The San Diego Fair is a feast. A feast of food, people, arts, color, smells, and even business. It’s gotten expensive, but luckily this year I didn’t pay entry a single time even though I went five times. Twice with family and friends, once during the photo shootout competition and an extra two trips before and after to drop-off and pick-up my entries into the photography competition. My wife and I were granted a stack of free tickets because of our contributions to the fair, mine photography in the exhibit and hers an interactive community activity table.
My first trip was to drop off four entries into the student showcase. The award system is a little hard to understand and as far as I could see not publicly documented anywhere, but I somehow ended up with first place on all four submissions including a best in class in the “action” category, a “donated award” ribbon, and “poly photo club” honorable mention. I think the comparisons are made among peers from the same school, which for me is San Diego City College. It was really good practice in selecting, submitting, and physically mounting for a competition plus it was exciting to see my classmates and I’s photography displayed in a gallery.
The second trip to the fair was to help my wife with her Hello Barkada Zine making booth at the Asian and Pacific Islander Festival put on by Lauren at Social Artistry. I didn’t come away with any photos good enough to display, but it was a fun community event and we got special vendor parking and golf cart rides to haul her equipment through the back gates. It was strangely exciting to be behind the scenes after so many years as a regular attendee.
Trip number three was to participate in the fair photography shootout competition. On two specified Sundays participants are given a theme, a few hours to capture that at the fair, and then sit for live judging and winner selection. It’s frantic competitive fun that forces you to think on your feet and seek out something specific on a timeline. Sort of like street photography meets journalism. Of course the theme can be interpreted in many ways and was a good reminder of how subjective art judging is. Placing art in numeric hierarchy is always debatable since any particular judge would place them in a different order. A few of my friends placed or received honorable mentions, but I didn’t win anything. Nothing but camaraderie, photo exercise, and live judging from a professional photographer. I did have the distinction of having both judges say what they saw wrong about my photograph while everyone else was only subject to one judge. Bonus critique!
My relationship with the fair has changed over the years. Back when it was known as the Del Mar fair and I was in my twenties it was a party-like atmosphere where I caught a few bands and enjoyed the crazy rides and indulgent food. After having my son the packed crowds became a little too intense with a stroller. We still went, but found the quiet spots like the flower competition hall and outdoor garden display and started bringing in our own food. This year it’s primary purpose has been to practice street photography. The crowd is so dense that no one questions what you’re photographing. They most likely assume your family is somewhere in view. The bright colors, dynamic motion, night lights, and honest joy and fear of kids make it a combination of traits I love to photograph.
The last trip during the active fair was to take advantage of the Wednesday all-you-can-ride wristbands for my son. We’re always looking for a deal and not having restrictions of individual paid tickets for rides is a good one since he loves repeating his favorites over and over. While he was riding I had ample time to photograph and staying into the evening to see the carnival ride lights. The image stabilization on the Canon R6 is so good I was able to shoot these long exposures without a tripod.
