Hey everyone! I'm getting a bit more of a feeling for b&w (well, that doesn't sound very modest, but I mean it in a very novice kind of way :P ) after shooting in color for all these years. My parents won 4 tickets to the circus for saturday night, which was the public premiere of the circus' new show - so yesterday, like the old days, I went to the circus with my mon and dad (lol! that sounds so funny) and a girlfriend of mine. It's been a long time ago that I've last been to something like this - it doesn't come here often, and lucky enough I was allowed to shoot away....I didn't brought my flash, but even flashing was allowed. (Just no sound/video recordings nor was it allowed to leave your seat to shoot). Well, I can't exactly complain about the seats we got, although we should have gotten there earlier, since we were put all the way to the right of the tent, close the the artist's entry (which onitself was a great place to shoot :) The only real problem was that there was a large pole in front of us, and most acts were focussed on the people who were in front of them - which meant that we got to see a lot of behinds. Well, at some moments that wasn't bad at all ;) Anyway, here are some shots I scanned - I haven't done everything yet, cause I shot more than a 100 photos. Especially the shots with the tigers have a lot of 'bars' blocking the view...so some better ones will come tomorrow :P Well, this is just a little 'report' on how much fun the circus still is.....the show was incredibly exciting, for such a small circus. The tigers were incredibly wild and very exciting and unpredictable to watch, the stunts were without safety nets or ropes, which caused a lot of Ooooohh!'s and Ahhhhhhh!'s :) The clowns were funny, and the girls were all beautiful....just the way it all should be. So, here are some photos of a lovely, old fashioned family evening. Have fun & have a great Oscar-night. PS Since a project like Moulin Rouge takes a lot of guts and vision to do and since the legendary Cirque de Soleil is performing tonight at the Oscars, I do hope that this Circus-loving movie wins a few good ones on this beautiful Oscar night!! Forza Luhrman! =)

Yeah, they look soooo sweet........but they are certainly not! Just look at the next shot :P

GRRROOOAAAAARRRR !!!!

Two Italian brothers, throwing eachother into the air, with their feet. Very simple, yet beautiful.

This American Beauty was tied up to the roof by her hair, flying around the tent, at one point holding two torches. It was very dark during this act.

Here she is again, back on the ground :)

To quote Moulin Rouge: this was Spectacular Spectacular! This guy from the Ukraine did the craziest stuff, without even taking a rest. Crazy...this guy was really high up during this act.

Same guy.....love the smoke during the acts....gave a lovely chance to make some good shots.

For me the high point of the show....the bad view from behind finally paid off ;)

Well, seriously, she's a real show girl....she was the magician's assistent. I guess that's part of the act, cause the girl distracts most people :P

This is her mother.....and they always say that girls will turn out the same as their mothers.....so I guess I'll pass this time =)

At the end everybody comes out again and thanks the audience.....it was great....an exciting show and a lovely, touched audience :)

Cirque de Soleil is performing tonight at the Oscars Thanks for letting me know. I'll have to watch. Love CdS. Another great thing from Canada. Great pictures, Rork. Really like the elephants and tigers. I used to go to circus with parents. Treasure the memories of those outings. Technical details? Your results are really extremely good under difficult lighting. What did you use?

Thanks :) I shot most on Ilford Hp5 Plus 400....pushed to 3200. Used spot metering only. The twirling girl shots were with Tri-X, which were all heavily underexposed. (Also pushed to 3200) Brought only one lens, my 180mm 2.8 ED Nikkor and I shot everything at 2.8. :)

Btw, HP5 is just amazing if you look at the lack of grain, considering it's pushed to 3200. The Tri-X is just aweful, compared to HP5. Never thought the difference would be that big. PS I think I might send in one shot to a good mag for review...anyone has any suggestions at which one's the most dynamic ? (or whatever you like best). Thanks =)

Hard to pick a favorite here! Looks like it was great fun!

I am, therefore I create.......
--- michelleamarante.com

Some great shots here, I'd say 7 is probably overall best too although 1 has a real traditional circus feel too.

elusive.chaos

"You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star...." (Nietzsche)

My personal favorite was the second tiger picture. I
especially liked that you caught the face of the youth in
the background. And those whiskers!

Do you know...I have never been to the circus! Jane promises she will take me one day! These shots are great, I almost feel like I was there myself! Thanks for sharing Rork. :-)>

I especially liked the first tiger one. Nice work

that lady has a butt I wouldn't mind.... err, on 2nd thought, nice exposure... ;o)

and you were very obviously distracted man, I can hear it now.... Punk: "Wow, does she ever have a nice... WHAT???!? How the hell did the magician disappear???"

I personaly liked the 12th, 11th, and the 9th... ...9th...he-heh... ;-) But, that pic is also nice for such features like her expression, the presence of out-of-focus figures looking at different directions, the relation of all these "elements" in the frame...

The first guy from the Ukraine NAD the lions ( Tigers ? ) I'm not sure which I like the best though. By the way thanks for sharing. Bsteph

I loke the tigers and the eliphant shots alot. It looks like it would have been a really good time. I'm glad you got such good shots. I find it hard to shoot in settings loke that, but you did great. -Gabe-