Picture a blue ribbon at the 2021 Clay County Fair
Spencer, Iowa — With new themes and a new sponsor, now is a perfect time to begin sorting through all of the photos you have taken since the 2019 Fair and enter them in one of the many photography competitions at the 2021 Clay County Fair.
Photographers may enter up to 12 photographs with one entry per class. Divisions include color photographs or black and white photographs of people, places, landscape, things, plants, or animals/insects world.
A separate division for creative photography allows photographers to use different techniques to alter the photograph, including computer manipulation, multi-images into one photo, camera filters and trick lenses. A separate class, other than above, is available for people who have altered an image other than the three categories.
“We’re really excited to be back for the 2021 Fair,” said Dana Metcalf, superintendent of the Photography Department. “We’re letting our photographers use photos from September 2019 to September of 2021, with a limit of 12.”
Metcalf also mentioned that the Photography Department is excited to have eight new special theme divisions, each with their own sponsor. New for the 2021 Fair is a class entitled “Beauty,” part of the Agriculture division sponsored by GWS Farms, Inc. of Sioux Rapids.
Other sponsored classes and divisions include “Nuts and Bolts” (Objects division sponsored by Spencer Truck Line); “Reflections” (Water division sponsored by VW Docks of Spirit Lake); “Standing on the Edge” (Concepts division sponsored by Campbell, Higgins, and Mummert, P.C.); “Breaking News” (Photojournalism division sponsored by the Spencer Daily Reporter); “Iowa Architecture” (Beautiful Iowa division sponsored by Clay Mutual Insurance); “Helping the Water” (Conservation division sponsored by Clay County Soil Conservation Service); and “Equipment in Action” (Action division sponsored by Fox, Boyd, Sailer, & Shiver Dental Center).
Exhibitors entering sponsored divisions have the opportunity to win increased cash prizes. All divisions include a youth class for those under the age of 18 and an adult class.
Check out the exhibitor handbook online at www.claycountyfair.com or pick one up at the Fair Administrative Offices to find the rules and guidelines to enter your work at the Fair. Pre-registration for all exhibits is encouraged and can be completed online, by mail, or in person by August 29. For those who choose not to pre-register, registration can also occur when entries are accepted at the Photography Center on September 3 (Noon-7:00pm) and September 4 (9:00am-3:00pm). All mailed-in entries must be postmarked no later than August 15.