It’s rare you see someone biting into a turkey leg in public, but it has become commonplace at the State Fair. Common or not, I wanted to photograph this particular woman with the red hair and matching shirt the instant I saw her nibbling on a grilled turkey leg and standing near a food stand with two other people. Before I managed three spoken words to ask for a picture, however, she was called back to the cashier to collect the other half of her order: a giant block of french fries. That made me want her photo even more. She was a good sport about it. Not only did our spontaneous photo shoot delay her dinner a couple of minutes, but she patiently held her pose (and the food) as I attempted telepathy to clear a person obscuring the smoky grill in the background. We took three photos and found that sunlit smoke and that big smile on the last one. Time for dinner.
(State Fair in Puyallup, September 2016)