Fun at the Faire #1 - Lords n' Noblewomen by goodoleboy
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Description
Captured 4/27/14, at the beautiful Renaissance Faire, held at the beautiful Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area, in semi beautiful Irwindale, California.
I have so much to say about this excursion, that it is difficult to know where to begin.
This is the first of 445 photographs I took using my DSLR at the event, which was both wonderful and body/mind challenging. Wonderful in the sense of the color, gaiety, wit, flair, creativity, originality, entertainment, hail-fellow-well-met, good nature, and spontaneity; challenging in that my ancient body took a real beating from standing on my feet for so long without a rest - say about 3.5 hours - plus toting a heavy camera and tummy pack. In fact, the camera got heavier and heavier with each shot I took. And imagine having to compose a pic in the midst of the rapidly circulating and evolving masses, which includes someone running in front of the camera when snapping a scene.
Anyway, the Faire began on April 5, open only on Saturdays and Sundays, and will last until May 18. To describe its popularity, I got there about 20 minutes after it opened, and there were already innumerable vehicles in the parking lot, along with tons/tonnes of people at the gates and inside the Faire grounds. There were easily thousands in attendance during the day, and people were still arriving when I was leaving, about 1.5 hours before closing. And admission and parking weren't cheap. What obsessive madness is this?
Oh, not only were the employees clad in medieval costume, but a vast majority of the crowd were immaculately and/or opulently dressed in the custom of that era. They must be really dedicated to that period. Now I know what they mean by Merry Olde England. And sorry, but I played stick-in-the-mud and was shabbily dressed in my comparatively colorless 21st Century blue jeans, long sleeved sports shirt, Adidas baseball cap, and New Balance walking shoes ....just as if I had arrived via time machine from the future. Thankfully, at least I wasn't stoned and bludgeoned by the populace thinking I was from the East End.
Needless to say, more to come and mention on this adventure into the past.
I did extensive postwork to brighten things up, so please, please, do ZOOM.
Ta ta.
Comments (10)
durleybeachbum
An opulent pic and what fun you had!
Hendesse
It feels like being on a journey through time. Superb shot!
prutzworks
lovely shot and well dressed reenactors
goodoleboy
The people shown in this photo were not reenactors, but just part of the paying crowd. They easily outnumbered the employees, and were all over the place, clad in various and sundry garb.
claude19
a very nice group photo of the medieval era! splendid colors and costumes! great idea!!!
magnus073
This is a truly wonderful capture Harry, and I envy you for getting to be part of this amazing event.
MrsRatbag
Wow, those people have invested serious time and money into those costumes; I loved the Rennaissance Faire when I went (in the 1970s). While it seemed really big to me, I'm sure it was nothing compared to what it has become over time. I always went in costume too, my version of costume, which wasn't historically correct but fit the ethos of the times. Never could manage to talk properly, though. This is a superb capture, well fitting for a brochure for the event (if they had such things?). Maybe for their online ticket sales... Great work, Harry, and rest up!
jocko500
you dressed up for this? anyway this is a very good shot
mbz2662
Although I have heard lots of this event, I have never been. It looks like a fun time. Great shot (did you get a new camera?).
debbielove
Very cool, well posted and VERY colourful as well.. Loads going on, looking forward to more of these.. Rob
anahata.c
This has been a wonderful series, and the fact that you had to postwork it to brighten things up (your words, above) shows how keenly tuned your postwork is. Because rather than simply brighten it, you've brought out the hues beautifully, and in balance, so that the pics look far more vitalized and heightened than mere brightened. Very fine work on every one of these. And the human poses and attitudes have been a joy. This is a nice intro to the series, because it feels like an entry into the faire: Ie, people milling about; and, in that front couple, the woman greeting the man, as if ready to escort him into the faire. Fine beginning photo. This is nice visually, too, because it moves from the house as background---on the left---to the open street and sky---on the right. Someone said, in a later post, that the costumes didn't look very Medieval. But they are more Renaissance (which comes after Medieval); and where they're not, I assume that the outsiders in these fairs don't always have the exact period clothing on hand, so wear whatever period clothing they have, hoping it will blend in. So some of the costumes may be from a century or more later, hoping that most viewers will be fine with that. But there's a lot of Renaissance here regardless. I don't remember the names of everything, but the male vests are examples, the ties high footwear, the "ruffs" on the two right-most people---these are examples. (On the right edge, the woman in yellow and the man in black, cut off by the right frame: Those zig zag collars that look like a series of "S"s across the neck---those are pure Renaissance. Those collars---which you've seen in Renaissance fairs many times, I assume, and which you'll see in Shakespeare or other period productions in film and tv---were made with linen, soaked in starched water, and then heated near flame to make them stiff. You put them around your neck in a circle, fastened the open ends, and your head was held aloft by these uncomfortable "trays" underneath it. Some said that the ruff was there to catch crumbs. But whatever it did, it gave anyone who wore it a semi-regal air. It led, via evolution, to cravats, scarves, jabots ((those "bib" things that royalty wore, often in very expensive silk)), and in time the bow tie and our modern tie. What lengths people have gone to to celebrate parts of the body!) Well, my boring history aside, this opening pose is perfect---almost a "come with me" pose. Terrific way to start the series. Your human photography is keen as ever in these shots. And hats off for being on your feet that long, with that heavy load. At least you weren't wearing 90 tons of clothes like these people! If you had, you'd probably have had to be carried home. Imagine walking around in that garb in deep heat: Summers in merry-olde-England had to be one helluva rough patch