If you follow me on Instagram, (@jontakeslotsofpics), you might have seen that I entered two photographs into the South Carolina State Fair last year. This was my first time entering my photos into any kind of exhibition, and while I didn't win anything, I was glad that I got to put my photos out there for hundreds of people to see.

The exhibition was part of the State Fair's Fine Art exhibition, where artists from across the state could submit their work to be viewed by fair-goers, and judged by a panel of expert judges. Aside from finding my photos in the gallery, one of my favorite parts was getting to see photographs from so many talented photographers across the state.

My niche, as you probably know by now, is wildlife photography. The other photographs at the fair encompassed a wide variety of other niches, but I was still glad to see a few fellow wildlife photographers found there way into the exhibition. One of my favorites was a photograph of a double-crested cormorant, where the photographer was able to zoom in very close to the bird's head, almost like a portrait of the bird.

For those that aren't familiar, double-crested cormorants have strikingly blue eyes that, when captured in close detail, look absolutely incredible. This has been a dream shot of mine for a long time, so it was neat to see another photographer's ability to capture it.

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