Odd Shots encore - Pumpkins

Among the agricultural produce on display were these unusual pumpkins. They were about the size of a basketball and the one below is a peanut pumpkin.

Odd Shots - Sheep's clothing?

I do not expect to see fancy sweaters on farm animals around here, but I spotted these newly shorn sheep at the fair wearing what appeared to be non-wool clothing.

For more "Odd Shots" visit Katney's Kaboodle.

PhotoShop - levels

Usually I have my camera set to automatic, no flash. On the night before we went to the Frederick Fair last September I took some shots of the moon in manual mode and forgot to reset. At the fair the sun was extremely bright, making checking images on the display impossible until we went inside one of the buildings. The result was some highly over-exposed images, like the one above. It was then that I saw something was wrong and reset my camera. Back home, I tried several enhancements in PhotoShop Elements to improve the image quality. Adjusting the levels resulted in the image below which I like.

I also took another shot when we completed our circuit of the fair grounds. This one has only been resized, so you can see the Nikon does a great job of exposure if left on its own.

Fair animals

When I visited the animal barns at the Frederick Fair last week, the young farmers were showing their animals. This young lady was leading her cow to the judges. A couple of sheep were waiting patiently while others nearby were getting bathed for the show.

And this bearded cock did not want to face the camera!

Harness racing at the fair

Warming up

Harness racing is part of the Great Frederick Fair. Last Tuesday when I took these shots the pacers were racing. The races are strictly exhibition and there is no pari-mutual betting. There were 10 races total for pacers and trotters over four days of the fair.

Approaching the start of the race

Coming around the bend

A later race when I had walked to the other end of the race track

Root Beer Man

I visited the Great Frederick Fair yesterday and shot some scenes (next week will be "fair week" on my blogs). Among the concessions at the fair, this one caught my eye, first because of the old red truck, and second because I was thirsty. The truck is a 1937 Ford with the root beer stand built on the back. The truck still runs and is tagged for highway use, but the proprietor hauls it on long trips. He travels to 20 fairs a year, mostly in New York, but also Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina and Florida.

Serving one up

Mine's paid for

Root beer kid