Circus Photography

Circus photography can be considered as a special form of photogrpahy. Just as sports photography or show photography many photographer have their own set of techniques and skills to create stunning images.
"At most shows it is not allowed to use a flash. Thus the photographer needs to use only the given show light. Combine this with the need for high shutter speeds to capture, for instance, a trapeze artists throwing a triple somersault and you've got the need for high iso-values (or high asa film in the old days) and big apertures."
Renowned photographer Joe Macnally (USA) did a circus photo shoot with posed pictures and had to put in extra box lights to get what he wanted. This goes to show that using the light that is given is an enormous challenge for every keen photographer.
Historic Circus photography
Already in the early years of photography photographer found their ways to the circus grounds to capture the magic of the world of spangles and sawdust.
In the period of 1901-1927 F.W. Glasier was one of those circus photographer poineers. Part of his legacy can be seen in the book Wild, weird and wonderful. These circus pictures are of highly cultural value. Not only do they provide an insight to the way of traveling showmen in those days, they also captured what is called the golden age of the American Circus. "Between the mid-1800s and mid-1900s, the American circus swelled into the largest show-biz industry in the world"
Circus photography tips
Piet-Hein Out: "There is not one setting to take good pictures in the circus. Situations vary not only from one circus to another, but also from act to act. Sometimes one act of 5 minutes will have 8 different light settings. Different colors, different intensity, different position. The biggest tip I can give anyone wanting to try to take circus pictures: learn to understand light. Turn off the automatic camera program and switch to manual settings."
Is the circus coming to your home town? Than here are a couple of more tips:
"Make sure that you are allowed to take in a camera. Most arenas have certain rules that disallow Photography. They usually don't mind small P&S cameras, but if they see a DSLR, they might get uppity. And don't expect them to know the difference between your camera and a $4000 pro camera.
But if you do get in and are allowed to use it....you will probably need to be concerned with the shutter speed. You will need to keep it up to avoid motion blur. It's typically dark in these venues, which means that getting usable shutter speeds may be tough. Raise the ISO if you have to.
Also, keep in mind the lighting that they are using. For example, if there is a spot light on someone, they may be well lit, but the surrounding area will likely be rather dark. You probably don't care about the surrounding area, you just want a good photo of the subject. The camera's meter may take the whole scene into account, which can mess up your exposure.
You might try centre weighted metering mode, I don't think your camera has a spot metering mode. Either way, check your shots and adjust the exposure so that the subject looks good."
Circus photographers
Some famous professional circus photographers from Europe:
<li> Piet-Hein Out, Holland</li>
<li> Yvon Kervinio, France</li>
<li> Bertrand Guay, France</li>
<li> Patrick Jehl, France</li>
<li> Álvaro Castellano “Villar”, Spain</li>
<li> Christophe Roullin, France</li>
<li> François Dehurtevent, France</li>
Every year the World Federation of Circus, under the patronage of H.S.H. Princess Stefanie of Monaco, organizes a circus photography contest which anyone can enter.
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