The Fair can provide some exciting photographic opportunities ranging from the crowds, multicolored lights, vendor and game booths, strange and exotic food, farm animals and of course, the rides! Taking pictures of people at the Fair can be rewarding, but often this is frowned upon by the subject (unless you know them) and even worse, Fair Security. Keeping your focus to the rides is a safe bet. Getting gear through the front gate has not been a problem for me (including a tripod and full backpack). It is a good idea to check restrictions before arriving loaded to the gills with equipment – you may be making an extra trip back to your car after being denied entry by security.
© Erik Kerstenbeck
Any camera with the capability of Manual Settings will allow you to experiment with capturing movement. Using slow shutter speeds allows the moving subject to blur which creates a sense of speed. Experimenting with different shutter speeds will be necessary depending on the velocity of the moving object and its motion with respect to the camera. Don’t worry too much about this – just try a few different settings, preview the results and make adjustments on the fly.
The twilight hour is often best for this type of photography. One can still capture a properly exposed sky and the multicolored lights as they sparkle to life. Having something other than a pitch black sky will add depth to your images as well as a pleasing background. This time is short, so plan ahead for your shot. After this period, the sky will be black, so no need to rush your other work, just compose, experiment and recompose. One of the challenges of shooting at the fair, aside from the camera adjustments, is getting a good shot of the rides, without the crowds. One way to do this is to find the rides Exit ramp and set up close to there. This is the least frequented area as crowds gather at the Entrance. If possible, find a low perspective and shoot up and with a wide-angle lens. This will also eliminate any distractions. Keep in mind, with slow shutter speeds, people can walk through your shot without much effect (provided they don’t stand in front). Sometimes having a “ghost” or two also makes for an interesting image enhancement.
This image was taken at the 2012 San Diego County Fair. Here the goal was to capture two types of motion; linear from The Sphinx and rotational from the s[pinning ride in the background. To capture this image, I mounted a Nikon D7000 on a Manfrotto tripod, equipped with Sigma 10-20mm wide-angle and cabled shutter release I carefully composed and experimented with shutter speed until I got what I wanted. To freeze the Sphinx, I used a single off camera Nikon SB600 Speedlight. There is no need to worry about White Balance, just set to Auto and correct in post (keeping in mind to always shoot in RAW).
–
Erik Kerstenbeck is a San Diego Landscape and Portrait Photographer
You must be logged in to post a comment.