In mid-September, 2019 my wife and I visited Liberty, Kentucky for a number of reasons, but the timing was mostly because my wife wanted to attend the local apple festival.
This photographic genre is definitely well out of my comfort zone and I have to force myself to see and make these type images. I suppose this is a good exercise, nonetheless I feel much more at home in a wide open landscape with no one around and just the sounds of nature rather than raucous crowds.
Entertainment at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 52mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
A cropped version of the photo above is posted on Flickr. I cropped it to get a closer view of several of the performers, which I think is more appealing than this wide angle view that I made to take in the sign above the stage.
This festival had all the usual things that festivals have: entertainment and lots of booths with various goods, over priced food and beverages for sale to the attendees.
Liberty, Kentucky is a typical southern, rural, small town with down home country people, deeply religious and patriotic folk. Many of the families here have deep roots going back for many generations. The intermarriage of local families means that many of the residents or descendants of them are related in some manner.
Casey County Courthouse, Liberty, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 40mm, 1/400s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Having grown up in a small, rural, southern town, I can understand the culture here. Most of the residents are conservative and have a long history of hunting, fishing and gun use as sport and as a means of supplementing their food supply. Hence, one will see such displays as this:
Leather handgun holsters at a vendor’s booth at Casey County Kentucky Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 400, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Many of the items displayed in the vendor booths are hand crafted, such as these beautiful wood vessels:
A craftsman’s display at the Casey County Apple Festival, Liberty, Kentucky Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 46mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 400, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
And, of course, many of the locals have ancestors that fought in the civil war, probably on both sides and that history is still prevalent in many vendor displays along with the hard scrabble life of rural farm history.
A vendor’s display at the Casey County Apple Festival, Liberty, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/80s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Flag booth at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 58mm, 1/800s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Everyone knows how much southerners like sweet ice tea.
A Casey County Apple Festival beverage booth. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
This is also Trump country.
A vendor’s display at Casey County Apple Festival, Liberty, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Trump hats at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Trump items at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 62mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
One has to take time to pick the best hat:
Trump hats at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I did not see any political displays for any of the current crop of Democratic Party presidential candidates. I’m guessing the progressive movement is not very popular here.
There were many items to enjoy seeing and have fun photographing at many of the vendor booths. Here are just a few.
Transparent spheres at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Pink?
Vendor booth at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Manaquins at Casey County Festival Vendor Booth. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Dream Catchers at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm (pre-crop), 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Toy display at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm (pre-crop), 1/800s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
2 thoughts on “Casey County Apple Festival, Liberty, Kentucky”
I think you did a great job with shooting outside of your preferred genre. But… but… where are the apples? I will not comment on the politics of the area or the gun issues. I find events fun to shoot as many of the people are agreeable to having their photos taken. And it is always interesting to see local arts and crafts. And those half mannequins were fun. You never know what you might find at a festival!
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Shutterpug, you would think that I should, at least, have a photo of an apple or many apples for a festival that is supposedly about apples. While I do remember seeing some apples, apparently none of them inspired me to make a photo of them. There were events such as “apple peeling” of the apples that were to go into the worlds largest apple pie, preparation of the worlds largest apple pie, magic apple hunt, apple pie eating contest, apple toss, cutting of the worlds largest apple pie (with complimentary ice cream, no information on cost of pie). We saw none of these events; even though the apple pie preparation was initially on Barbara’s agenda, she decided something else took priority. I mostly looked for fun ways to make photos or photos of crafts that I admired and/or other items that seemed to fit the culture of the area. As always, thanks for the comment.
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I think you did a great job with shooting outside of your preferred genre. But… but… where are the apples? I will not comment on the politics of the area or the gun issues. I find events fun to shoot as many of the people are agreeable to having their photos taken. And it is always interesting to see local arts and crafts. And those half mannequins were fun. You never know what you might find at a festival!
Shutterpug, you would think that I should, at least, have a photo of an apple or many apples for a festival that is supposedly about apples. While I do remember seeing some apples, apparently none of them inspired me to make a photo of them. There were events such as “apple peeling” of the apples that were to go into the worlds largest apple pie, preparation of the worlds largest apple pie, magic apple hunt, apple pie eating contest, apple toss, cutting of the worlds largest apple pie (with complimentary ice cream, no information on cost of pie). We saw none of these events; even though the apple pie preparation was initially on Barbara’s agenda, she decided something else took priority. I mostly looked for fun ways to make photos or photos of crafts that I admired and/or other items that seemed to fit the culture of the area. As always, thanks for the comment.