few pictures of children riding a carousel. Searching his surroundings as he walked, he found his way to a duck race, where a father held out a bird for his young daughter to let loose.
But it was when he landed at a row of empty red swings that Spence found the shot he was looking for.
The Naperville native was one of 14 contestants that competed in Wednesday's second annual Photography Shoot-Out Competition at the DuPage County Fair, which runs through Sunday in Wheaton.
Participants in the contest had one hour to roam the fairgrounds and take photos to be judged by Daily Herald photographers that fit a randomly selected category out of four: generations, barnyard, tractors and playtime.
First, second and third place received cash prizes, with first place winning $20 and a $75 gift card to PJ's Camera & Photo Supply in Glen Ellyn, which partially sponsored the event.
Fair Director Holly Yeates said the contest can spur people to discover new venues of the fair they might not have otherwise.
“We were trying to create some sort of a high-energy event to kick off the fair, and we have a lot of photo enthusiasts in DuPage County,” Yeates said. “This is an opportunity for shutterbugs to look through their lensfinder and see the fair in new or different ways.”
Keith Larson of PJ's Camera and Photo Supply said he sees the competition as a creative outlet for photographers.
“It's exciting for us to look at the creativity that people come up with in such a limited time frame,” he said. “That's very inspirational.”
It's very difficult to get that perfect shot, Spence said, but it's so rewarding when he does. The big thing for him is the composition of the photo. His shot of a Chicago-style hot dog sitting against a red-and-white checkered tablecloth won Spence first place in last year's competition.
“I think the subject is really important, but you could almost take a good photo of anything,” he said. “As long as you have good composition, anything can look good.”
Daily Herald photographers Bev Horne and Paul Michna, who judged the photos, said they also consider composition as one component of a quality picture.
“I look for something with the basic photo elements — a clean background, something focused, well-exposed and well-composed,” Michna said. “Then from there, I look for something outside the box, something I haven't seen before.”
Dick Davis of Lombard won first place for his close-up shot of a pig lying in the hay.
“I was trying to get a close-up of an animal, and that was the right opportunity,” Davis said. “It was probably a matter of both of us being in the right place at the right time.”
Yeates said the contest captures the story of the fair in a visual way.
“Sometimes you can teach with a picture more than with 10 sentences or an hour lecture,” she said. “Our fair is a multifaceted event. There's no one picture that captures it all, just like there's no one memory you take with you.”