Most rural county fairs have a wide variety of competitions, from largest pumpkin to a photo show. I love the photo shows because I try and look for what it is that presumably normal (ie non photographers) people want to see in pictures, what do they value in an image. If I can assume, what I get from them is a profound appreciaton of the intrinsically beautiful. They say "Here is a sunset. A lilypad. A puppy. A mechanical feat. Here is something to celebrate, something that is beautiful". I try and keep that in mind when I shoot, what do people want to see.