Game and Country Fair

I think in every photographer’s portfolio there are a few photographs which they enjoy but don’t necessarily fit into a project or set of existing images and probably never get showcased.Last year I made some photos at a local fair but they didn’t seem relevant to any of my ongoing projects, and it didn’t seem justifiable to create a project on their own. I would often think back about those images wishing I could share them as the experience was also something I wanted to share.

So what better way that to write about it and include those images.

Photography and photographers are always influenced by something outside of their own work. I suppose the most common would be other photographers. I guess we’re constantly looking at other people’s work, whether it’s for inspiration, sometimes to help push ourselves to do better, or find some kind of new direction to take our photography in.

For me there have always been a couple of photographers I religiously seek for inspiration. Mainly due to their photographic style but because of their projects content. One of these photographers is Martin Parr. Well known for his portrayal of the upper classes, garish food photography and the absurdity of Britishness. I’ve always felt like I can relate to what I’m seeing in his photos with my own experiences. Not because of just being British, but because of where I live and the coastal resorts nearby.

Due to this familiarity, my ideas have had a natural gravity towards Parr’s style. With all of my current projects, I’ve wanted to base them around where I live and have grown up, and also try to show others what it’s like to live here as well.

This question got me thinking and a lot of research brought me across an event which was coming up in the next couple months. Aptly named ‘The Game and Country Fair’, this couldn’t have sounded more East Anglian.

Having come from a landscape background my portrait skills might not particularly refined, which was why I enjoy the works of Martin Parr. Of course his portraits have direction, but the photographs retain an honesty with the person in the frame. Posing is minimal and not exaggerated to obscure the scene.

As I was wandering around I noticed the variety of the stall owners attending the event and this interested me more than the people walking around. With this in mind I decided to focus on making portraits. This also presented another challenge as I decided to use flash with a modifier. I had rarely used flash let alone any additional accessories.

What made it less stressful was for the entirety of the day I set the camera to ‘P’ with TTL and the only adjustments made was the ISO and some flash compensation. Seeing as this was my first time using a flash modifier I was slightly surprised at how easy it was to achieve the results I was looking for.

The one thing that I suppose was the hardest thing to do was to actually go up to someone and ask if I could make a portrait. Though as the day went on that became easier an easier.

Having an idea in my head of the types of photographs I wanted to create prior to going, I went equipped accordingly. Though after arriving and wandering around for a couple of hours, I knew I wasn’t going to get the type of shots I’d originally wanted.

There were some situations where I wish I had taken the scene differently, but I’d like to think my choice of approach was the correct one at the time.

I’d initially thought I’d walk around with a 35mm, this would allow me to make candid spontaneous photographs as well as macro-esque (thanks to the close focusing of the lens) style photographs. At first I tried to do this and when it came to making a portrait, I switched to my 24-70mm lens. I quickly found out the awkwardness of constantly changing lenses and decided to just stick with the zoom.

I understand the reason behind using primes, but I was more grateful for the versatility on this occasion.

There were a few occasions where I did struggle technically, though this was due to my lack of knowledge and I’ve definitely learnt from this for the next time.

What I took away from this experience is, try to focus on one type of approach instead of trying to capture everything, especially with the resources you have.

Secondly, it’s not scary to approach someone and people are more willing than we think. Even though you might not feel it, I think it’s important to come across as confident as this makes the person you’re photographing less nervous.

Take lots of images, as it might look ok on the back of the camera, but it’s only until you get it onto the computer do you really see all of the errors.