There are many things that make a photo good or bad.

I might be able to explain some of those things better than the average person, but, whether they know why or not, most people have a pretty good handle on which photos are good and which are not.

People can get a little too caught up in the subject. It’s important to be able to say, ‘That’s an awful picture of my kid/friend/cat, who is not diminished in the least by my inability to successfully capture how cute/brave/wonderful/talented… he/she/it is.”

For a couple years now, I have been among the many judges at Warren County Fair.

The judges have some expertise in their fields. Butch MacQueen and I handle a good portion of the photography. We also evaluate some arts and crafts — well outside my wheelhouse — but comprehensible. I could tell that the clay unicorn was pretty impressive, that the correct use of Lego kits results in very similar entries, and that there are some really creative youngsters out there.

I get photography. I don’t get grain and seed crops (nor many of the other products that can be found at the Fair.

Other judges have tasks that I would need extensive training for.

There are 168 vegetable categories including (red carpet) globe golden beets, (stomping) Savoy cabbage, endive (I thought that was an island chain), elephant garlic, muskmelon (yum?), tomatillo cluster, and Hungarian hot wax peppers.

I’m pretty sure I couldn’t tell a fennel from a purple kohlrabi from a horseradish. To judge those, I would not only need to be trained to recognize species of edible plants, I would have to know what a good one of each species looked/smelled/tasted?/felt like. Even for familiar vegetables, I don’t really what the pinnacle of carrot achievement is.

Among those vegegories are some that allow the entrant to combine art with food. There are cucumber- and potato-dress-up categories with subdivisions for adults, teens, and pre-teens. Within each age level are most creative animal, most original, prettiest, and ugliest.

Yes. Ugliest dress-up cucumber is three categories to be judged at Warren County Fair. I suppose I could judge ugly. Some of the ugly entries reminded me of a sequence from Calvin and Hobbes in which Calvin makes shock-value snowmen. Good stuff.

Jellies, and preserves, and jams… oh my. I spoke with some judges during a break and my head was spinning within moments. They evaluate the contents, the amount of light that passes through, the seeds, even the condition of the container. I thought one judge was talking about diamonds for a minute — clarity, color…

Then there are 82 baked goods categories. I’m a fan of baked goods in general. I can’t begin to imagine how I would appropriately compare six sea foam entries or not-iced chiffon egg cakes.

But, there are people at the Fair who judge these things. And, I know they take their responsibilities seriously. I’ve seen them.

So, if you need a break from the Midway, or forgot your sunscreen, or ate too many elephant ears and hot sausage sandwiches, stop by the exhibits buildings and take a quiet look around.

If you do, like me, you might learn a thing or two about what makes one elderberry entry better than another. At the least you’ll see a wondrous array of entries that represent the hard work of dozens of local producers.

I can certainly attest that the photography is worth seeing.