Ohio State Fair 2018 - High School Rodeo

Written by Dani and Andrew Livelsberger

Photography by Andrew Livelsberger

Background:

The 2018 Ohio State Fair has recently concluded with another successful year.  The standard events and fair type activities were present.  This year, we had the opportunity to cover the High School Rodeo competition.

Impression:

Within the dimly lit Taft Coliseum of the state fairgrounds, the 2018 Ohio State Fair hosted high school rodeo competition events.

Boys and girls competed in different age groups.  All competitors came out at the beginning of the event for an opening ceremony.  This rider, representing the United States Army carried this flag for a few laps around the arena.

One of the first events was cattle roping.  In this event, the rider follows after a calf and must use their lasso to rope the calf around the neck.  Riders are going for the quickest times.

Below, steer wrestling requires the contestant to use nothing but their arms to get the steer laying flat on the ground.

One of the most popular events, the barrel race, where there are 3 barrels in the arena and the riders must ride a complete circle around all three and then race back to their starting position.

While we have seen rodeo events in the past, I've never seen one with participants so young.  They did a fantastic job in all the events.  If you ever get to see these youngsters in action, you will not be disappointed!

Dillon State Park

Written by Dani and Andrew Livelsberger

Photography by Andrew Livelsberger

Background:

East central Ohio state park with swimming, boating, fishing and hiking activities.

Impression:

We initially went here looking for American Bald Eagles, but we were too early in the season.  Talking with a park ranger, the eagles are more visible in the spring and fall months.  Never one to pass up an opportunity to be in the outdoors, we went searching for other exciting visual awesomeness!

It did not take us long to find around 30 Heron scattered about the lake area.

Here are just a few pictures we captured of these majestic birds!

This is also a popular fishing spot.  Here you can see some leftovers from recent fishing activity.

This is a great day trip area, with nice trails and water features.  It is also very close to Black Hand Gorge, which also has some great views of its own.

We plan on returning later in 2018 to see if we can find some of those American Bald Eagles in the wild!

Urban Scrawl 2018

Written by Dani and Andrew Livelsberger

Photography by Andrew Livelsberger

Background:

A 2-Day arts festival organized by the Franklinton Arts District.  It has been an annual event since 2007, featuring art murals from over 60 local artists.  This is one of central Ohio's largest urban renewal projects.

Impression:

Music, food trucks and art done on site.  If you are looking for a fun weekend, definitely give Urban Scrawl's annual event a look see.

Artists embrace their favorite medium of choice and use large wooden boards to showcase their talents.  This year, we notices the same great variation in styles...but we also were treated to quite a few more three dimensional pieces that jumped off the board.

You have everything you need in one place.  Something to entertain you - the music and the art, you have food and drinks - food trucks and beer.

We were able to bring some new eyes to this event this year.   We had some friends who had never been before and we invited them.   They loved the variety and techniques that artists employed.

Since this is an annual event for us, we were fortunate to see some familiar faces and old friends.

It was great to see the first timers taking it all in.    Speaking of first timers, we invited some friends of ours to partake of the event for their first time.    It was exciting to see their reactions to all the different art styles and techniques.

Since this is a very visual event, we'll just let the images below speak for themselves and you can get an idea of the event that is presented over at 400 W. Rich Street.