The carnival came to town! Landmark Mall in Alexandria, Virginia hosts a carnival in the parking lot every year. There is much talk of redevelopment for this mall so I don't know how much longer the carnival will be coming to Alexandria. I figured it would be good to capture some of the fun before I miss the opportunity. I headed out on a Saturday evening and caught the sunset while watching the rides and attractions.
The Reitoffer Shows came to town in April 2013 for a short stop at the mall. Landmark Mall has been an Alexandria . . . landmark on the west end of the city since 1965. The beautiful sunset and the lights of the carnival brought back fond memories of working at the old Hecht's Department Store when I was going to college, and frequent shopping trips for me over the years.
I put a 24-70 lens on my Nikon D800 and used the pre-sunset hour to scout good locations and get some nice shots. I was ready when the sun set to catch the rays coming through the carnival, and then worked through the evening twilight to use the mix of carnival lights and fading natural light.
The Ferris Wheel is a natural draw for a photographer. Depending on how much I wanted to blur or stop the action, I used F16 with 2 second exposure or F18 or F20 with 4 second exposure. I was pretty amazed to see the colors pop out on the back of the camera, and I was not disappointed when I got home and loaded them on to the big screen. Since I had the tripod I did some bracketed exposures and was able to work some HDR photos into the mix, however most of these are just standard single photos.
I was lucky to catch the Ring of Fire coaster right at the top of the arc while framing the Ferris Wheel behind it and I am really happy with the way this photo turned out!
i am amazed at all the rides and equipment that they bring, set up, and break down. It sure was fun to see the carnival and all the people who were enjoying it. You can find all my photos of the carnival here.
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