Tioga County Fair

© 2009 Simon Hucko

Last night I had the chance to grab my camera and hang out at the Tioga county fair, which is being held right down the street from where we live. The main event of the evening was the demolition derby. While that's not my usual scene, I had fun watching and taking pictures. I was too cheap to pay the $3 to get into the stands, so I found a spot on the fence next to the pit (arena? track? whatever they call it) and watched from there. I think it actually worked out better, since I was near the entrance/exit and got to see all of the cars passing by (either on their own, or aided by the various cleanup equipment):


© 2009 Simon Hucko

I missed most of the car crunching action, but I don't think it translates very well to still images anyway. It was more fun to watch the people and try to capture the event that way. Like when someone did something they shouldn't have an the officials got rather upset:


© 2009 Simon Hucko

Of course, what would a fair be without food? A lot of food vendors were set up, with some really really good smelling wares. My favorite was the Italian sausage sign (complete with American flag):


© 2009 Simon Hucko

Probably framed that one a little too tight, but I had my 50mm on at that point and it was hard to get back far enough.

My final adventure of the evening was watching Brian, the chainsaw carving guy (from Masters of the Chainsaw) turn a log into a bear. He was inside a netted off area to prevent debris from flying all over. Shooting through a fence/net like that is sort of lame, but I grabbed a few shots anyway. He saw me taking pictures, and when he stopped to switch chainsaws (he had like 7 of them lined up) he asked if I was shooting for the paper. "Nope, just for myself, but I'd be happy to send them to you if you give me an e-mail address." Well, he did, and then he asked if I wanted to come inside the net and shoot. Heck yes I would. I spent probably 10 minutes firing away inside the fence, got covered in bits of wood, and got some great shots:


© 2009 Simon Hucko


© 2009 Simon Hucko


© 2009 Simon Hucko

It was a cool opportunity, and I would say I had more fun than I had anticipated. I wussed out and didn't photograph any of the people at the fair (there were some great moments like a little kid sitting in his mom's lap doing one of those squirtgun races), so maybe I'll go back this weekend and try to overcome my fear of getting in trouble...

Full set from last night here

~S