Photograph info: These photographs were taken at the Middletown Grange Fair in Wrightstown, Pennsylvania. It's our annual 5-day county fair with all of the typical (and wonderful) food, entertainment, rides and blue-ribbon contests. I spent four days at the fair photographing various 4-H events for the Penn State Cooperative Extension (where I also work as a Master Gardener).

Camera settings and post-processing: All of these photographs were shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and either the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens or the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens at a variety of ISOs, f/stops and shutter speeds. Glad to provide information on individual images if you like. These are all camera JPEGS with little to no post-processing other than a small contrast adjustment. No cropping as usual.

Thank you for visiting Durham Township!

-- Kathleen

That's not a hamster, it's a guinea pig!

Oh, Kathleen, I love these pictures so much! I especially love the one with the cow, of course, but I have a soft spot for sheep too.
Simply gorgeous photos - everything just pops!

akinoluna - Duly noted and corrected, thank you! :)

Sheep blissfully whispering in each other's ear,
A tractor inspector, then prize harvest fruits next appear.
Eggs in a carton, some mighty fancy duds in a row,
A bunny that is peeking, was the chicken caught mid-crow?
A carrot creation, two hands the Guinea Pig to control,
Pigtails with the dairy cows, give your support to the "Wear Wool Patrol".
Rounding out this picture visit to the Grange Fair...
A young man sporting what is the best in casual farmer ware.

Wonderful series from the fair. I love the tenderness of the first one.

Nice work....Really loved these pics.

What amazing photos! The eggs are exciting with the blue ribbons across them. The different animals have a history. These pictures stir interest in county fairs.

Great shots, as ever!

@Technobabe - check out my pics of a very similar event in the UK http://tinyurl.com/lystsc

Beautiful! I missed getting to see your posts for a while. Thanks for sharing.

By the way, I love the light on the foreground eggs. Very textural and very soft at the same time. Really nice.

The sheep are adorable. Guys will be guys, is he whispering sweet nothings in her ear? The bunny peeking out is beautiful as well as the hen that has something to say about winning a prize. These are great photos, every one of them.

1. "....Then there's the one about the two wolves who go into a bar and the first wolf says....
2. "Well I could swear there was a red tractor here a minute ago!"
3. Winners of the "Arranging Glass Jars on a Paper Plate Competition."
4. We have a white chicken that lays olive drab eggs.....probably ex military. (OK, pale olive drab.)
5. Elvis has left the building, wearing only his Mercury ladden Mylar shorts apparently.
6. Highly controversial new, "Smother Your Rabbit" Competition.
7. FOX, FOX, FOX!
8. You are who you eat.
9. "...yes...I'm getting this very strongly....she served under Napoleon during her ninth previous life....are you getting this down.....?" (Perhaps she was served TO Napoleon?)
10. First and Second Place in the "Pigtail Competition!"
11. "No Sheep Left Behind"....is that anything like "Get Out the Vote?"
12. Proving again, no real cowboy is happy in clean clothes.

Short of a baker's dozen, Kathleen, but it is the refreshing shower after the drought. Like the old song says, "You don't miss your water till your well runs dry." With a title like that, obviously a country song--fit for a country fair. (Your a bit of a country fair yourself, ya know :)

Jon, I could have made this all rhyme.......by Thanksgiving.

Awww, love the sheep. It looks like it's smiling. I wish we had a genuine county fair here.

Great series. THe sheep is cute, and despite a brief flashback to that awful scene in Roger & Me when I saw the picture of the judge with the rabbit, It's also a great, timely capture.

Whatever the sheep is saying, one is smiling :). All the photos are wonderful as usual.
Being out of town during the fair, I'm very thankful for the seeing this years events.

looks like a lot of fun!

The first shot of 2 sheep is a great one.

Cheers,
Glen.

Dear Kathleen, these pictures are beautiful, congratulation! Im so happy, because you show me this beatiful, and very far away coutry.

Kornelia from Hungary

Love the first shot with the sheep. I've seen vegetable art but not at a county fair - that was interesting. :)

This has been a real treat and a real treasure. Your photos are awesome.
Brooke

P.S. I said nice things about you on my blog today, in response to a comment about photo manipulation. :-)

I like this kind of anthropological work. In fact it catches the essence of the human's being sociability. Well done.

For some reason I never think of Pennsylvania and cowboys in the same sentence. I know there is a lot of rural beauty in PA - just always think of the farmers in a ball cap rather than a cowboy hat. Thanks for expanding my horizons.

I love your photography, especially your landscapes. The color and depth evoke a lot of emotion from me. Keep up the good work!

I used to drive a tractor of the same vintage as that International 544 Hydro when I was a kid, does that mean I'm an antique too?

It's always fun to see what you have been shooting!

Lol.. Those are nice photos you've posted. Thanks for giving us a good laugh. The animals are very cute.. I used to own a few sheep, but they all passed away.

The one with the two sheep and the dairy one are simply fabulous !

Wow, these are so wonderful Kathleen! Other than the sheep, my favorite is the prize-winning eggs; they're absolute luminous!

Great photo essay!! Those sheep look content :)