2011 Minnesota State Fair

Edwige and I awoke at 5:00am yesterday so that we could arrive at the State Fair grounds around 6am. I wanted to take advantage of the morning light as well as have crowd free backgrounds for some of my shots. I really enjoyed the calm and almost surreal atmosphere of the Midway.

Around 10am we gravitated over to the livestock barns. I always forget that I have an allergy to hay, which makes it extremely difficult to concentrate while shooting. In spite of that, I think we got some nice shots.

While in the Swine Barn, we met some wonderful people that helped to educate us on pigs. As a result, the shoot became even more meaningful. I need to find some miniature farmers for next year. I can see doing a whole series on just livestock!

Near the end of the day, I decided to to re-shoot a scene I had attempted last year. It never fails... when you are kneeling just several inches away from horse manure (with a camera), people are going to stare and make comments. But hey, it's part of the Minnesota State Fair!  :-)

It wasn't all work yesterday. We had lunch and took in a live show (go see Sean Emery... very skilled/talented and hilarious!) After it was all said and done, Edwige and I spent 14 hours at the Minnesota State Fair!