Jocelyn and Dave Helgren of Spotsylvania try out an alligator sausage sandwich.

Green lights pulse to music as fairgoers take a ride on the Extreme at the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. Peter Cihelka/Staff photographer ------ 4 cols color

ABOVE: Artwork is awarded a Best-in-Show ribbon.

ABOVE: A cow licks its chops behind a green fence in the farm-animal area of the Fredericksburg Fair.

LEFT: Against a backdrop of a pink food trailer and with hot pink cell phone in hand, Taylor Sullivan (left) and Nicole Williams survey the midway crowd as they share a drink.

The Extreme X ride thrills some of its passengers against the night sky.

Samantha Galligan, 9, enjoyed her blueberry Italian Ice during the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair. (suzanne carr rossi) ------ 3 cols color

RIGHT: Twenty-month-old Rhyan Besemer of Fredericksburg reaches for another rubber duck at a midway game.

Christina Nicholson of Orange County, a contestant in the Miss Fredericksburg Fair Pageant, arrived early for the contest.

ABOVE: A balloon glows in the lights of a ride at the Fredericksburg Fair.

ABOVE: A black llama is among the animals at the fair.

ABOVE: Gideons International offers pocket-size books.

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ABOVE: A speckled Sussex rooster sits on display.

Free Lance-Star photographers find different shades in the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair

From the red of a rooster's comb to the yellow of a mustard covered corn dog, the Fredericksburg Fair is a kaleidoscope of color.

BY SHAYNA JACOBS

Date published: 8/2/2008

BY SHAYNA JACOBS

The Free Lance-Star photography staff went on a hunt for colors at the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair: vivid, bold hues that are in vast abundance.

It sounds easy, but their assignment was a challenge, said photographer Ben Fredman, who found brilliant reds in tinted light bulbs and on the headdress of a caged rooster.

To capture their assigned colors, they went back to basics.

"You need to forget about the normal telling of stories," Fredman said.

It was an artistic opportunity for the talented crew, and Fredman said there was kind of a friendly competition among the eight photo staffers at work.

Director of Photography David Ellis enjoyed the rare chance to get back to shooting in the field.

He found pinks from pale to popping "mostly in what people were wearing," Ellis said.

Ellis zoomed in on a pig's snout and shot a portrait of a 3-year-old girl with an eye-catching hot-pink hair bow.

Philip Andrews had to look to the shadows to find the dark side of the Fredericksburg Fair.

"Black isn't a color you think about when thinking about fairs," he said.

Andrews is no stranger to the fair. He followed a family as their pint-size daughters ride-hopped, and he caught fairgoers gorging on traditional fair grub.

Bright lights and fanfare were big in his family and food photos, but Andrews found the black elements he needed one night.

One portrait is a group of silhouettes against a candy- apple stand, and his favorite is of a claw-shaped ride swinging against the pitch-dark sky.

This project was the perfect way to present the fair, a perennial area pastime where the fun is always as effortless as the sights are compellingly colorful. This year's fair ends tomorrow.

Shayna Jacobs is a news intern. Contact her at 540/374-5000, ext. 5617, or sjacobs@freelance star.com.

Date published: 8/2/2008