At the 145th annual Severn Bridge Fall Fair one of the stories of the day was sun, and lots of it! It was an absolutely perfect day for an old time country fair in Muskoka. The bright outlook for the day got started early as mothers and babies took the stage to enter the “Baby Contest”. The stage area lit up with beaming faces of proud moms and their most adorable babies. These babies had their cuteness amplifiers turned all the way up to eleven! It was a captivating sight for the spectators and judges, and the best possible way for a candid child portrait photographer to get his camera warmed up.
I don’t know how baby contests like this are judged, but if anyone from the fair would like to explain please feel free to mention something in the comments below this post. As a photographer the intense levels of cute basically blinded me to anything else judges might have been looking for. In the short time the babies were on stage I just tried to get some good clear photos for everyone.
Though sunlight came on strong during the day, the stage at that time in the morning was pretty shady, there were cars parked behind the stage, and mic stands in front of the moms with babies, so it was a bit tricky trying to get photographs of the whole group at once. Whenever I had a clear line of sight, and was able to avoid those background cars, I decided to go for close-ups of individuals. I’m very pleased with some of the shots and see some photos that I’ll definitely add to my portfolio of candid child portraits. Thank you moms for being so photogenic and for sharing so much cuteness! We all loved seeing every baby, and though I wasn’t a judge in the contest, please consider each photo my way of awarding a first prize to every one of you.
I started shooting photos at about 8:30 in the morning and didn’t take a break until finishing at 4:30 in the afternoon. Needless to say, after 8 hours of non-stop photography I covered a lot at the fair, but still probably missed some important people and events. Whether I shoot for 8 hours straight or only get a few minutes, I always favor quality over quantity in photos. Only the photographs that I feel have captured something special, and are worthy of display and sharing, will be edited, processed and make it to the website.
It was nice to meet and have conversations with lots of people at the fair. If we didn’t get a chance to chat I’ll explain a little now about why I was there. I contacted the fair and offered to volunteer photography for the day, so the Severn Bridge Fall Fair could have use of the photos, and so visitors to the fair could also freely collect any photos taken for them. I’ve worked as a professional photographer for over 35 years, specializing in candid child portraits, sports and events all over North America. I like to always keep learning, practicing and creating. Regularly getting involved in covering activities like the fair, sports and events is a great way to do it. It’s a fun way to keep active, meet new people, and it’s a nice way of contributing something to the community.
Long days shooting photographs, and countless hours editing and processing the photos, is a lot of work and I enjoy it immensely whether it’s done on a volunteer basis or for hire. I also feel it’s important to get out there with a camera a lot as I’m fairly new in Muskoka, having moved to a very quiet rural area in Gravenhurst township only about 4 years ago. Hopefully by doing this often enough, people in this area will eventually become aware that I’m here!
Below you will find photos from the baby contest. As I continue to work my way through the photographs from the Severn Bridge Fall Fair new posts will be made with many more photos from the great day. I handle every photo with care (editing and processing each one individually) so it will take some time to get through the whole series of fall fair photos!
Other posts from the fair can be found here:
- Severn Bridge Fall Fair Kids Contests (Toddlers, Country Squire/Miss Moppet, Jr. Ambassador) Photos
- Severn Bridge Fall Fair – Part 3 – Photos of Gravenhurst Fire Department Junior Firefighters and more
- Severn Bridge Fall Fair – Part 4 – Photos of Little Firefighters, Face paint, Family and Friends
- Severn Bridge Fall Fair – Part 5 – The Parade
- Severn Bridge Fall Fair – Part 6 – Photos of the Equestrian Lead Line event and more around the fair
- Severn Bridge Fall Fair – Part 7 – Photographs of performers, displays and happy faces
- Severn Bridge Fall Fair – Part 8 – Photos of country singer Terry Savage, games, food and fun at the fair
- Severn Bridge Fall Fair – Part 9 – Photos of Jason Maxwell, horses, a little boy vs ice cream and more
Warning, extreme cuteness ahead!..
This photography work was created for Severn Bridge Fall Fair organizers and visitors to enjoy, share and use free of charge. This wasn’t a paid shoot but an entirely voluntary effort to create some nice work for you.
Do you like the photos you’ve seen so far? Please go to the Contribute page to see how you can give feedback and help support my work.
I’ve also added a “create your own review” button below, and a new testimonials page where you can leave a rating and review. I will greatly appreciate some input as it may help other local families and groups notice the site and become aware of the photography and service available to them. Thank you! – Boyd Otter
The thumbnail grid below repeats all the same photographs seen in the gallery section on the page, and is included here for those needing an alternate way to download and save their photos.
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