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As summer flies by (can it really be July already? Am I really working on Christmas card session plans now? I am! More on that later), The Great Minnesota Get Together (more commonly known as the State Fair) grows closer. That also means that the deadline to register for the Fine Arts competition is even more rapidly approaching. Just like yearly fair attendance is a tradition for many Minnesotans, yearly application (and for many of us, subsequent rejection) to the Fine Arts competition is a tradition for local photographers. The Twin Cities is chock full of talented artists and acceptance is difficult - there were over 2200 applicants last year and only 300+ pieces were accepted.

I’ve entered the competition three of the last four years. My first entry was this photo, taken at Peacham Pond in Vermont. It was sort of a last minute decision, made on a whim just as I was preparing to leave town for several months, and I didn’t really realize the caliber of the competition. Not surprisingly, it was not accepted.

I missed the registration deadline the next year so did not enter. The year after, I entered this photo, which I don’t actually like much. This was also taken in Vermont and my parents have a large print of this hanging in their house. I entered it because, despite my dislike of it, I’d gotten several compliments on it and figured with my luck, I’d be successful in entering a photo that I didn’t like. I wasn’t.

(It doesn’t actually look as bad as this version.)

Last year I entered this image. I printed it quite large (30×40) just because I wanted to. It was the most obvious of my images that I could think of that would do well in a competition. The judge apparently felt differently. It did hang for several weeks at the Lake Elmo Regional Art Center and currently graces the March page of 3M calendars everywhere. I got tired of looking at that photo though so it now resides on the mantel in my parents’ house.

I’m not sure what or if I’m going to enter this year. The results of my previous entries haven’t deterred me but I think picking an entry this year would be difficult and likely time-consuming so maybe I’ll save the fair for various foods on a stick. We’ll see.