living farm heritage museum

The Mid-Atlantic Wild West Fest and Cowboy Reunion is hosted by the Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum. I’ve been to Fairy Fests, Renaissance Faires, and pirate encampments but never an event with cowboys so I wasn’t sure what to except and was pleasantly surprised by how many things were happening throughout the day. The area for reenactors was not large but it was never boring. Different performances were held at a faux Western street front. They had lots of action and comedy for the kids and they kept the adults in the audience happy too. The roping demonstration was fun to photograph. It was easy to move around for good light and not so crowded that I couldn’t take my time to try different settings for the moving rope. The reenactors were more than happy to pose for pictures and I had a great day with my camera. The event also hosted a high school rodeo. I enjoy photographing bull riding and barrel races at county fairs. I was impressed at the dedication of the participants. The pace was slower than at the county fairs and I took advantage to practice keeping fast moving objects in focus. The museum, whose mission is to preserve Maryland’s agricultural way of life, also presented things to do throughout the day. Not only was there antique farming equipment on display but there were horse drawn plows giving demonstrations. I like the angles and curves of old machinery and it was fun to take some pictures of them in action too. There is a one room School House and a Country Church on the grounds that you can visit and arrive in style with a horse drawn hay ride.