State Fair of Texas

[David]

I have not been on the board for a year so I dont know if anyone from here goes to the fair. I Just got my season pass to the fair and the site says they are having a special sale until the 4th of Sept. The website is www.bigtex.com. I just thought I would pass thing along.

Will there be a group field trip? I hope so.

Dave

[savitale]

I'm sure a lot of people from the forum will be going, and I'll bet something organized materializes as well. I usually go twice, it takes 2 days to see it all, in my opinion.

Oddly, I have never taken any photos there.

[txsappho]

Hi, newbie here...

I've been looking forward to the Fair for the cool weather if nothing else. I took my gear with me last year and got some good pictures although the best came from the Garden area... I forget the actual name. There were mini-trains, wine tasting, gardens, and it was all so very peaceful. This was taken outside and the flower was hand-held. I got rather lucky.



Taken with Nikon D70, Nikkor 18-70mm, Nikon SB-600, and Quantaray close up filters.

[brad]

I know we'll be there a couple of times. My 11 year old daughter has won a second place ribbon for a scarf she knitted!

[Hogleg 44]

ThanX for the link!

[Rick Waldroup]

I love going to the fair. I try to go every year. I always take a camera. In the past, I have always taken a rangefinder camera and just a couple of lenses and lots of B&W film. I try to look for stuff a little out of the ordinary. I don't think I have ever shot the fair in color. This year will be the first time that I will go there without a rangefinder camera. I dread the thought of lugging around a DSLR but since I no longer shoot film, I guess that is what I will do.

You will have to excuse the poor scan. This photo was shot I believe in the early 80's. I do know that when I shot it, this was to be the last year that "freak" shows would be allowed at the fair. I titled this "The Last Show" and it was published in Shots Magazine a million years ago. It was shot with a Leica M5 and 35mm lens.

[Rick Waldroup]

Here is another shot. This one is more recent. It was shot last year at the fair. I shot it with a Bessa R3A rangefinder camera with a 40mm 1.4 lens. I used to shoot Tri X film, then switched to Fuji Neopan 400. I developed everything in Rodinal which increases the sharpness but also highly increases the grain. Gotta have that grain!

[David]

Originally Posted by Rick Waldroup

I love going to the fair. I try to go every year. I always take a camera. In the past, I have always taken a rangefinder camera and just a couple of lenses and lots of B&W film. I try to look for stuff a little out of the ordinary. I don't think I have ever shot the fair in color. This year will be the first time that I will go there without a rangefinder camera. I dread the thought of lugging around a DSLR but since I no longer shoot film, I guess that is what I will do.

You will have to excuse the poor scan. This photo was shot I believe in the early 80's. I do know that when I shot it, this was to be the last year that "freak" shows would be allowed at the fair. I titled this "The Last Show" and it was published in Shots Magazine a million years ago. It was shot with a Leica M5 and 35mm lens.

Rick,

Great picture! You have a classic. I have always liked the freak shows but they are far and few now in this day of time. When I lived in LA I worked for Warner Brothers on some film restoration projects and one of them was the 1932 MGM film "Freaks". It was directed by Tod Browning who directed 1931's Dracula for Universal. I have always liked the film and the film's subjects. This brings back great memories of the project. Again thanks for the photo and now I am going to watch the DVD.