Founded by steam enthusiast Michael Oliver in 1969, the Fair – now the biggest steam and vintage show in the world - is now managed by his son Martin and attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year. It’s a wonderful opportunity to step back in time and soak up some of the history of bygone days.
One of my favourite features is the steam arena where the
heavy haulage road locomotives can be seen pulling huge trailers of granite
and machinery. The atmosphere here can be superb when the early evening sun
glows on the locomotives against a background of billowing plumes of smoke.
Don’t forget to look out for detail shots too – look closely at some of the locomotives with their gleaming brass and pristine paintwork, and keep an eye out for interesting shapes, colours and patterns whilst on your travels around the showground.
Equipment and Technique
Other than my camera and tripod I try to keep weight to a minimum. Often I
will go along with just a mid-range zoom lens (24-105mm) which I tend to find
adequate for most situations. I may also take a longer zoom (up to 300mm)
for getting in that little bit closer, and a flashgun can be useful for added
illumination after dark – as long as you’re happy to carry the
extra weight around all day.
I use my camera mainly in aperture priority, setting the aperture according to the depth of field I want for each situation. For shots in the arena I find it useful to put the camera into AI Servo mode to track the focus on the locomotives as they move towards me.
Always looking for something that little bit different I decided this year (2009) to experiment with some slow panning techniques – hey these vehicles move at a snail’s pace, you know! This proved quite a challenge as I found I needed a shutter speed of around 1/8 to 1/15 second in order to freeze the movement of the vehicles whilst blurring the background! Thanks to digital, I was able to see my results immediately and adjust the camera settings until I was reasonably happy with the results. Despite taking what seemed like hundreds of shots I only ended with a handful that (almost!) worked! Panning smoothly at such a slow speed was not exactly easy!
Arriving at the fairground shortly before sunset allows me time to wander round identifying suitable subjects. I know the best time to shoot will be in the first 30 minutes after sunset so I need to act pretty sharpish. During this time the sky will come out a superb inky blue in my long exposures – any later and the sky takes on a murky brown appearance. I mount my camera on the tripod (somewhere where I won't cause an obstruction!) and keep to a low ISO (100 or 200) for maximum quality and colour rendition. I stick with aperture priority letting the camera work out the exposure time. Some shots need a little over-exposure but this can cause bright highlights to burn out, so I carefully check the histogram knowing I can always bring out detail in the shadow areas from my RAW file.
Finally I make my way back to the car leaving the delightful sights, sounds and smells behind me for another year… and get ready for a further few hours’ viewing, editing and tweaking my efforts from this year’s show… but that can wait till tomorrow! My bed is beckoning!
Angie Sharp LRPS
www.sharp-photographs.co.uk
Full Steam Ahead ......... ---- by Angie Sharp
Anything Nautical ... . ... .. . . by Sheila Brown
Doubletake .. -. . . . . . . . . . . by Nigel Hargreaves
Visionary Experiment --------- by Marie Stuart
The Boat Trip --------............ by Anonymous Dude
A Basic Guide .... . . . . . ...... by George Inglis
Slop Bog visit = = = = - --- - by Mike Legg
2 Boys & a Red Arrow- --- -- by-Mike Legg
Canada Rail Trip -------------- by Ruth Dix
Photo's for fun & sharing------- Submitted by Members
The Great Dorset Steam Fair is a “must see” event in my photographic calendar. Every year I look forward to becoming part of the nostalgia, atmosphere and excitement that emanates from the 600-acre site in Dorset for five days in August/September.
There’s so much to absorb over the extensive showground it’s difficult to know where to start – and the fact that almost everyone is hosting a camera either round their neck or in their hand is an indication of the photographic potential to be found. I recommend you take plenty of spare batteries and storage cards or film with you!!!
I prefer to plan my day in reverse order to ensure I end up near the fairground (look for the huge big wheel) just before sunset ready for some twilight shots of the magnificent fairground and the line-up of gleaming showman’s road locomotives that light up the skyline after dark. It’s often a bit of a lug carrying a tripod round all day in preparation for the low light shots, but experience has proven this to be well worth the effort – and there never seems to be the opportunity (or inclination) to embark upon the long hike back to the car to pick up the tripod later in the day… such a waste of valuable shooting time!