Corn Fest Photo Contest Winning Entries!

These photos bare ribbons from the Corn Fest Photo Contest. I entered 11 photos in all, some having entered in the previous contest at Goose Lake, but still, no ribbons for them. I guess I like them more than the judges do, anyway...I was thrilled to get a few ribbons, because I really didn't know what to expect. The show was HUGE and I have not competed but in the one previous, so I didn't know what kind of competition was out there. -Pretty good competition- There were a handful of names who won multiple categories, with good reason. I didn't always agree with the votes though. There were some pretty bad views in my opinion, but thats the way it goes. My VERY BIG complaint was that they put zoo animals and wild animals together for a category. Those 2 things are very very different. Anyone can go to the zoo and photograph a tiger. Not anyone can go into the wild and photograph a tiger. Even if tigers were native to this country and roamed Illinois, just go out there and find one. Good luck with that. There ARE cougars and bobcats in Illinois, hmmm, seen any lately? The things I find in the wild are chance encounters, but I get better odds by knowing where to go and when. I don't get to see bucks every time I go out. They are not in cages, they roam free, and if I go out enough times, I can get so lucky that I see one, let alone be close enough for the shot, or that it doesn't bolt from my disturbance. And then there is the composition. In the wild, you do with what you get, in zoo's they make it look wild, and photographically pleasing...WHATEVER... There is easy, and there is difficult. I got beat out in the animals category by a lion and 2 tigers. The best of show was an Eagle portrait that the woman got while visiting a rapter exhibit at Goose Lake Prairie. My Terns would have taken 1st for wild. My Buck Sillouette would have taken 2nd. Am I wrong?---I'm done ranting...