A Night at the Fair.. 14 pix

[bvar22]

Minnesota State Fair 2006
All shots Nikon 50mm F1.8D Available Light Only
Shot data EXIF
Some on tripod, others at ISO 1000





























I was delighted to find that the SideShows are back.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Great shots.

Aren't fairs fun?

[bvar22]

4. Yes,

I saw your post, and sorta borrowed your title. :)

I do love the State Fair. The people are amazing.

[Eurobabe]

2. Oohhh I love the next to last one with the rides

And all the funky swirls from the lights. Very cool!

[NV Whino]

3. Can't possibly pick a favorite out of those

But the first one, the Greek food stand and the carousel/ferris wheel are stand-outs. I'm particularly impressed with the skin tones with the available light.

[F.Gordon]

5. I'm scrolling up and down.... looking at these

Such an incredible series. I wish my brain was connected to my typing fingers because there are several I'd like to comment on.

But, ya' know.... I keep gravitating toward this one. Keep going back to it. It reminds me of something but I can't wrap my brain around it at the moment. I don't know.. I just really really like this one.

[bvar22]

8. I like this one too.

He was a charicture.
I was trying to frame the artist on his pad, but he leaned at the last moment and I didn't want to move the tripod and wait for the crowd to thin again. I would love to have gotten more light on his face. I was too far away to use a fill-in, and didn't want to move in closer where he might see me. This photo doesn't quite pull it off, but hints at what I would have liked to capture.

The Fair at Night was fun. The lighting was surreal and constantly changing. Keeping up with the lighting, changing settings in the dark, and schlepping a tripod through crowds in the dark was a "learning experience" for me.

I went with the 50mm 1.8 lens again. The more I use it, the more I love it. I was glad I left everything else at home, just this lens and a tripod.
I spent some time just cruising the midway for candid handheld portraits. A few came out OK, but most were disappointments. The lighting was tough.

[Blue_In_AK]

9. I can really relate to the tough lighting...

I tried taking a bunch of pictures inside the "Sluice Box," the beer-drinking entertainment place at our fair, but even with the 50 mm I couldn't pull it off. I wanted to get shots of the "ZydeCohos," http://www.zydecohos.com/bio.html, a great local Cajun-style band that was playing, but with the movement, they all came out really blurry.

[bvar22]

11. I saw you were using a 50MM Fast lens (EXIF)

It worked on the Spinning Lady. I like that pic.

I had trouble getting available light DoF, even at ISO 1000.
I was able to squeeze in at the end of some game booths and see the faces of the players, but the DoF was so shallow looking down the row that few were usable.
Like this one:



I wish I had used a flash here.
You see the look on that little boy's face?!!
Mannnn....the pictures I have missed!

[Ms. Toad]

10. This one is my favorite, too. n/t

[China_cat]

6. Sideshows are back?????

Real freaks or acts (or made freaks?)

This old carny, who used to work sideshows, would love to see them make a comeback on the midway.

[bvar22]

7. YES!!!

I thought I fell through a time warp!
I was unaware that the Fair would include the SideShow this year.
Just like I remember from my childhood (though my parents would NEVER let me go inside).

The Barkers and Ropers were there with the continuous rap and peek previews ("but you have to go inside to see the rest"). They didn't need any shills because the enthusiastic crowd was already crowding the gates. The acts they advertised were pretty much the traditional sideshow acts, though I have never heard of the "Headless Woman", which the Barker said we could feel her skin and the place where her head should be to prove that she was ALIVE!






The SideShow was tucked away in a corner on the backside of the Amusement section. It has been either 17 years or 37 years (the Barker stated this, but I don't remember clearly) since the Fair included the SideShows.

[ConsAreLiars]

12. Phantasmical images!

The midway color shots are stunning, and getting fireworks and the ferris wheel together was brilliant. I especially like the Scale/GuessYourWeight pic for the way it tells the story and the Caricatures one for thew way the artist is put on the canvas. And the sideshow ones for recalling to me the short time I worked as as a carnie - age 13 or 14 when the circus came to town. Wonderful people - my first real-life experience of an alternative to small town life. Free ride/concession tickets (those may have been my only pay, probably, but I was sure having fun) made me a regular at the air-gun shooting gallery where I often split playing cards in half, but mainly they allowed me to romance the lovely Thelma (but that's another subject). The barker/fireguy/rube pic should be on the cover of a Practical Economics for Dummies book.

[intheflow]

13. Wow, is that Dan Ackroyd revising his "Blues Bro" role as the barker?

Good film jobs that tough to find these days? :rofl:

I concur with every praise everyone has given to this thread, particularly loving the carticature artist and whirling, swirling rides shots. But I also want to specially note the shot at the "old tyme photo" booth. Was that a portrait of one family, or was it a mother and child and the fair photographer? Either way, they're nicely framed by the backlighting.