Charlotte RenFest

Had a chance to take Munchkin to the Charlotte Renaissance Festival yesterday. Unfortunately we got a late start, a problem exacerbated by the ridiculous traffic flow in and out of the fairgrounds (suggestion for next year - establish two incoming lanes, and don't have 10 year olds directing traffic!)

Anyways... it posed an interesting challenge. The time of day and intermittent coverage from the trees resulted in constantly changing light conditions. I had only brought my 24-70 lens with me to stay light, but next year I'll definitely be bringing my flash and 70-200 despite the additional bulk. Had a lot of throwaways due to lighting that could have been overcome with fill flash, and missed an opportunity at the jousting event due to limited zoom range where my 70-200 absolutely shines (I would have had to bring two bodies though most likely - there was dust and dirt flying EVERYWHERE, so the environment wasn't very conducive to swapping lenses on a whim.)

Regardless, it was a good time, some interesting characters there, and here are a handful of shots that didn't look half-bad at first glimpse (apologies for the quality - Photobucket does some strange things with compression apparently).











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Excellent photos. And people are dedicated.

 

They are indeed (the dedicated part), and I only saw two anti-dorks the entire day. One guy with a light saber, and another guy donning a rather elaborate Halo costume for some reason.

I really wish I had the opportunity to walk through first thing in the morning before the crowds arrived. A lot of great photo ops lost based purely on the fact that it was impossible to eliminate some turd on his cell phone directly behind the subject, or that you couldn't get a shot off without someone's kid sprinting in for a family shot (not that there's anything wrong with that, but I don't want 400 pictures of other people's kids).

 

I almost went yesterday, my friends were there. Let me know if you plan on going back again.

Great pics btw!

 

Oddly enough, I was actually wondering if I would be bumping into you and Cinn there. We may go back again later this month (Halloween weekend maybe) or the first weekend in November if LBC's brother and his fiancee come for a visit.

 

We wanted to go, but the funds just were not there. We are running on a shoestring budget til I get a paycheck from the new job. If you start making plans, let us know.

 

Understood. Check out their website, too. Some fast food joints are carrying BOGO coupons for admission. We got 2 adult tickets through Valpak for 1/2 price.