Throughout this summer, I've been dragging my camera to a menagerie of places, but most commonly a set of fairs in my hometown, and the big Minnesota State Fair in my adopted hometown of St. Paul. Here's a set of photos from this latest season, including a retake of a photo I got wrong last year, and a picture of sunflowers, that is the only one to depart from this theme.
The spoilers contain a description of the shot, but I'd rather you read them after forming opinions, if what you saw and what I was trying to put together didn't mesh, then please be honest about it!
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Spoiler
The goal here was to provide a total mismash of colors and shapes, familiar and unfamiliar, completely devoid of setting or context. I think in many ways that reflects the make up of the street fair that this was taken at. What are you going to do with all this stuff after you've bought it?
Unfortunately, I screwed up at the top right, and bottom right of the frame, but I find people don't notice it unless I point it out.
Unfortunately, I screwed up at the top right, and bottom right of the frame, but I find people don't notice it unless I point it out.
Spoiler
Similar circumstances to the one below one. Took this shot from a number of difference angles, but I think the interest/humor here is in the contrast between the smiling duck decoration, and the cruel mechanical shuttling of the real rubber ducks off into the void.
Spoiler
As it got darker, I left my settings as they were, and went about and started taking pictures of all the rides in the half-light. As it is, it's pretty much a point and shoot. This was on the fourth of July.
Spoiler
The Minnesota State Fair this time. Easy shot, (the angle is pretty obvious, I pulled the same thing last year on a different gondala) but a good mix of colors, and the sky doesn't intrude too much. I screwed up by letting a tree get into the bottom left, and if I could go back to this, I'd get it a little closer and wait until a more dynamic pair of people came through.
Spoiler
I blew this shot last year (see the link at the beginning) but I'm much happier with it this time.
The worker in front of the slide is really the star here. The way she's holding herself is sort of intriguing to me; she's adjusting her hair, and her weight is slightly off center. She seems bored to me, but her short jean shorts and grooming make the pose almost suggestive. I took a bunch of these shots, but after looking at them afterwords, this is the one that holds your attention for much longer than the rest.
The worker in front of the slide is really the star here. The way she's holding herself is sort of intriguing to me; she's adjusting her hair, and her weight is slightly off center. She seems bored to me, but her short jean shorts and grooming make the pose almost suggestive. I took a bunch of these shots, but after looking at them afterwords, this is the one that holds your attention for much longer than the rest.
Spoiler
The New York Times validated this shot just a few days later with an article about State Fairs in which their photo is similarly biased towards the left side. Of course, their photographer is better than I am, but I like this shot too. The light green accents to some of the struts of the ride are neat, and I like the sense of space that the negative area on the right gives.
That's the main difference, actually, the Times photo uses the negative space to suggest some kind of instability, and action, as if the ride pictured could fly off at any moment. The darker sky in this shot and the relative lack of motion gives a greater sense of isolation and perhaps a hint of ruin.
That's the main difference, actually, the Times photo uses the negative space to suggest some kind of instability, and action, as if the ride pictured could fly off at any moment. The darker sky in this shot and the relative lack of motion gives a greater sense of isolation and perhaps a hint of ruin.
Spoiler
The picture of sunflowers, as promised. There's more where this one came from, but I like how this one puts the sunflower into the spotlight, as opposed to the phenomenally blue sky at the time, which was wonderful, but not the object. The bee is a bonus, but many people don’t realize that the bee to sunflower ratio in a field is about 2:1, so it’s pretty easy. I had to hold the stem still in strong wind so I could make sure I got nothing more than a quarter of the flower.
It's better than the NYT one, too. xD
The bee's a nice accent, even though I didn't really see it before you mentioned it. It's really traditional, but it is pretty. 
