AMES, Iowa -- Elise and English Fiscus, 16-year-old twins from Marshall County, were thrilled to be on stage talking photography with John Gaps III during the Celebrity Showcase at the Iowa State Fair.
Gaps, Des Moines Register columnist and world-class news photographer, volunteered to participate in the Iowa State University Extension 4-H Youth Development Celebrity Showcase event at the fair. The showcase allows high profile professionals to showcase 4-H youth and their project work on stage in the 4-H Exhibits Building.
Elise and English represented only half of the Fiscus family photo entries in the 4-H building. Twin brothers Gage and Steele, 15 months younger than the girls, also had photos selected for display, but opted to let their sisters have the stage.
Elise, Gage and Steele had still-life photos selected for the 4-H Gallery Award, which is sponsored by the Professional Photographers of Iowa.
But it was the blue ribbon photo by English, the one that didn’t make the Award Gallery, that first caught Gaps’ attention. Having spent several years as an AP news photographer covering events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gaps has an eye for photos that tell a story. He wanted English to explain more about the man pushing a yellow cab in downtown Cedar Rapids, the subject of her photo.
English said she was going to do a still life of the cab, but some workers came and started pushing it away, so she shot an action photo instead. The cab, it turned out, was on its way to be repaired at the garage.
Gaps offered some hints to English and other young photographers, advising them to “fill the frame with your subject” and to “take the photo from the point of view of the participant instead of the observer.” Also, “when you fill the frame with the subject, you avoid backgrounds that are too busy.”
Both Elise and English were members of the 2005 4-H Camera Corps and had heard Gaps speak at one of their workshops. Elise related that she was so moved by his photos of war, famine and hunger that she wants to join the Peace Corps.
Not only do all four Fiscus kids excel in photography, they also excel in showing swine and were preparing for a Derby Pig show. Elise, however, was disqualified, because she and her dad had mistakenly loaded the wrong pig for her entry.
“I guess it was okay,” she said, “I was the one helping to load.”
Mom and Dad are Marie and Kevin Fiscus of Union. Marie is the owner of Honey Creek Photography, a name taken from the creek that runs through their rural property. While onstage, Gaps kidded the youth, asking if they were free labor for their mom’s photo business; then also asking if they had extra special camera equipment with which to shoot their own photos.
They agreed, saying that they really appreciated all the practice they got when helping their mom and the use of special lenses when taking photos.
With more than 13,000 4-H’ers signed up, the 4-H photography project has the largest enrollment of nearly 60 project choices offered by the Iowa 4-H program.
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