Tag: vagabonds

Glastonbury Carnival 2011 Photos

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It took some time, but I’ve finally finished processing the photos from Glastonbury Chilkwell Guy Fawkes Carnival from Saturday. The weather was fine all day, in fact it was probably one of the nicest days of November so far. This meant perfect conditions for the carnival. A cold wind did pick up for a while before the start, but it soon died down again.

While there were a lot of shots I wasn’t happy with (there always is), thanks to two participants, I was able to get some of my best ever carnival photographs. The first performer from Vagaonds Carnival Club turned to the camera to do her routine, while glaring intensely at the camera, perfect for the tone of the cart. While that was good, perhaps even more surprising was the performer from Centurion CC, who gave a brilliant smile. Many not familiar with carnival may not find that very surprising perhaps, but Centurion is a tableau club, where the participants stay frozen for the whole procession, but again, it fit in well with the theme. My sincere thanks must go to both of these two performers. Carnival photographs are always going to be dynamic by their very nature, but it isn’t always possible to capture the atmosphere. I felt that the relationship between them and the camera really lifted the photographs to another level. I’m not a portrait photographer normally, so it is probably one of the few occasions where I have had a buzz from photographing people, normally it’s confined to my nature photographs, when I get what I was looking for.

Like last year, I had taken note of some of the features of the carts that I had wanted to photograph, so I concentrated more on different angles (mainly portrait formats of the carts), portraits of the performers and closeup and detail shots. Not all of them were successful, as many of the performers were in higher positions than last year, which caused focusing and depth of field problems that had to be overcome. Again, this is something to note for next year.

Despite some failures, overall it was a success for me and as usual, plenty of money was collected for local charities, although not as much as you might expect, given that there are usually around 50,000 spectators.

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Bridgwater Carnival 2011 Photographs now on Website

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Bridgwater Carnival night will be memorable for a number of reasons, not all of them good. It all started in the afternoon, during the afternoon entertainment by Bridgwater College. When I describe what we had as a downpour, it is a definite understatement. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen rain heavier in Britain. To make matters worse, the lack of wind, meant that the extremely heavy showers didn’t move very fast. There was a fast flowing river of water down past the Cornhill and on towards the Parrett, down the pedestrianised area, which was up to two inches deep in places. Everyone was saturated, but unbeknown at the time, similar amounts of water must have been flowing down Castle Street, which caused a partial collapse of the wall along the river, with part of the road in behind disappearing into the depths below. However, as is said in showbiz, the show must go on and it did. Sadly the news got worse though, but it didn’t come to light until the end of the carnival, except by the emergency services. A little over ten miles away, just outside Taunton, one of the worst pile-ups in British history occured on the M5, causing seven fatalities and numerous serious injuries. All condolences and sympathies must rest with the victims and their families.

The carnival itself put on its usual show of bright lights and entertainment. While I don’t think it lived up to last year’s standards, it still provided plenty of entertainment and better still, it remained dry throughout, a welcome relief after the afternooon. For me, the strongest and most original entries were in the Tableau Class, which was won by Overthrow of the Tsar, built by Pentathlon Carnival Club, with last year’s winners, Huckyduck Carnival Club coming second with Way out West. However, yet again, the overall winners were Gremlins, with their entry Jungle Drums. While it was still impressive, I don’t think it matched last year’s entry.

The squibbing display was cancelled, due to the previous sad events, but it was still an enjoyable evening.

And one final photo of Wick Carnival Club’s 2011 entry, Inca, having met some of them and some members of the Pentathlon Carnival Club this afternoon, as I got caught up in the Black Sunday celebrations.

http://heikoworld.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/bridgwater-carnival-2011/
http://heikoworld.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/bridgwater-carnival-2011-part-2/

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