Circus

Yo Yo the Story Teller

Ted EnglerLeave a comment

This is Yo Yo the narrator for Circus Flora. Circus Flora is a one ring circus that annually tells a story through their acts. Here Yo Yo is watching The Flying Wallendas execute their high wire acts with precision. Yo Yo seems satisfied with the performance while the audience stares with amazement.

At a circus like this you have to have a pretty good camera. No flashes are allowed as one unexpected distraction could spell disaster for a high wire or trapeze artist. You will need a 50 – 150mm zoom lens on a camera that can handle high ISO such as 2000. Leave the flash at home and turn off any focus assist with a light.

Click on the photo for full size and to get access to the photo specs.

Circus Flora

Ted EnglerLeave a comment

Circus Flora is a one ring circus  that has been entertaining St. Louisans for about 30 years. A circus can offer a lot of interesting photo opportunities but there are issues:

  • You may not be able to get close to the action
  • There are a lot of live animals and people performing dangerous acts on high wires and other devices: no flash allowed, not even the focus assist light
  • You may not be close enough to use a flash even if you were allowed to use the flash
  • It is pretty dark in there
  • There is a lot of movement

On thing you have going for you is that a circus is a show and there are spotlights and other forms of nice lighting. Here is what I used on this photo: I turned the (light) metering to spot to take advantage of the circus’ special lighting effects; turned my ISO up to 2000; opened my aperture as much as possible (in this case f5) and used a telephoto lens. As always I shoot in RAW to allow more light for post processing.