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.
After 10 seconds, a swinging ship on a pendulum looks elliptical at St. Rafael Church Festival Snell Isle Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 10.5 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseEven though I merely observe, come the start of every October I find myself looking forward to the St. Raphael Festival that transforms a soccer field in the middle of a Snell Isle neighborhood into a carnival. What really amazes me is how fast it comes and goes. Sunday night at 8pm the festival is full of people on the rides. By 9:30am Monday morning every ride is already packed up and loaded onto a truck. It is only open for three days. How fast it appears then disappears adds a lot to its mystery for me. It just does not seem possible.
Of all rides, the ferris wheel holds the most nostalgia for me - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 2.3 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseAgain this year I did not go on a single ride. I did, though, continue my custom of eating deep fried Oreos. They warmed my insides for hours after. 
St. Raphael Festival in Snell Isle Florida is a mystical neighborhood carnival - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 1.4 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseWhere does the carnival go after it leaves Snell Isle? I am very curious about that, but would not want to know the answer. It occurred to me today that this could be its last stop of the year before winter, and that is why everyone packs up so quickly because vacation starts as soon as they finish. As much as I like this annual visit, for many reasons I hope I am never here to see it again.