By Reuben Mees
Special to the Examiner
A Zanesfield area father and son took home three of the four honors for adult photography during the Sunday afternoon Logan County Fair open class photography judging.
Michael Shepherd won best of show in black and white for his “Riding the Rails” photo that featured his wife looking out a train window. Meanwhile, their 18-year-old son Ethan took home best of show in color photography for an altered black and white image that featured a colored ammunition shell casing amid a pile of black-and-white spent casings. Ethan also took reserve black and white for a photo of an angel statue.
“We just bought a camera about five years ago and thought taking photos would be a fun hobby,” Mr. Shepherd said, noting that they have been showing at the fair since 2018.
Gary Kauffman of Bellefontaine, who has been showing photos at the fair for more than 20 years, took home reserve champion honors in the color category for a shot of the Logan County Fair midway reflected in the hub of an amusement ride. He said he shot the photo about 100 yards away with a 500 millimeter lens and that he wants to try to capture a similar view with a larger crowd at this year’s fair.
The husband and wife judging team of Tony and Kandalyn Green of Bellefontaine said they were impressed with the quality of work in this year’s exhibition.
“There was some really good beginner talent to people who have been shooting photos for years,” Tony said.
“It was nice to see all the categories and the different artists interpretations of those,” Kandalyn added.
“It’s neat to see how people frame and capture their world through photography,” Tony said.
The one drawback for the judges was the lack of participation by young photographers.
“We would love to see more youth showing their work and getting involved with photography,” Kandalyn said. “It was cool to see a father and son win so many awards though.”
There were only two youth category entries and among those, Layna Nessler took best of show for a color photo of a wooden plank walkway and Hailey Kennedy earned the reserve rosette for a shot of horses.