Sidewalk lights

A late photo after my sixth day of work in a row.

Today was frustrating. A week or so ago I said I got turned down to enter my photos in the state fair. Last night I got an email saying I need to turn in my photo prints to the fairgrounds so they'll be on display. I thought I was turned down!

After work, I ordered prints online from a local camera store. I picked them up (the employee told me my lightning photo was cool; I love compliments from photographers) and went to the fairgrounds.

First, finding where I had to go proved difficult. The signage wasn't adequate. They only had signs for arts and crafts. Photography falls under that category, right? No. So I had to drive around more after talking to a few people. Eventually got where I needed to be.

Second, my name wasn't on the list. But they did have the cards to display with my photos. Something strange happened there, but at least I know I'm able to display them.

Third, I printed the photos wrong. They're supposed to have a matte. Whoops. I missed that part in the 40-item list of rules. I ran to Staples and tried to find poster board. I found a good size, but it came in a pack of three with only one good color, black. The other colors were neon yellow, orange and green. Not gonna work as a matte.

I asked if I could get two blacks in that size, but they said I had to get a larger sheet and get it cut. Fine. That was $2 to cut. Got that, bought some double-sided, photo-safe tape, and took it home. Then it was off to work.

Now I have to try to set them on the sheet correctly. I'm still worried this won't be able to display. If that happens, I give up. I'll be out roughly $50 for all this hassle, but that's fine. At least I finally got paid for my freelance gig.