Adelaide Fringe-2010

The Adelaide Fringe has descended upon Adelaide once again for 3 and a bit weeks of whacky entertainment. For some of us, its a chance to get out of the house and catch a play, concert or a dance performance. Then again, on a balmy night like tonight, its fun to just let the Fringe blur by and let it sweep you along.

The opening night of the Fringe kicked off with a parade through the east side of the city. With over 1500 performers, it was fairly easy to find something to point my camera at, even if it was at the 80,000 plus spectators. The performers were really full of life tonight.

They put so much into playing their characters, and I think their passion shows up in these pictures.

When I arrived in the city last night with Kurt and Dene, I opened my bag to get my camera out, and of course I had forgotten something; my R-Strap! So, I stopped off at the camera store, got a replacement strap, and $35 bucks lighter, I headed out into the street. I really didn’t want to walk around the streets without my camera being securely in my grasp: 1) because the weight, 2) because there was so many people I was getting knocked around and 3) because I didn’t want it stolen! It paid off, because later in the night I had my flash attached, and that would have been a nightmare to carry around without the strap.

The boys and I arrived at the bottom of Rundle Street, and the parade was already in progress. There was a huge crowd. Everyone was in good spirits, so I wasn’t too annoyed at not having a prime position to shoot the parade. I ended up taking shots of the crowd, and individuals jostling for prime vantage points. There was the standard kids on dad’s shoulders and a few girlfriends on partners shoulders, there were even people who were wandering around wondering what had happened to the street. Obviously they had no idea there was the worlds second biggest fringe festival beginning in their own city.

The best thing about being late however, was that while everyone was watching the parade, no one was buying food, so I had zero time waiting in queues when my stomach inevitably called out for food. It was also fresh! While hanging around I was able to say hello to some Japanese people and surprise them with a customary greeting in their own language. They of course were excited which is what is great about most Japanese people.

After this, I found a descent place to park myself with the guys and shoot the final stages of the parade.

Most of my shots were taken from my new position and I even had some real delightfully crazy people pose for me. Well, I feel like it was for me, however there were a ton of photographers with a range of pro gear sticking in the faces of the performers. I was amazed at how many people actually have SLR cameras these days. It’s great to see that people from all ages really enjoy the art of photography.

In the dying light of Adelaide, and the pushing crowds, it was fairly difficult shooting the Fringe parade, but it was a challenge I felt, possibly for the first time, 100% comfortable with. I was happy trying out various settings on my camera to get the best depth of field, blur and so on.

I didn’t feel, like I often do, pressured that I would miss a shot. I felt comfortable knowing that, if I chose a particular setting, I could either make it work for the next shot, or I would have time to change it before the next performer. It was fun, and relaxing to just shoot and I was impressed with what I came away with. Sure, some of my shots were taken while on tippy toes, camera in air shooting over the crowd, and because of this, yeah, a lot were too blurry, or needed some re-cropping, but it did not deter me.

Photography is not always an art form you have full control over. You can’t always instruct you subjects and you definitely cannot instruct the elements. When mother nature wants to rain on you and spoil your “parade” she will, when the lights fade, she is telling you its lights out time.

You can’t change that. So don’t bother to try. Live with it, and shoot on. Enjoy it. And that is exactly what I did.

I came away from the opening night of the Fringe with a ton of unusable pics, but some great shots as well. I felt comfortable shooting, and I feel so eager to get back out there over the coming weeks and shoot as much as I can. I want to focus on the people, the unique culture of the Fringe. I want to capture how the city of Adelaide really does change during this period. I think it is a wonderful chance to have almost 4 weeks of festivities, right in my own backyard. Talk about lucky!