The Fair

Oops! I never got around to blogging about our trip to the fair back in June! Well never too late I say. :) Yes, the fair came to town and so one Thursday night (while it was free for all to enter) we headed down to it. Parking was a bit of a nightmare because there was another event at the same venue that night, but overall it wasn't too crowded at the fair.

The main reason I wanted to go to the fair was to photograph it. I wasn't convinced that Ace would find it super enjoyable yet, it was ME that wanted to go to play with some photography fun! So with expectations set, Mae strapped in the Ergo carrier, we headed in. I was armed with my camera and my 50mm lens. After doing research online for the best settings for what I wanted to acquire we went on in! We acquired tickets and jumped on the Ferris wheel. I loved to watch Ace's reaction - he was so interested in everything and in awe that he could see so far.

After we enjoyed our aerial tour of our surroundings we walked a bit more and I captured some more photos and played with lighting, color, and settings.


1/160s, f/1.8, IS0: 100

1/250s, f/1.8, ISO: 100

Next up Ace and his dad enjoyed a trip down the giant slide which Ace enjoyed and we continued to walk. Ace found a game to play and he won himself a sword, which after obtaining his sword, he asked a pretty girl to sword fight with him (she was about 15) and she obliged. It was cute. Later he found a cooler sword that he could win and so he and his dad fished in order to get it. :)





Next up we stopped by the carousel, all out of overpriced tickets we just observed our surroundings and I captured a few more pictures.



The final pictures that I was after were ones of the Ferris wheel, I had read about a technique to blur the lights of the wheel and I really wanted to try it out. I couldn't remember how to do it until just before we were ready to leave - and then I captured one shot and a riot broke out - so I am certain I could have captured it a bit better, but I had to get a move on to avoid me and Mae getting squished in the fight. Drama!

8.0s**, f/22.0, ISO:100One last shot before we head out of the back of the Ferris wheel...
TIPS!

* A higher ISO speed will cause your picture to be more granulated but for an action shot, you can reduce blur by increasing the ISO. ISO noise can be reduced in Photoshop, but a blurry picture is blurred forever.

** For a long shutter speed a tripod is always ideal... but considering a fair isn't exactly tripod friendly a good hug against a lamp post will do, which is what I did to hold the camera somewhat still for 8 seconds. Propping the camera against your chest and holding your breath works for some shots as well. As I mentioned I wasn't able to get a second go at my picture because of the riot and I had a squirmy baby on me, so I'll take what I got. I'm pretty proud of it. :)


1/160s, f/2.0, ISO: 200

1/125s, f/1.8, ISO: 3200*


1/60s, f/1.8, ISO1600

1/60s, f/2.5, ISO: 800