Mike Clegg

Fairgrounds are great, and not just because of the deep fried food, but also from some of the creative photo opportunities you’ll have. This was my first time to a fair since I’ve had my SLR, so armed with my camera, tripod and new found skills, I went to the CNE in Toronto.

One of the first challenges is finding a spot where you’re not in the way of anyone. Keeping your tripod out of the way is important, any slight knock could render an image blurry.

Once you have your position sorted, you have to think about the settings for the rides. I was using an aperture of 8 for a nice depth of field and shutter speed of 2-10 seconds as well as manual focus, as auto focus can struggle to find a good contrast in low light to lock onto. I also used a tripod, mirror lock and 2 second timer. By using all these things, it ensures there is no slight judder from my hand or from pressing the shutter and therefore giving a nice sharp image.

As well as the rides, it’s good to show people having fun and demonstrating the atmosphere of how busy the place is.

And finally if you’re with anyone its nice to get a few shots so you can remember who you were with.