Carnival rides intersecting motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable release

I feel lucky to live just a few hundred yards from a field that is home to an annual carnival.  Where do the come from?  Where do they go?  I do not know.  For three days and two nights they bring their rides, their prizes and their deep fried Oreos (delicious!) and delight this small island community.

Concentric circles ferris wheel motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 15 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseYet, the cost of enjoying the carnival to its fullest is too expensive for me.  Each ride is about $5.  There is the option of buying an unlimted ride pass for . . . $30.  I did not go on a single ride.  Each food item, likewise, is basically $5 or more.  I could not resist a huge sign declaring, "DEEP FRIED OREOS."  They were not what I expected.  Basically funnel cake batter surrouned a very warm Orea cookie that loses all of its crunch in the frying process so it warmly dissolves in your mouth leaving the familiar Oreo aftertaste.  If they were not $1 a bite, I would have eaten ten!

Fiery Ferris Wheel reflection - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/16 ISO 200 5 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseSince I could not enjoy the carnival in its intended purposes, I instead had to appreciate it only for its night photography opportunities, of which there were many.  I stood at the east edge of my apartment complex in complete darkness before my tripod pointing my lens at the lights just across the water.  I felt like an astronaut observing an alien world.  Mine was dark and silent, theirs filled with dazzling light and laughter.

 The time machine conductor - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseThe pilot of the ferris wheel remains stoic as carriage after carriage passes through time and space.  Who knows what speed they pass by?  

like a spool of colorful thread - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseYet the ferris wheel almost seems a snail in comparison to this machine which lifts its subjects into the night sky spinning so fast that one appears to be a constant at once everywhere and only there.  

Night Over Carnival motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 25 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseSurely when one visits Mars the view from outside of town mirrors the one above.  Hopefully they have deep fried Oreos on Mars as well.

Ride first, eat second - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseIn the warped world of the carnival, food is the only constant.  Everything else flirts between dimensions.

Tilt A Whirl motion blur - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/16 ISO 200 15 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseHaving no Martian technology the semi truck in silhouette is like the octogenarian observing the child with today's digital devices removing one from the present.  For me, I will remain with the truck on the outside, as always only the observer.

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American carnival experiences still live in Snell Isle Florida

To my surprise, only a five minute walk from where I live, a small carnival suddenly sprung up.  Like most children, I loved carnivals and everything about them from the unusual rides to the games to the cotton candy too of course!  

This photo was made using my Nikon D300 with Nikkor 50mm 1.8D lens while walking up the stairs to the tall burlap bag wavy slide ride.  Yes, I was able to slide down at great speed and still keep my kit safe.  

When going on the standing centrifugal force ride, however, I laid the D300 down behind the scenes of the ride with the blessing of the entertaining ride operator.  He spoke of how he wanted to visit Japan some day.

The basketball game pictured next to the ferris wheel got $5 of my money.  For sure on my third shot I thought it was money, but it only clanged off the front of the rim.  Long, long ago I spent nearly $50 trying to win at the same game at a different carnival!  

No doubt nothing more mysterious and exciting can come to one's own backyard than a carnival.  Overnight an amusement park can replace a little used soccer field.  These thoughts bounce through my head:  who dreamed up these kinds of rides?  when were they last inspected for safety?  do I like the sense of danger of possibly hastily assembled rides?  and I sure hope they have funnel cake!