St. Mary's County Fair Photo Winnings

We had a lot of fun at the St. Mary’s County Fair this weekend.  Jim and I helped out the camera club by accepting entries and returning entries on 2 different days at the Photography competition.  Jim also helped out during the judging session by putting up photos.  We both won prizes this year.  I got a big purple ribbon for Best Photo in “Life in St. Mary’s County” for my picture of “St. Mary’s College of Maryland Sunset”.  First place for “Mishka”, (a Siberian Husky on my Apr 20^th blog), 2^nd place for” a Marionette with Balloons” from last year’s Mitchell Marionettes, 2^nd prize for an “Osprey Landing”, and honorable mention for a “Great Blue Heron” and a “Waterfall with Ferns”.  Jim’s 3^rd prizes were “Two Geese Arguing” and a “Tunnel Abstract” made with a red torchlight.  I was pleased with the prize for Mishka, because I am learning pet photography.  I also had fun telling Nancy Mitchell and her husband, Jack Gebhardt, from Mitchell Marionette Productions that a photo of their mouse marionette won a prize from last year’s fair.  When Nancy saw me in the crowd, she announced that an award winning photographer was in the audience and they might want to go and view the photo.  Other highlights at the fair included trying a fried milky way bar on a stick made with funnel cake dough, the flowers on exhibit, the horse pull, watching horse jumping, the Mitchell Marionettes, watching the Queen of Tolerance win and visiting the goats , sheep and Clydesdale horses.

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Here are some nice tips for Fall Photography and Halloween from the online school where I am taking an Adobe Photoshop course, The New York Institute of Photography.  It's a wonderful website to pickup good tips for free even if you aren't taking a course.

New York City visit

Last week, we visited the Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It is wise to plan what you carry with you in advance when visiting. Our visit began in Jersey City, New Jersey at the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal. If we hadn’t been with a tour group, I would have stopped to explore this old station with greenery growing along the tracks. The station apparently has a long history dating back to 1838.


You will go through a rather involved security check on your visit. Hand carry your camera, since backpacks and cases aren’t allowed. The best shots of The Statue of Liberty were either from the ferry with a long lens or from the shore beneath the statue. It was also interesting to look up at the statue from the Pedestal and there is a nice skyline view of New York City from the ferry.

There was a giant face and foot inside the Pedestal museum for fun photos. We didn’t go up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. Only a limited number of visitors can take the stairs to the crown and it must be reserved in advance (up to a year). I read that it can also get quite hot in the crown area in summertime.

Food was available at both locations and I found the café staff at Ellis Island to be very friendly. We only spent a few hours at each location, but it would be easy to spend most of a whole day at each historical spot. There were lots of photographs and stories at Ellis Island and the museum about the Statue of Liberty showed a fascinating history.

Mountain Sightseeing in Maryland and West Virginia

Last week we visited some lovely sights in western Maryland and the mountains of West Virginia. We took a circle trip to Blackwater Falls State Park WV, Swallow Falls and Herrington Manor State Parks MD, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad from Cumberland, Paw Paw Tunnel and visited some friends near Cacapon State Park WV. The weather was gorgeous, the waterfalls were so/so in dry weather and the friends were delightful.

I took many of my travel ideas from a book by Joseph Rossbach and Ian Plant called 50 Amazing Things You Must See and Do in the Greater D.C. Area. Although the book is targeted to active adults who like to hike and kayak, there were many places accessible to folks with a little less energy. Joe has presented several photography lectures at the St. Mary's County Camera Club and given us excellent advice on when and where to photograph nearby locations.